Making RSS Adoption Simple

According to DM News today "a new report from JupiterResearch claims RSS will not have a significant effect as a supplemental alternative to e-mail marketing." The analysts writing the report note that many marketers remain skeptical about using RSS to supplement their email marketing content.

A recent survey by the analysts shows that "45 percent of marketers have no plans to deploy RSS to supplement e-mail, and only 5 percent currently do so." David Daniels, from JupiterResearch, notes "it [RSS] is more consumer friendly and it won't become truly marketer friendly until more consumers realize the convenience of it and begin to use RSS." No truer words have been spoken. As a user and an advocate of RSS, the biggest challenge appears to be demystifying the implementation and articulating the benefits.

Consumer adoption will force both. The report notes that "thirty-five percent of the surveyed marketers have deployed -- or soon will -- RSS because of consumer demand."  Marketers hesitant to join the RSS generation should carefully watch the consumer trends.

DM News notes "Marketers planning to deploy RSS are hesitant. The main challenge for 40 percent of them, they told JupiterResearch, is the lack of resources and experience to deploy, which they can overcome." This speaks to a problem that I have encountered almost continuously for the past 10 years. There is a huge gulf between technologists and marketers. I've seen this in search marketing and now witness it in the RSS implementations.

The challenges remain the same, but here is my outline for success:

• Demystify the technology so that non-technical marketers can grasp the power
• Identify or develop tools that are friendly to the non-technical user
• Develop easy-to-implement solutions for use in pilot projects that will demonstrate the value
• Work with vendors for better tracking solutions -- a long range project.

When all of this is done, the market will be ready.