 If you’ve
been getting caught up in all this talk of RSS versus
email, its time to stop wondering.
Marketing Sherpa just posted a new report that stirred up
the old RSS vs Email debate again. http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2988
The report starts out by stating, “It chills our blood
when we hear email marketers and publishers blithely
state, “I’m thinking about switching over to RSS
entirely!” Oh no. Please don’t. RSS is worthy of
testing, but it’s not an email replacement and it never
will be.”
A report in Jupitermedia titled “E-Mail Marketing: Alive
and Well” notes, “RSS won't be immediately effective
as an alternative to e-mail marketing. (But) for some
companies (primarily publishers who cater to a technical
audience), it's sensible to press forward with RSS now as
a supplement to e-mail marketing.” http://www.jupiterresearch.com/bin/item.pl/research:concept/1103/id=96103/
A lot of people think this debate has been going on for
long enough. RSS is NOT a replacement for email. It does
not (and may never) rival the marketing reach and
immediacy of an email message.
Those who’ve been mourning the death of email marketing
don’t seem to “get” the fact that RSS hasn't reached
the tipping point yet. More people read email than RSS
feeds – many more.
I believe that a smart publisher or marketer must use both
- Email and RSS. Its not an either/or question.
I know for a fact that my blogs get read more when I send
out an email with a “blog post roundup.” I personally
prefer email and tend to read those blogs more frequently
that use email notification.
But the news is not all good for email marketing.
According to DoubleClick, 64.7% of all legitimate email
being sent (based on their own customers' stats) is never
opened. Email delivery is cited as the #1 email marketing
headache.
The good news is that email marketing has a terrific
Return on Investment (ROI) bringing in $15.50 per dollar
spent on a campaign according a report in Email Sherpa. http://www.emailsherpa.com/emailblog.cfm?ID=360
That $15.50 per email-marketing dollar spent is roughly
17% more than in direct-mail campaigns and 73% more than
telemarketing campaigns.
eMarketer reports that email is still a powerful marketing
tool if used well in a new report, "Email Marketing:
How to Improve ROI." http://www.emarketer.com/article.aspx?1003369
Some points it notes:
-
71 percent of US online
advertisers used email marketing in 2004, while 77
percent using paid search.
-
Despite spam and email overload
45 percent see email as a good way for companies to
stay in touch with customers.
-
Customer retention and increased
loyalty is the main objective for email marketing
among 63 percent of surveyed marketers
-
62 percent also see email as a
way to acquire new customers.
-
Email volume in the US is
expected to rise from over 2 trillion message this
year to nearly 2.7 trillion by 2007.
 Even though both email spam and
email delivery are on the rise, end-users are getting used
to spam and it's bothering them less than it used to.
The Marketing Sherpa report also notes that 91% of US
Internet users use email on a regular basis, while roughly
4% use RSS feeds on any sort of basis at all.
It suggests that publishers do test RSS, but recommends
that they not treat RSS as “shovelware for email
content” because it is a new medium.
Other disadvantages it notes for RSS publishers is the
challenge of metrics.
“No deliverability, open rates, hard vs soft bounces. No
a/b tests, no usability tests, no offer tests, no recency/frequency
tests, and multivariable testing…"
"The kind of data that marketers and publishers rely
on to make business, content, and marketing decisions for
email campaigns is almost entirely lacking for RSS at this
time,” says the report.
So if you’re wondering what you should publish - a blog
or an email newsletter - I suggest you do both.
Or at least publish a blog with email notification built
in. Remember, your list is still your most valuable asset
online.
Keep either Email or RSS out of your marketing toolbox and
you’re losing out on a significant portion of your
audience.
RSS has other advantages that email does not have - like
being able to syndicate your content across the web. It
can be a very useful tool for building link popularity -
if you do it right.
As a marketer you do need to start brushing up on your
knowledge of RSS and a good place to start is here. http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com/rss-blogging.htm
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