Marketing by the “New, New” Internet Media: Blogs, Podcasts and RSS
Everyone is talking about blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds and other new Internet media. Are they real, in terms of marketing? Well, this is a tough one. Of course, they exist, so they are real. But whether they offer real opportunity for marketers is still a matter of great debate in the U.S. today.
Enthusiasts get very excited about these new media, saying that smart marketers must jump on the bandwagon. “This is how to reach the early adopters, the new influentials,” they say. “If you’re not there, you’re toast.” Some new-media cheerleaders get so excited that they even predict the demise of old Internet media like banner advertising and email. Hmmm, this sounds like when television was supposed to kill off radio….
Skeptics, on the other hand, say that the emperor has no clothes. That these media are not scalable, that they are unreliable—even dangerous—and that they can’t be counted on to build brands and sell products in any major way.
The future evolution of marketing using these new media probably lies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. Let’s look at the marketing opportunity in three of the most talked-about new Internet media.
Blogs
The hype around blogs is truly astounding. No wonder, when reports claim that there are anywhere from 14 to 50 million blogs out there in cyberspace already, with tens of thousands coming online daily. But how do marketers take advantage of the explosion of blogs? The jury, frankly, is still out.
Let’s consider the experience of Boeing, the gigantic aerospace manufacturer. As a technology company and a military contractor, Boeing has a culture of discretion—even secrecy. So it was quite a leap when the VP of marketing, Randy Baseler, launched a blog about two years ago.
Baseler’s blog was intended to share Boeing’s views on commercial aviation. But almost immediately he was severely criticized by other bloggers, who complained that his site was filled with “marketing-speak,” and that he didn’t allow readers to add their own comments. It was a bit humiliating.
But Baseler didn’t slink away. Instead, he responded to the criticism with improvements, made his content more fresh and interesting—even controversial—and eventually achieved a healthy regular readership. But clearly, a rocky start.
My conclusion? Marketers must manage the blogosphere using a media relations perspective. The same way you try to influence journalists to deliver your news, or to mention your company favorably, or at least not say bad things about you. So blogs are essentially a PR play.
Some observers are hoping that blogs can become a productive advertising environment. A handful of blogs do attract enough viewership to sell advertising on their own. And a variety of aggregators are trying to build ad networks sufficiently large and targeted to attract mainstream advertisers. Maybe as this process matures—12 months? 24 months?—the blogosphere will become a real marketing medium.
But what about podcasts and RSS feeds? Here we have immediate opportunity for proactive marketing.
Podcasts
A podcast, usually a short audio clip that can be downloaded from your website to a portable media player, is an inexpensive way to deliver information to customers and prospects. Similar to radio, but the advantage is that listeners can grab up the content and listen to it whenever is convenient to them. Podcasts give customers control over the consumption, but marketers still have control over the content.
So, podcasts make sense as a low-cost way to reach customers via a new route. The only problem is: how do you get customers to take the download? You must still invest in other media channels to attract their attention persuade them that your information is worth downloading.
RSS Feeds
RSS feeds, too, provide a way for marketers to deliver information to customers and prospects cheaply. Visitors sign up at your website to receive regular delivery of new content, to their desktops or their portable devices, like mobile phones or PDAs. This way you avoid the spam filters that trap your email newsletters, and you reach customers with fresh information as soon as it’s available.
Perhaps the most important evolution of RSS for marketers, however, is its impact on search engine results. When you create regular feeds of useful content, your search engine rankings will improve dramatically.
So what’s the downside to participating in these new media? It’s relentless. You need to invest in resources that will prepare this content, keep it interesting, useful and accurate, and be available to keep up the pace. For many companies, this is simply too steep a price. They will choose to stick to the media that they control, that they can adjust to their marketing schedules, and that they can count on to achieve their marketing goals.