| |
Blogs, Podcasting and RSS | eCommerce Impact
Blogs, Podcasting, and RSS Overview You probably have heard allthese terms an awful lot lately. You wonder about what thesetechnologies do? What value to they provide? If you aren't up tospeed on these new applications and how they are impactingonline interactions then read this brief further. Will thesetechnologies impact you? To be honest, it's too early to tell -but awareness will drive innovation and maybe your team willdevelop an idea/application that utilizes these technologies toenhance a portion of your eCommerce business.
Here's the rundown: Blogs What they are: Probably the most wellknown of the three, blogs allow everyday people to quicklydevelop a website presence and distribute any type of contentthat they desire. Look at the metrics relating to blogpenetration. * 7% of the 120 million U.S. adults who use theinternet say they have created a blog or web-based diary. Thatrepresents more than 8 million people. * 27% of internet userssay they read blogs. * Only 38% of all internet users know whata blog is. The rest are not sure what the term "blog" means.What a "blog" actually means is weblog. In basic terminology,it's the ability for someone to update web content directlythough the Internet, using a web browser as the publishingmechanism. This makes the creation of content easy and manypeople are using blogs to establish authority sites withinunique business and hobby/interest niches. Where blogs impactonline retail most is within these targeted online communities.Certain blog authors develop a large base of specific visitors,hence the site becomes a potential target market for viralmarketing efforts. Many web entrepreneurs us this functionalityto develop affiliate hubs within niche markets, and use searchpopularity to beat out larger retailers within correspondingnatural search results.
By integrating your brand image within the site experience atthat SPECIFIC blog, you as an online marketer are able tosegment your marketing PRIOR to converting someone as acustomer. It is a place to communicate with current andpotential customers about current offerings/promos whileboosting the credibility of the brand. Should you care: If youhave a very unique value proposition, or sell to a very specificor high-value customer segment, blogs can be a great way toincrease overall brand awareness. You can better connect withyour customers and provide detail into the current happeningwithin the business (ex. Current sales on XBOX 360).Potentially, one person within your organization should own themonitoring of blogs within
your vertical and look to post newcontent to meet the needs within the unique blog community.
Podcasting What it is: Pocasting should be just called mobilevideo broadcasting. However, Apple's marketing/development teamdid a great job with branding their device to a type of emergingmedia - hence the term podcasting! Similar to traditional radioand television, mobile video broadcasting delivers brandedcontent in either a paid/free environment, on someone's mobilemedia player (Apple only does video currently, but that willchange shortly). Retailers can potentially use thiscommunication channel to deliver targeted content to theircustomer base, while integrating advertising within the videocontent.
Should you care: Not really. Until video podcasting penetrationincreases, it's still a limited channel for advertising. Thebest application available right now would be an online audiocontent segment that is digitally delivered to an opt-in list.As technology advances, you can potentially do this from yourcurrent opt-in page on your website and not from Apple's iTunesplatform.
RSS RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication and is a method forelectronic content distribution. RSS is transmitted via theinternet, but what makes it unique is that no downloadingefforts are needed by the end receiver of the content. Thecontent streams instateneously within a webpage.
Advanced consumers have RSS news readers on their computers,either integrated into an email client, or utilize an aggregatedweb application such as News Gator. This essentially saves themtime in aggregating all new and updated content that meets theirinterests. Already gaining steam in the travel industry andwithin comparison shopping engines, RSS seems to be a valuableway to push news and time sensitive offers to customers. Travelcompanies are able to provide a streaming supply of last minuteairfare offers to their customer segments, without that customerhaving to open an email or visit a webpage.
Should you care: It completely depends on the nature of yourbusiness. Do you consistently offer new prices? Do you obtainnew products to your assortment consistently? Do you have acustomer base that is extremely loyal that you want to reach outto with messaging? If so, RSS may another channel to help buildyour brand. Call us today to learn more about these technologiesand the potential impact they can have in reaching yourcustomers with targeted messaging and fresh content.
About the author:
http://www.trinityinsight.com
|
