Integrated Strategies: New Technology Reshapes Marketing
Take advantage of these cutting-edge tools to reach every audience
By Martha C. White
New digital technologies, such as blogs, podcasts and RSS, are getting a lot of buzz in the media these days. For marketing professionals, these tools represent more than just a Gen-Y consumer fad; in fact, they all have the potential to reshape the way a company conducts brand messaging and interaction with its constituents. There’s evidence that the marketing arena is a watershed moment; statistics show that blogging, podcasting and RSS are the fastest-growing segments of marketing.
A recent research report, “Blog, Podcast and RSS Advertising Outlook” from PQ Media, shows that marketers spent a combined $20.4 million on this trio of channels in 2005, a whopping 198 percent increase over 2004. And researchers predict this growth will continue; marketers are expected to spend nearly $50 million on these tools this year.
Among the big three, blog advertising takes the largest share, at $16.6 million last year. PQ Media predicts that this will shift, with podcasting commanding a larger share of the total spend by 2010. RSS is also a fast-growing medium; the research shows that this channel wasn’t even on the radar until halfway through 2005, yet $650,000 was spent in the latter part of the year.
As these statistics show, such new-technology tools are rapidly becoming mainstream, and they’re reshaping the way marketers connect with customers. Here’s what savvy marketers need to know to take your online marketing beyond e-mail.
Voice, Content Key to Podcasts, Blogs
Many consider podcasts and blogs great tools to advance brand awareness and messaging, and both have similar advantages and caveats. “Blogs are one of the only business strategies that are really built on a culture,” says Toby Bloomberg, president of Bloomberg Marketing. “They pull away the screen so you can really see what’s happening internally and they allow a company to give value-added information to their clients.” Podcasts are another example of marketing where the brand’s “voice” is front and center. Since a blog or podcast will reflect the culture of the company that develops it, Bloomberg and other experts urge marketers to think strategically about whether these tools are right for them.
“They should blog if their culture will allow that type of interaction and transparency. Companies that aren’t comfortable putting out that kind of information shouldn’t blog,” she advises. Experts in podcasting offer similar advice for companies interested in this medium, as well.
Since voice is so important, it’s imperative to make sure that the person tasked with generating the content can be relied upon to project a warmth that draws in readers or listeners. Of course, it’s also paramount that the public “face” of the blog or podcast can be trusted not to share unflattering or insider information; many companies have been burned by employees posting cheeky or disgruntled thoughts about their employer on blogs.
Personality, With Limits
“You’ve got to let some personality show through, but make sure the person’s going to keep your brand image in mind,” advises Leesa Barnes, co-author of Jump Start Your Podcast and president of Caprica Interactive Marketing. She says another mistake corporations make with their podcasts – an observation that holds true for blogs, as well – is making them sound too much like a sales pitch. Blogs and podcasts both need to contain content that is useful and relevant to the target audience.
“People don’t want to hear a PR spin or an infomercial,” Barnes says. She points to appliance manufacturer Whirlpool and cable TV’s Lifetime network as two examples of companies that run successful consumer podcasts; both of these offer content targeted towards young mothers giving them advice and tips to help them manage their households more efficiently. “Try to find those issues that your target market is grappling with,” she advises.
On the flip side, Eric Schwartzman, managing director for Schwartzman & Associates, a PR and marketing firm that specializes in online communications, lambastes automakers GM and BMW for, “Basically [having] a PR person reading press releases just talking about their new line.” Either podcast could be greatly improved if the companies took the time to develop content that would appeal to aficionados, he says. He says companies developing podcasts need to think of creative content; for instance, he suggested either of the two automakers could have gotten their top in-house engineer to talk about how they enhanced a model’s speed or performance.
Even with informative, engaging content, some podcasts fail due to recording quality: While they can be created using just a microphone and inexpensive podcast recording software, experts recommend looking into more high-end recording tools for better sound quality. Barnes points out that a static-filled or echoing podcast won’t boost your brand image, no matter how pertinent the material. And one final, logistical note regarding podcasts: keep them short. Most experts recommend limiting them to 15 or 30 minutes; otherwise, your audience will never get through them.
RSS Goes Beyond E-mail
RSS is another method of content delivery, somewhat more akin to email, but with a twist. “RSS is not a replacement for email but an evolution in messaging,” says Dana VanDen Heuvel, director of business development at Pheedo, an RSS marketing solutions provider. “RSS is a way to distribute content to consumers in an opt-in, spam-free way.”
Unlike blogs or podcasts, the material sent in RSS feeds doesn’t differ from that which would go in an informational e-mail. The difference is that customers subscribe to receive an RSS “feed” instead of e-mail. They can access a list of RSS headlines from their Web browser, and click on any of the headlines to read the full article, study or promotional message. VanDen Heuvel says many standard Web publishing and content management programs currently offer an option to create RSS content, and he predicts that all Web publishing programs will include this in the near future.
Both B2B and B2C marketers can use RSS to get the word out about new products or services, sales and other transactional news. Retailer Target now creates an RSS version of its weekly sale circular, for instance. Some marketers are already going beyond this, however, using RSS to disseminate press releases, research studies and news about their company.
“The benefit from the marketer’s perspective [is that] a subscriber is much more valuable than a web site visitor,” VanDen Heuvel says. RSS keeps the company top-of-mind for customers, he asserts. “RSS readers typically access [their feeds] every day.... It’s a great way to reach that early adopter demographic.”
Measuring the Impact
A big advantage of these new tools is that they combine the targeting and trackability of e-mail marketing, but avoid the problems of spam and message blocking that stymie many e-mail marketing campaigns. By enhancing a company’s online “footprint,” the tools let them reach their constituents –consumers, corporate clients or their own employees – via an increased number of channels.
Bloomberg points out that regularly generating fresh blog copy boosts a company’s search engine results. “One of the best benefits is the lift in search engine optimization. Every time you write a blog post, that post turns into a unique page, so you have more [hits] for search engines.” Thus, if you’re putting together a blog, be sure to monitor any lift in your search marketing numbers as well as in your Web page hits to fully track the impact.
Podcasts and RSS are measured a bit differently; the impact of both can be gauged by the number of subscribers each has, and podcast impact can also be measured by the number of people that download without subscribing, just as you would measure how many people downloaded a white paper you’d made available on your site. As Pheedo’s VanDen Heuvel points out, a subscriber is a solid “number” for marketers; there’s no guessing whether or not they actually meant to wind up on your site, as when counting Web page hits. Likewise, there’s no question that the material actually made it to them, unlike e-mails, which can get caught in spam filters or have images blocked by security features.
Some companies, such as search marketing firm OneUpWeb, have both regularly updated and one-off podcasts. OneUpWeb CEO Lisa Wehr says that if a company has the resources and the inclination to make podcasting part of their marketing mix, doing both yields twice the benefit. A podcast updated weekly or monthly keeps the brand top-of-mine for current customers and prospects, whereas one-time podcasts exploring a new or different topic are likely to bring in a different group of potential customers. This also gives the company an additional measurement metric: Wehr says OneUpWeb tracks both the number of subscribers and the number of people that download a one-time podcast to get a more complete picture of their constituency.
Integration Is Crucial
“Podcasting won’t get rid of your other marketing initiatives. It’ll complement them,” Barnes says, voicing a comment sentiment among new technology experts. Even blog, podcast and RSS’s strongest advocates don’t recommend using any of these tools to replace any of the tactics you’re currently using to reach customers and prospects.
“Most companies are looking at [podcasting] as a snap-on marketing tactic, and it’s not,” cautions Schwartzman. Companies rolling out podcasts, blogs or RSS service should be cross-promoting it in employees’ e-mail signatures, on business cards and letterhead and including it in trade media advertisements.
“If I’m going to use RSS as a marketing tool, it’s something that should be part of an integrated campaign,” says VanDen Heuvel. “The more exposure you have across a marketing medium, the more powerful. Our [clients] are most successful when they leverage RSS with a larger strategy.”
“Understand the users and how they want to consume information,” VanDen Heuvel advises. “It comes down to meeting people in their medium. To just offer your web site or an e-mail [newsletter] isn’t enough.” The element of choice tells customers their time and patronage are valued, so letting customers decide when and how they interact with a company is a powerful way to generate loyalty.
Know Your Blog from Your RSS
Blog: Short for Web log, these online logs chronicle everything from personal narratives to corporate updates. Writing a blog takes little more than downloading free or inexpensive blog software; the user doesn’t need to know HTML coding or have any other technological skills. Popular programs include Typepad and Wordpress.
Podcast: Technically an MP3 file that can be played on either a computer or a portable device, the name comes from the most popular MP3 player on the market, Apple’s iPod. Podcasts can be created using inexpensive software and a microphone that plugs into a computer’s USB port. Popular programs include Audacity and Hot Recorder.
Podcatcher: Essentially a search engine for podcasts. The most well-known and commonly used is Apple’s iTunes program. Users can go there and search by title, subject or a number of other criteria to find any podcast.
RSS: Short for “really simple syndication,” this technology allows people to receive information in one place, avoiding signing up for an e-newsletter or visiting numerous Web sites. The user either downloads or accesses via their Web browser a software program called a news reader, which gathers the headlines from whichever sites the user selects. As new articles, studies or other messages come online, the user’s RSS feed is updated to reflect that. RSS feeds can be created using most Web publishing programs such as FrontPage.
