The RRS Feed & 7 Ideas on How to Use It for Your Audience

I’ve recently discovered the many uses of the RSS feed and am in the midst of incorporating such uses into my blog, but for now, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned!

Just in case, RSS as defined by Wikipedia: RSS (most commonly expanded as Really Simple Syndication) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.

1. At this point, RSS feeds are relatively spam free, unlike email, (making email a very ineffective way of distributing information, in my opinion). An RSS feed allows the subscriber to control what they receive, meaning they’ll be much more likely to receive your updates.

2. RSS feeds are an ideal tool for press rooms. Journalists can access updates on your company’s happenings without their inboxes constantly being filled with press releases. This is also a good way to let journalists be aware of what’s going on with your company/organization when perhaps a press release isn’t necessary. 

3. A hassle-free way of ensuring your partners are informed. Add an RSS feed to your extranet, (again, just in case you’re not familiar with this term: an extranet is a computer network that is partially accessible to chosen authorized users outside of an organization/company). Generate content that will inform and update your partners on the latest company info like press releases sent, media coverage received, financial information, top-management decisions, etc.

4. Create specific categories of interest for your RSS feed that people can subscribe to. This is especially effective if your company or organization offers a variety of services or products, or if your site covers a variety of topics. Make the information that people desire from you easily accessible. 

5. Planning an event? Create an RSS feed for it! This is a sure way of informing your attendees/subscribers of changes to the event, what to expect and who will be attending. 

6. Create an RSS feed to give awareness to all coverage your company/organization garners. Not only is this a great way to generate a further buzz around your company, but a simple way of keeping your employees and customers in the loop. 

7. Use an RSS feed to provide up-to-date information on promotions! Give limited-time promotions to your subscribers so that they benefit from following your information stream. Also, publicize that you’re offering these promotions to your RSS feed subscribers as a method of attracting more subscribers.

Hope my thoughts are useful!

- SS