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Are You Up to Date on New Marketing Technologies?
You may have heard about the growth in
Blogging, Podcasting and RSS; but do you
know what they are and what they could do
for your business? A survey by the UK
Business Barometer (UKBB) shows that over
half of SMEs do not know what any of the
three terms mean.
 In
the survey, UKBB found that only 15.3% of
SMEs knew what blogging was; only 14.8% knew
what podcasting was; and just 7.4% knew what
RSS was. To help you gain a better
understanding, here is an introductory look
at the terms and what they could potentially
do for your business:
Blogging
A blog (short for web log) is effectively a
diary of events, news, and/or opinions that
people can read and reply to. A blog has
minimal cost, but lets people learn about
and interact with your business in a more
personal way than simply visiting your
website or office/shop. If your content is
interesting or entertaining then visitors
may regularly return to see the latest
updates.
A good blog will keep visitors returning,
help remind them of your business name and
products, and promote communication and
response with both customers and
non-customers. You can use your blog to
promote new products or special offers, but
be wary of seeing a blog as simply a sales
tool; visitors will ignore the blog if it
looks like a sales brochure with no other
value.
Podcasting
A podcast is an audio recording of news and
views, in a similar vein to a blog. The
listener downloads the podcast (usually as
an mp3 file), which they can then playback
on the mp3 player or PC. A video podcast is
the same concept, but using a video file
instead of an audio file.
A podcast allows visitors to listen to your
news and opinions at anytime they like; if
the content is good enough (I.e.:
interesting, informative and/or humorous),
you can get a big audience.
RSS
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication; it
is a relatively simple bit of coding that
allows your audience to automatically get an
update of your blog or podcast without
having to manually visit your site. For
example: A customer adds you to their RSS
list. When their RSS reader (E.g.: Web
browser / free RSS software / music and
audio playback software) is opened it
automatically checks for and downloads new
content from your blog/podcast.
RSS lets you send your content to the
reader/listener without them needing to
visit your site. Providing you do not overdo
the updates (four a day and most people
would get fed up!) this is a great way of
being able to remind your customers of your
company whilst providing them with
information or entertainment.
As with most marketing tools, it is
difficult to fully understand how they work
without finding good examples. If you plan
to use any of these tools to promote your
business, we strongly recommend you take a
good look at a wide range of examples;
taking useful notes about what content gets
responses and seems to attract repeat
visits.
A more detailed look at the benefits of
blogging for your business is available
here.
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