HOW DO YOU BUILD READERship for a business-to-business e-zine? One way is to add an RSS feed.
“[Really Simple Syndication] has taken off for newsletter consumption,” said Ed Schipul, CEO of Schipul, a Web service provider for associations. “It’s a great way to get the content out there.”
The firm’s e-mail newsletter, Tendenci, is designed to keep customers up to date on new technologies. It’s sent to roughly 250 clients and prospects. And the same content is added to the RSS feed for distribution, as it is written.
“The problem with e-newsletters sent only once a month is that I’m getting the best editorial you have to offer, but not when you wrote it,” he noted.
Schipul said RSS is “completely opt-in, and you don’t have to worry about spam filtering. If someone chooses to get your RSS feed, they get it.”
The newsletter initially was launched four years ago. But staffing got light and employees became too busy to continue the publication, according to Schipul.
“Last April our new marketing guy was aghast that we let it stop,” he said. “So we started it again. And that was a wonderful thing.”
The firm doesn’t track opens because this could offend customers.
“I think they’re a scam because they lie to you,” Schipul said of open rates.
“When [people] realize who is and who isn’t tracking them, those who aren’t will be elevated higher in their eyes.”
Schipul admits he can’t measure ROI, but said the newsletter is part of the company’s overall marketing efforts. He added, “It’s pretty much a no-brainer. You know the newsletter is going to people who are interested in your brand and the delivery costs are lower than they are for any other mechanisms.”
Indeed, Schipul plans to tailor the newsletter as much as he can for RSS because he sees it as the wave of the future.
His one piece of advice? “Quit worrying about tracking and start worrying about content and RSS delivery.”
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