Yesterday’s post on RSS generated some interesting feedback both via e-mail and the comments below. I thought it might be useful to expand on some of these areas with regard to the role of RSS in PR.
No religion required
You won’t find any zealous procrastination here. RSS is a communications tool, pure and simple just as e-mail is a tool. It’s not the answer to the world’s ills but it is useful.
Nothing replaces good PR practice
RSS is a tool. It’s not a replacement for good PR practice, it is simply a new communication channel. As a result, the standard set of PR activities are still required. You still need to work on building personal relationships, communicate effectively and understand market dynamics. You still need to inform and educate your audience about your client. RSS is a second stage PR technology – it comes into play when you have created awareness.
RSS is not just for Press Relations
I estimate that the majority of subscribers to our RSS feeds are not journalists, they are customers and partners. As more communication takes place online, then we (PR pros) all have to look at how we are helping our clients or employers to communicate, not just with the media, but staff, customers, partners etc.
RSS provides a useful way to deliver information to any audience because it doesn’t clutter their inboxes and it alerts them when there’s news.
RSS behavior is unknown – so let’s make some rash assumptions
It’s too early to understand how people will use RSS feed to gather information. As it’s still in its formative stages we can only guess. So here’s my prediction.
People will group relevant RSS feeds together. If we take the example of a journalist with a range of technology beats, they might have one group for Web Services, one group for Operating Systems etc. By simply clicking on the RSS group they can immediately see which companies have made announcements. If you group your RSS feeds by sector, you can include large, medium and small organizations and in seconds have a view of the latest developments across an entire sector.
I think people will subscribe to company feeds if those companies are relevant (and obviously they are aware of them).
RSS is new…
The truth is we don’t know how effective it will ultimately become, however we do know that people are already using them and a growing number of companies are providing them. Back in the early 1990’s the number of people with e-mail was relatively small, but that didn’t mean we didn’t need e-mail!
PR is a complex business that often involves a leap of faith, sometimes a story you think is a killer never gets picked up, sometimes a small story spreads like wildfire. Advertising is guaranteed, PR is a little more unpredictable. Give RSS a try, if you’re unhappy with the results, don’t use it.
All I can share with you is my own experience with RSS, which to date has been very positive. We simply treat it as another distribution channel along with our in-house lists, our wire service etc.
UPDATE: EWeek have an interesting case study on how a technology firm, Triple Point Technology, is using RSS to maximize communication across departments.
Murphy's Law 