The torrent of blog related content recently has relegated my beloved RSS to the sidelines (for the moment).
However, Keith O’Brien over at PR Week has penned a fantastic article on RSS and PR.
While I’m not sure that RSS will solve overflowing inboxes, it can definetely help practitioners to monitor media sources (including blogs and competitors) and it does provide an innovative and cost-effective means of delivering news (and maybe creating conversations) to your audiences.
I think Keith’s closing paragraph is a great summary of not only the impact of RSS but of any new technology including blogs:
“From an end-user perspective, RSS fits unobtrusively into the mix of information services available. As with all advancements, public relations professionals need to stay abreast of changes, embrace them, and use them to their benefit. While the technology may be new, the story is not.”
We shouldn’t lose the run of ourselves. We should instead by pragmatic. Existing PR skills are more relevant today than ever before. New technologies should be trialled, but only those that directly contribute to your objectives should be embraced. There is no point doing something simply because it’s the new new thing. Trial it, measure it and if it works use it. If it doesn’t work then try it at a later date.
RSS may not be for everyone at this point but it works for my employer. Try it and you might find it’ll work for yours.
Footnote:
I should issue the disclaimer that Cape Clear does get a small mention in the PR Week article.
Murphy's Law 