Survey Results of 300 B2B Technology Websites-What 7 Out of 10 Marketers Aren’t Doing Online But Should Be

During the summer of 2008 I visited the websites of 300 business-to-business technology companies looking for one thing: RSS feeds.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a Web feed format used to publish frequently updated information such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video in a standardized format. Website or blog visitors may subscribe to RSS feeds through a widget button on a site using Feedburner (recently acquired by Google) or other free service.

I found that 70% of B2B technology companies are not using RSS at all, and of the 30% that are using it, only 10% are using more than one feed in order to offer targeted information updates.

What’s the big deal about RSS? MarketingSherpa and KnowledgeStorm surveyed over 3,000 B2B technology decision makers, asking them “How important is RSS in helping you stay up-to-date on technology information?” 8% responded that it was a “necessity”, 24% responded that it was “important”, and 39% said it was “nice to have.”

While only 16% of the general public uses RSS feeds, 71% of technology buyers assign at least some value to their RSS use. By not offering this option, most B2B tech marketers are missing out on a valuable opportunity to influence this audience.

According to Rok Hrastnik, author of “Unleash the Marketing and Publishing Power of RSS,” the problem with most RSS marketing plans is that the marketer doesn’t go beyond providing a simple RSS feed for all of their online news or blog.

Marketers need to correctly plan their RSS marketing strategy, starting with deciding how RSS content will be delivered. Mr. Hrastnik recommends providing individual RSS feeds for:

- Individual target audiences

- Types of content

- Content topics

Want step-by-step instructions on how to best implement RSS? Get your free copy of my research report The Most Powerful Online Tool for Influencing B2B Technology Buyers