Why Can't Email and RSS Just Get Along?

April 25, 2005 -- RSS and email marketing idealists (and vendors) are engaged in continuing efforts to demonstrate why one medium is better than the other for delivering information to customers and prospects.

But the real issue, says Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports - http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/ - is not which one is better, but how can businesses best use both to get more from their marketing efforts.

Wise marketers, he says, don't see this as an either/or debate.

"For some proponents of RSS to suggest that email is no longer viable as a marketing vehicle is nonsense, given the success businesses have with their email marketing efforts." says Brownlow.

Equally, email marketers who dismiss RSS out of hand need to take another look..."Given the advantages, particularly in terms of getting messages through to a set of eyeballs, it deserves their full attention."

Brownlow suggests that RSS skepticism among email marketers is down to short-term technology concerns, like measurement and distribution issues, and the fact that many consumers still aren't ready or able to use RSS feeds.

"But," he notes, "these problems are likely to disappear as the technology and user landscape changes."

Brownlow adds, "As consumers demand more control over how companies talk to them, it's hard to argue against marketers considering both as part of an integrated marketing strategy. Let's hope common sense prevails."

About Email Marketing Reports:
Email Marketing Reports is a content site featuring hundreds of hand-reviewed links to online email marketing resources. The "No man is an iland" blog reviews and links to the latest advice and news articles on the web.

The goal is to help marketers understand the issues involved in email marketing, and maximize the returns on their use of permission-based, opt-in email as a marketing vehicle.