IRSS: Individualized RSS feeds shine light on Web traffic

The age-old question – which is just a few months old, really – for podcasting is, “Who is listening to my podcast?” The answer may well be revealed by using Individualized RSS, or IRSS. Paul Dunay, head of global field marketing for Bearing Point and the author of the Buzz Marketing Blog, writes:

“Enter Individualized RSS – or IRSS. IRSS gives each feed a unique identifier, which is created during the subscription process. This is a significant step forward. With IRSS, you no longer are looking at a sea of subscribers who want your content. Instead, your feeds become distinct streams flowing to uniquely numbered groups. As a result, you can study and gather more data on each feed, such as measuring page views.

Albert Maruggi of Provident Partners interviews Paul Dunay in this episode of the Marketing Edge podcast. Using IRSS capability on the server side of your Web site allows for a unique identifier for all of your podcast subscribers. It’s similar to a tracking cookie for podcast subscribers, if you like that analogy, and it is a comprehensive way to understand in greater detail the information your listeners want and how they are interacting with your company. It has helped Bearing Point discover that its podcast page is one of the most consistently read pages on the global consulting firm’s Web site, and one that regularly captures dramatically longer viewing times than any other page.