Standalone RSS Ads More Successful Than Inline Ads

Pheedo just recenty released their latest report on the state of RSS advertising and the "feedosphere", based on their RSS network, with some excellent "how-to" insights for marketers.

1] "Standalone RSS ads more successful than inline ads"

Not surprisingly, Pheedo found that standalone RSS ads, published as a full content item within a feed, are significantly more successful than inline ads, which appear next to other content within a single content item within a feed.

At an average 7.99% Clickthrough Rate, standalone RSS ads are over 9 times more successful than inline ads.

It is now evident for marketers that in order to drive results for their important campaigns, standalone RSS ads are essential, whether in your own feeds or in the feeds you are advertising in.

The question now is what kind of frequency can we afford with these much more aggresive standalone ads? No statistical data available yet, but I would recommend at least a 80:20 ratio in favor of "content" posts vs. advertisement posts ... or less.

We also recommend to marketers to use both approaches: standalone ads for more important campaigns and inline ads for persistent ad campaigns.

2] "Placing RSS ads in every other post yields the highest percentage of click throughs."

A different frequency question is the advertising frequency of inline ads. Pheedo's data shows that ads placed in every other content item achieve a 3.24% CTR on average, 3 times more effective than placing an ad in each content item.

However, these are aggregate numbers we are talking about. As a marketer you need to see for yourself what in the end ammounts to most clickthroughs and sales.

3] Other important data for marketers

a] Latest data shows that best CTRs are achieved on Tuesday, Monday and Saturday, meaning that standalone ads should be used in this period.

b] RSS readership is strongest on Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning these are the days for your most relevant and important content, and on the weekend declines on average over 67% in comparison to average weekday readership.

But again, remember that these are only aggregate stats. Actual results may varry for each specific company, meaning that you should constantly conduct your own measurements, research, testing and optimization.