Last March, I conducted several email interviews to prepare my column about Real Simple Syndication (RSS) for the June 2006 issue of University Business: “RSS: The Next Big Thing in University Web Communications.â€
Dana Ewing, Director of Online Product Development at Peterson’s, answered these questions last March.
1) Why did Peterson’s decide to play the RSS card on its website by integrating news from client institutions?
Our goal when expanding our online offerings to prospective students and clients was to provide a central location where kids could really begin to interact with and “get a feel†for schools on their list and clients could present a much more rich and multidimensional view of their school to prospective students.
To figure out how to accomplish this goal, we went back to the users themselves, students. We held focus groups across the country to find out what types of information were useful to prospective students when evaluating institutions and then went on to ask what type of media would best present such information. Much of what we heard was that kids wanted quick access to areas of a school that interested them. They wanted to hear from other kids, get a sense for the campus, and find out what life was like outside of classes. They figured, if they could find out a ton of information on where they’d be shacking up for vacation through Hotels.com, why shouldn’t they be able to do it for a school where they’d potentially be spending the next 4 years of their life? They used blogs, chats, IM, and podcasts daily. And they held an expectation that similar tools would be available to them while they navigated their college selection process. They weren’t interested in reading a bunch of text on a screen.
The message was clear…Static was out, dynamic was in. So, this got us thinking, what types of new media is out there that could help us meet our target audience’s craving for real-time, tailored information? RSS feeds, along with deep links into a school’s own dynamic areas, such as student blogs and admissions chats, were ideal mechanisms for delivering such information. Schools could now gain additional exposure to their own websites and tout their latest accolades through their news feeds, and students would have a central location where they could access all of the latest information and real-time content for each of the schools on their list!
As clients increasingly utilize this tool, we are able to quickly integrate their feed into our site, making it a win win for all involved.
2) Do you think your target audience of prospective students is ready for RSS?
In a nutshell, absolutely. The youth audience grew up with the internet at their fingertips. They are the first to adopt new technology and utilize it in unconventional ways. If anything, I think that it’s us who need to make sure we’re keeping up!