Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business

Chapter 5. Reimagine; Don't Recycle: Anatomy of a Content Circle of Life

Here comes the fun part: What content are you going to produce? What formats are you going to use—ebooks, white papers, blog posts, videos, photos, podcasts, tweets on Twitter, Facebook status updates, customer case studies, or iPhone apps? The short answer is, "Yep."

We're not being flip. Rather, we're suggesting that you always keep an open mind when you think about the material you want to create. Instead of a "one and done" approach, treat anything you develop as pieces of a larger whole. View all of the pieces of content you plan to create as expressions of a single bigger idea. Or, alternatively—if you are starting with something larger, like a white paper or ebook—think about how you can create smaller chunks of shareable content from that single content asset.

Adopting a broader approach to creating content requires a shift in thinking. Most organizations are accustomed to approaching marketing as a single campaign or initiative, and less as an ongoing, long-term model—as content requires, points out Jeff Rohrs, vice president of marketing at ExactTarget, an Indianapolis-based e-mail marketing company. "Taking a holistic view requires thinking differently, because organizations are programmed otherwise," he says.

This is also a good time to point out that the responsibility of creating good content does not fall solely on the shoulders of the marketing department. With the rise of the social web, the lines ...