In the last few years, the media landscape has gone through a metamorphosis with the proliferation of social media – blogs, online communities and the like.  At the same time, publications continue to streamline, if not disappear altogether.  As outlets such as BusinessWeek and Bloomberg continue to merge and consolidate, and as the number of journalists continue to dwindle, content is becoming ever more important – not only to public relations specialists, such as myself, but to those clients we serve.

Many think the word content is an overused term – and maybe it is.  It can mean many things – bylines, blog posts, marketing collateral, Web content, Tweets, podcasts and much more.  To take things a step further, the speed at which content is now being developed, published and then set aside for new thoughts and opinions is staggering.  Not to mention, everyone is in a life and death race to be at the top of the Google rankings and is doing everything they can to ensure optimal SEO.  Because of these many elements, the word content can be a scary word and trying to determine what steps to take can be daunting.

Some enterprises and PR firms are leveraging journalists – CA Technologies’ hiring of Denise Dubie, John Fontana planting routes with Ping Identity, and many more.  They are leveraging the expertise of these well known journalists to build out social media practices and to garner the written content that is so desperately needed.  Other organizations are working to bolster their content through video, podcasts and viral media campaigns.  And yet others are establishing industry portals to position themselves as thought leaders within particular markets.  We’ve helped several clients establish these portals and thus far have experienced great success as customers, partners and influencers are on the hunt for content that is aggregated into a single location, rather than relying on Google alerts, RSS feeds and daily searches.

However you do it – written, recorded, Twitter or industry portal – content is increasingly becoming the way in which companies large and small are differentiating themselves; and although the word “content” encompasses a lot and can cause feelings of anxiety in some, you can’t sit idly by.  It will be a missed opportunity.  Therefore, it is important to get in the game and to work with experts (journalists, PR practitioners, marketers) who can guide your organization down a path that will drive the results you are looking for.