As web communicators, we operate in a multiplatform world, and our content strategies have to take that into account. Often, however, due to lack of resources, time or a sense of how we might use a particular channel, we don’t dive into all platforms at once. Josh Cole from Tippingpoint Labs says that we should account for this growth over time, but that we can also plan that trajectory from the outset.
Cole explains that even if we start micro, we can plan macro, and chart out the progressive steps in between that will help our content strategy get there. Can our Facebook page set the stage for a blog, and then an email newsletter, and so on? Commercial brands are using this approach — why not us?
Each successive content form builds upon the previous. But none of them go away. They become part of an ecosystem that feeds and promotes the other parts.
Source: How To Help Your Content Grow Up by Josh Cole, Tippingpoint Labs, Aug. 5, 2011
Hi Georgy,
Thanks for reading my article. I think the concept would work great for Higher Ed. It seems like for universities, you’d want to start with what you have. How can you chart the growth of your alumni print magazine into online channels, while using it to drive interest back to your print publication, and extend into media that works for your audience. How can you take that section of the magazine about “What are they up to now” and build that into a Facebook or linkedin community that grows into a stronger real world network that helps with recruitment and job placement and drives contributions.
How can you take your video testimonial content and grow it into a TV show via youtube. How can you leverage all the thought leaders on your faculty and grow their publications in journals to thoughtful, topical online communities, to books to documentaries.
It sounds like an exciting task!