The Rule of 5 for B2B Content Development

Lead nurturing, inbound pull, social networks, blogs and other eMarketing activities are all fueled by content. Lots of it. That puts a lot of pressure on limited marketing resources to churn out not only volume, but quality content that delivers a consistent storyline to a variety of target markets and customers.

So what's a B2B marketer to do?

Embrace the Rule of 5.

The rule of 5 is that each and every content development undertaking should produce content assets that can be used at least 5 different ways.

Whether 5 versions of the same article to align with different industries or segments; or 5 different assets from the same research, there are many ways you can get more use from your content development projects.

The secret to the Rule of 5 is planning and the biggest way to help yourself is by creating an editorial calendar to help you see how content development efficiencies can be achieved.

Let's say that you plan to create a white paper. When you know in advance that you need 4 additional content assets from the project, you can plan production with that in mind.

One white paper can help you create:

• a series of articles
• several articles and a few blog posts
• a couple of scripts for slidecasts (slides plus audio)
• a webinar on the same topic (give the white paper away to attendees as a bonus)

The trick is in planning for the additional development before you research. When creating a white paper there is always (at least in my case) more research than actually gets used. By outlining your white paper you can maximize your research time by gathering extra fodder to be used specifically in complementary pieces.

Consider:

• Collecting information on the topic as it relates to various verticals.


• Addressing the topic from different angles to meet the variety of stakeholder perspectives you need to address.


• Customer scenarios that can be folded into other articles that aren't being used in the white paper.


• The needs of early stage prospects vs. late stage buyers. The same research can be used to produce educational content and then be blended with your company's expertise to create content used during the later stages by your sales team. (marketing content and sales content are different)

The only way to achieve economies of scale with content development is to have a plan that addresses storylines (themes) across your prospects' buying stages. When you're building a consistent story that pulls buyers through their purchasing process, developing multiple content assets during one project can help you produce enough fuel to feed your eMarketing strategies.

Comments

[Mary Flaherty]

Hi Ardath,

This is right on the mark. To be successful with ongoing content development, you really do need to leverage the research and content into multiple assets. Planning is critical--and having an editorial calendar is a huge benefit.

One of the things I recommend firms do is to scope out content on a calendar that is available on an intranet or shared network. (A simple color-coded Excel calendar works well.) This offers a great visual so team members can see at a glance what's scheduled to publish when. As you add a white paper, for example, take that opportunity to make sure you've considered the other content assets you wish to develop with that research. Reviewing the calendar regularly can also help you see links between content, common themes, and "holes" that need to be addressed. I also suggest adding events (seminars, trade shows, etc.) to the calendar--as these can trigger additional content such as a series of newsletter articles, a Q&A interview, slide show, etc.

-Mary

[Doug Kessler]

Like it.
We sometimes call this 'atomising' content around the web.

[Ed Kohler]

Great stuff. I imagine this is done to some degree but poorly quantified, which means it probably doesn't end up being fully realized.

[Kirsti Scott]

It's a great idea to repurpose your content not only for the time and effort it saves, but also to help project a cohesive message across many media. Thanks for the nice article!

[Deb Monfette]

All great info and comments. Repurposing content also allows the readers to see the message over again, as they say "7 different times 7 different ways" to make it stick!

[Polly Hyatt]

Great insight and direction. I would add one caution- make sure the content is adapted to each vehicle. In my work I see far too many brochures that are copied and pasted to web sites, for example, resulting in crowded pages that are not easily scanned and much less effective than they could be.

[Samuraiwriter99]

I was listening again to Ardath's presentation on this topic at Mike Stelzner's White Success Summit 2010 - yep, nearly a year since this post appeared but more relevant than ever.

As Polly notes, the content does need to be crafted for the appropriate marketing vehicle (and customer/prospect!) - just pouring it in like pre-set concrete is a strategy that will fall apart over time.