Tear down those walls. In today’s social media infused PR & Marketing environment it’s no longer to your benefit to only publish content to your campaign website. No, in fact in today’s iPhone wielding, Twitter, & Facebook obsessed world it’s to your advantage to Syndicate your content to as many platforms as possible.

Such a concept of sharing content used to be a dirty thought, as you wanted to control your content and simply drive audiences directly to your website. However, while that is still true today, the strategy for obtaining and reaching consumers of your content has shifted; and the focus is now on spreading your message as widely as possible and having the audience further disseminate your content and propel new eyeballs in your direction. As audiences become more and more fragmented it is increasingly important to share your content and extend its reach in order to help meet the increased diversity with which content is consumed.

Sharing your content and syndicating it benefits your campaign in a number of innovative ways:

• By increasing the availability of the content, creating more pipes that lead back to your website & allowing you to reach broader audiences.
• Engaged audiences take ownership and will proactively share your news, and spread the message on their own to their own friends and contacts.
• Allows target audiences to opt-in and manage both when & where they interact with your information.

Beyond these aspects, there are other advantages, not the least of which is having the opportunity to syndicate any type of content from the latest news release, to a Podcast interview with your spokesperson, or simply a link to a related article via Twiter. The benefits are endless and will allow you to maximize coverage for your efforts.

Amidst the latest news of impending tablet like devices, including Apple’s newest creation, lies a new and important path for communications campaigns and the practitioners that coordinate these efforts.

First, in terms of the technology, the day of the E-Reader is upon us. Both the Amazon Kindle & the Barnes and Noble Nook experienced extremely successful holiday sales to wrap up 2009. While 2010 is staring off with numerous competitors announcing their own E-Reader efforts at the annual Consumer Electronics show, and mounting speculation as to what Apple will unveil in this space later this week.

The growth of this “reader” type of device in an arena already crowded by Notebooks, Netbooks, iPhones, & Blackberries is interesting; and yet it is an evolution of those devices. The e-reader, despite its name, I believe will extend beyond just electronic forms of books. This type of device, when done correctly will allow for easy consumption and navigation of content on a sizeable screen, in a format that is easier on the eyes (no backlight or optional backlight) and unites a variety of content types including audio, video, & text.

Specifically, with the web’s maturation we are now observing two different types of internet audiences… the first being the desktop/laptop space in which you interact with the web, collaborate with colleagues and essentially get work done. For most of us, that categorizes the vast majority of our day…but the second audience is more concerned with consuming content that is available online from the comfort of their family room, or along their commute. We saw the early evidence of this type of behavior with the iPod and subsequent similar devices; but the shift that has been observed in the past several weeks suggests that we are about to head in a direction that revolutionizes this media consumption in an easier to use and more portable format that that of a 13” or 15” laptop. This new type of device will make it easier to spend that down time “away” from the computer consuming any type of content that you can imagine.

All of that said, this technological shift simply underlines the importance for communications campaigns to seek to disseminate and Touch customers in any number of ways. While the devices continue to evolve and offer each of us new ways to be entertained, with the old phrase in mind “content is king,” it is increasingly important for those of us in the communications business to be content-minded. In doing so, we will be able to use these new types of outreach tools to produce content that can accompany our PR & Marketing campaigns and capitalize on these technologies to reach broader audiences.

MediaBack Page’s Quick Hits for April 27th :

• Podcast Audience Up 22% Since Last Year - Podcasting News -
• iPhone is Boosting Demand For Location-Based Services - Another example of how the iPhone and its associated technologies are changing the communications landscape…

MediaBack Page’s Quick Hits for March 23rd :

• The Associated Press: Adam Carolla goes from canceled to podcast king -
• How the iPhone 3.0 Will Create a New Mobile Economy -
• Social Media Marketing Budgets on the Rise -
• Newspapers fold as readers defect and economy sours - CNN.com -

MediaBack Page’s Quick Hits for March 19th :

• Time Inc.'s new made-to-order magazine lets readers tailor content - Yahoo! Canada Finance -
• How the iPhone could save the newspaper industry : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech - An interesting take on how Apple's iPhone 3.0 technology can be leveraged for struggling publications to build a new stream of revenue.

MediaBack Page’s Quick Hits for March 18th :

• Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 and the unannounced Podcast features -

Do you read the paper, or surf to their website, subscribe to an RSS feed?  Do you listen to the radio, or download Podcasts, listen to Slacker, or Satellite?  Is prime-time TV your thing; do you watch on a television, via SlingBox, or do you Hulu?

The questions can go on and on, as today’s audiences are increasingly fragmented.  It’s a point I often make during presentations and conversations with clients – today’s audiences are increasingly sophisticated and get their news and information in varied ways.  The translation for communications professionals is that we have to think about communicating differently and in ways that go beyond the traditional methodologies.  That is not to say those aren’t important avenues, because they are clearly still powerful outlets, but today they are just one part of today’s communications landscape.  But increasingly, so are new technologies from audio and video on the web as Podcasts and Webcasts, to desktop widgets, and BlackBerry and iPhone applications; the translation communications and marketing are becoming platform agnostic practices.

There are two recent examples, which showcase how content providers are adopting new strategies that are increasingly platform agnostic.  First, Amazon on the heels of releasing the second edition of its Kindle e-book reader, released Kindle for iPhone.  Now, instead of only selling e-books to owners of Amazon’s own hardware they are able to tap into new audiences who own either the Apple iPhone, or the iPod Touch.  Further, this strategy will expand the availability of Amazon’s e-books; generating increased content sales and potential even furthering interest in the Kindle device.

Secondly, on the heels of the Sirius/XM merger, and under increased pressure to differentiate and compete in today’s media marketplace come rumors that Sirius XM is evolving and developing a new broader internet strategy.  It seems as though the firm is working to give subscribers easier access to the Sat Radio’s content from any number of devices including Windows Media Center, via Boxee, or even via the iPhone and iPod Touch.  These moves suggest that Sirius realizes the importance of reaching subscribers in any number of venues, in order to meet the increased demands of today’s consumer in an effort to keep them as subscribers.

With both examples, we see that these providers are leaving behind the idea of proprietary hardware to access their content – instead they will find greater success with a platform agnostic approach.  These instances can serve as examples of the new way in which communications professionals need to be thinking about delivering their own messaging.  With this approach in mind, the more avenues through which communications professionals can try and distribute their own messaging then the more success we’ll have at telling our stories.