These days, it’s easy for e-retailers to say, “Yes, we need more content on our site,” “Yes, we’ll outsource content writers,” even, “Yes, we’ll bring content writers on board!” It’s easy to say because it’s obvious customers respond to it when done right – no one seems to be arguing that anymore.

What’s not easy is understanding what to do with the content once you’ve got it, or even more simply, how much you need in the first place. Deanna Brown, President and COO, Federated Media Publishing, is an expert on this subject and has spent time at big names like AOL and Yahoo, in addition to co-founding CondeNet, CondeNast’s digital arm. In the below podcast, she breaks down how companies can determine what their involvement in the social web should be, how to use content to build brand image and why this whole thing is so important anyway. Her company’s partners, blogs like Mashable and Apartment Therapy, are living proof of it.