— Tips & Tricks
Recycle content smartly–instead of constantly reinventing it!
Many companies are under pressure to constantly produce new content: for their blog, for social media, for internal communications, or for sales. And even though they’re posting content across all channels, they’re often left with a feeling of: The effort involved is enormous, but the impact is modest. In this situation, there is a high risk of falling into the content trap: always new, never efficient. But there’s a simple alternative: Instead of constantly creating new content from scratch, you can strategically revise existing content, adapt it to new formats, and tailor it for other channels. This saves time and effort, reduces costs, and at the same time increases the impact of your messages.
Why isn't content recycling just a stopgap measure?
How can a story be told in multiple ways?
How does one topic give rise to five formats?
How effective is content recycling in practice?
Why isn’t content recycling just a stopgap measure?
Content overload is a real phenomenon: all target audiences—including yours—are bombarded with information and calls to action every single day. Studies show that more than half of all content goes unconsumed! Content overload is therefore not just a problem for readers, but clearly for businesses as well—especially those that produce ineffective content.
Companies that produce less content—but better content—are taking a deliberate stand against the flood of content. Strategic content requires more effort in planning and production. In return, the impact of each piece of content is greater, and the target audience’s attention is captured in a targeted manner. In terms of results, higher-quality content is generally associated with a more efficient use of resources. The goal is to create content that isn’t just visible in some way, but is also relevant—both in terms of substance and emotion.
How can a story be told in multiple ways?
It is more effective and useful to produce 3 pieces of content that truly make an impact than 3, 30, or 300 posts that fizzle out without making a difference. Strategic content means: Each piece of content was created with a clear purpose. The content has two levels: a factual one and an emotional one. The content level describes existing phenomena, draws attention to future developments, addresses known problems, proposes solutions, and offers added value. The emotional level—the subtext—simultaneously addresses the needs, aspirations, and desires of the target audiences, counters objections, and preempts counterarguments early on. Strategic content is directly linked to measurable business goals (e.g., revenue levels, duration of customer relationships)—and is never an end in itself.
Strategic content requires two things: content and strategy. It may sound obvious at first, but it’s critical to success. After all, results can only be achieved when there’s a strategy in place and content is being produced. Content must be strategically aligned as effectively as possible with relevant, financially capable target audiences who are interested in making a purchase. Surprisingly, however, many companies skip the strategy phase and jump straight into content production. As a result, crucial questions remain unanswered: What content will be published and promoted—when, how, where, and why? If there’s a lack of prioritization and no clear plan or direction, content production often doesn’t progress as hoped. This widespread lack of strategy presents a major opportunity for companies that think about, plan, and implement content strategically!
How does one topic give rise to five formats?
Strategic content means different things depending on the type and size of the company or institution. Let’s look at a few examples:
A cultural institution has limited resources and should therefore not try to distribute too many individual pieces of content across too many channels. It is better to produce one strategic main piece of content (e.g., a longer-form video that shows both what happens on stage and behind the scenes) and then use it to create appropriate smaller pieces of content.
A young startup has limited resources and usually can’t publish in-depth content every day. Here, it makes sense to pool your limited resources and, as part of a project, produce at least one major piece of content—tailored to your target audiences and products—that sparks interest among them (e.g., a free PDF with valuable content). And then to work with this strategic premium content on an ongoing basis—for example, by regularly highlighting it (ideally on a weekly or even daily basis, since this requires relatively little effort).
How effective is content recycling in practice?
Review existing content
Delete poor content
Update outdated content
Try out new content
Align the content precisely
Scale content production
A good place to start is with your existing content: What’s performing well? What can be deleted? What needs to be updated?
Test projects are a recommended next step: What really works with the target audiences? Which formats are well-received, and which aren’t? How much effort does content production actually require—and what results can be expected?
Since this is about strategic content, the rule of thumb is to prioritize quality over quantity: relevant content, emotional appeal, high-quality visuals, and compelling stories are the standard that target audiences expect.
Hidden Gems
Insider Tip #1
The “Customers as Co-Creators” Strategy
Ask your most loyal customers to help create content—whether through guest posts, interviews, or videos. Authentic voices often have a greater impact than highly polished formats.
Insider Tip #2
The “Dark Social” Strategy
Focus on private channels like WhatsApp, a Campus platform and/or closed groups. Create exclusive content that you deliberately don’t share on public platforms to spark curiosity and desire.
Insider Tip #3
The “Content Cocktail” Strategy
Break the rules and mix content formats to generate more attention through surprise. A humorous article paired with a serious case study can have a big impact.
Insider Tip #4
The “No-Content” Strategy
Take intentional breaks from posting—and make them visible. Communicate these breaks: “We won’t be posting anything this week so we can create better content for next week. Stay tuned for…”