Content Syndication:Leveraging Content Multiple Times With the Right Strategy
Working Paper No. 32
In the era of AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, the pressure on content creators is intensifying as they are asked to produce more content in less time. But while AI tools are still in their adolescence, hand-crafted content continues to prove its worth. Good content is essential for building industry authority, reach and is an integral part of lead generation. However, creating good content takes a lot of effort and is not cheap. So it is understandable that content syndication seems so appealing at first glance. Once created, content can theoretically be scaled indefinitely – without investing additional time. But it is not quite that simple because there are some pitfalls when it comes to recycling content.
Creating one-for-all content
With content syndication, a company's own content is used multiple times. The original content is published one-to-one on other channels. This practice is prevalent in B2B marketing. For example, blog posts initially published only on the company's website are also published on other websites, such as partner sites or publishing platforms like Medium. Content syndication is also frequently seen on social media: whenever, for example, TikTok videos are published one-to-one as Instagram Reels.
Producing content once and then reusing it on other platforms is basically a good approach. Your brand can increase visibility and reach new target groups without additional effort. Third-party content can enrich your range of topics, while your content on third-party sites ensures generating additional reach. If the syndicated content is published on other websites, backlinks to your site can also be set. This practice can be particularly worthwhile if the other sites have higher visibility than yours. And that's the basic idea.
Why many brands fail at content syndication
Unfortunately, content syndication is only simple in theory because many factors need to be considered. For example, it might jeopardize your aims to stand out with unique content. Potential customers could first visit the partner site and perceive your content as theirs. Thus, your original content can quickly be viewed as "stolen content." In addition, it is unlikely that the target group will want to follow all your channels if the same content is published everywhere. Channel-specific content that considers the respective target group and allows a certain degree of "personalization" is still the most successful.
Another problem many companies face is that they sabotage themselves in their inbound marketing activities because they ignore SEO. But is content syndication even about SEO? It's always about SEO. At least currently, it still is because it can build visibility reliantly and with a great return on investment if executed properly. Not only in B2C but also in B2B, pull marketing via SEO holds great potential for lead generation. And this is where many companies miss out on incredible opportunities by creating duplicate content on partner sites. Syndicated content can certainly generate traffic and backlinks – but in the worst case, for the third-party site rather than yours.
Developing channel-specific strategies
It is not necessarily a good idea to publish the same content everywhere. A strategy mix is usually more effective depending on the channel and target group. Content syndication can certainly be worthwhile as one of the methods used. Consider the following when setting up your content syndication plan:
1. reaching a new target group
2. scaling generic content
3. make no or few compromises
First, content syndication should ensure you connect with a new target group. In the case of a partner website, the target group will likely be similar, so a one-to-one exchange is rarely worthwhile. However, it's a different story if it is an entirely different channel. One example: If your podcast is available on Spotify and via RSS feed, a secondary use via YouTube can increase your reach significantly – especially if the podcast was recorded as a video, i.e., if it meets basic channel-specific requirements. However, the videocast should not be the only content but an additional offer to the source medium.
Second, content not serving your company's differentiation is also well suited for content syndication, provided it does not conflict with exclusive channels. As a rule of thumb, any content that could be distributed to all media in a press release can be syndicated. That includes interviews, articles, or specific sales assets such as infographics, video snippets, or one-pagers. However, the content should not be optimized for SEO or gated.
Third, all content requiring little or no compromise can be syndicated. That is often the case for social media content, as it doesn't interfere with other channels. It is more a question of whether and to what extent it fits the target group. Many social media managers won't agree to this because, strictly speaking, social media also requires producing unique content. However, if you don't have the resources for it and consider all channels from the beginning, you can reuse and repurpose a lot of social media content.
Scaling content effectively
In addition to content syndication, content repurposing (also known as content spinning), content extension, content batching, and content curation are among the most effective methods for scaling content quickly and with little effort.
With repurposing, content is given a slightly different spin but is based on the original content and can be produced more quickly. For example, a guest article can be easily repurposed for a different audience. A blog post for a partner site can have a different focus. Or a long YouTube video can be turned into several short videos with unique introductions for LinkedIn if this channel has already been considered during production.
Content extension, on the other hand, builds on existing content and expands it. This method is suitable, for example, if an SEO-optimized blog post is enriched with detailed information and additional examples to create a gated white paper. In this case, the blog post serves as a "teaser." Content extension also works for guest articles. The partner publishes the teaser, but the detailed version is only available on your site.
With content batching, a lot of content is produced in one sitting, speeding up the process. Many successful social media influencers excel at this method. They create content once or twice a week and then have enough content for several days or weeks. Content batching can be used for text, video, audio, or graphics. However, the content and processes should be as similar as possible to exploit this method's full potential, e.g., one day for producing videos, one day for writing texts.
Content curation is simply adding third-party content to your content stream. Some social media tools already offer features like suggesting popular content that can be shared to generate engagement quickly. Of course, this also includes leveraging partner content. However, content curation is most effective on social media and is more of a gap-filler until you publish your next piece of content. It is of limited use for your website or other channels.
About the author
Anja Schmidt is Lead Content & Communication at ABOUT YOU's B2B unit SCAYLE, where she is responsible for content, PR, and social media. The former journalist has written for various German media outlets, such as Computer Bild and T3N, and has worked in PR on the agency side for clients such as Facebook, Instagram, NDR Info, and Survey Monkey. She is specialized in developing high-reach online content.