Content reuse — the key to scaling businesses intelligently and quickly

As organizations grow, so does the complexity of managing content across multiple platforms. The challenge? Maintaining consistency and accuracy, reducing costs, and speeding up delivery times — all while scaling your content operations. The solution? Proven content reuse strategies that are revolutionizing content management, making it simpler and more effective than ever before.

The business case for content reuse

Large organizations today are facing significant challenges managing high volumes of product information, technical documentation, and support content. As the number of product variants, SKUs, and markets expand, it has never been more critical for content to be consistent and accurate, and for content management to be efficient and scalable. This is where content reuse becomes not just an option, but a strategic necessity. By reusing content effectively, organizations can streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve time to market, while ensuring that the right information is delivered promptly across all channels.

Defining content reuse in technical content

Content reuse refers to the practice of creating content once and repurposing it across multiple documents, formats, or channels without significant modification. This allows a single piece of content, such as a product description or troubleshooting guide, to be used in user manuals, online knowledge bases, and support portals. For example, in the manufacturing industry, a detailed part specification might be reused in product catalogs, assembly instructions, and maintenance documentation. In aerospace, a single component can be used across dozens of equipment models, documented and approved once, and submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration, improving time to market and reducing compliance risks. In the healthcare sector, patient care guidelines can be repurposed across various clinical settings to guarantee consistency and reduce the risk of life-altering errors.

With content reuse, units of information are kept in a central location, or single source of truth, that everyone can access. These units of information are created once, modified at the source, and used in multiple places. While copying and pasting content is also a form of content reuse, it creates independent, standalone copies that are disconnected from the source. For example, a linked image in a document would be automatically updated when it’s modified at the source, but an image that’s pasted or embedded into a document wouldn’t be updated when the source image is modified. That’s the advantage of true content reuse: When you change the content at the source, it’s automatically updated everywhere else it’s used.

Why content reuse is a strategic priority

Content reuse has become a strategic priority for several reasons. First, it significantly reduces the time and cost associated with content creation. By reusing existing content, organizations can avoid duplication of effort, leading to faster content production and reduced costs. Second, content reuse cultivates consistency across all customer touchpoints. When content is reused, it maintains the same messaging, terminology, and branding, which is crucial for delivering a unified customer experience. Finally, content reuse supports regulatory compliance and an audit trail, particularly in industries like finance and healthcare, where consistency and accuracy of product information are legally mandated.

Content types best suited for reuse

Not all content is equally suited for reuse. The types of content that lend themselves best to reuse typically include:

• Product documentation: These can be reused across marketing brochures and datasheets, user guides, and support content.
• Procedural content: Step-by-step guides, hazard notifications, or troubleshooting instructions can be repurposed across user manuals, online knowledge bases, and training materials.
• Regulatory compliance information: Standardized legal disclaimers and compliance statements can be reused across different business documents and jurisdictions.
• FAQs and knowledge base articles: Commonly asked questions and answers can be reused across self-service customer support channels, reducing the need to create new content for every platform.

Pitfalls of not having a content reuse strategy

Organizations that fail to implement a content reuse strategy face several risks. Without a reuse strategy, content creation becomes fragmented, leading to inconsistencies that can confuse customers and erode brand trust. The lack of reuse also results in duplicated efforts, increasing costs and delaying time to market. Furthermore, in regulated industries, inconsistencies in content can lead to compliance issues, potentially resulting in legal penalties and reputational damage. Without a structured approach to content reuse, organizations are likely to struggle with inefficient processes and escalating content management costs.

How structured authoring facilitates content reuse

Structured authoring is a time-tested method that organizes content into granular, reusable components, making it easier to manage and repurpose. This approach uses a framework, such as XML, to define the structure and format of content, allowing it to be reused across different documents and platforms. Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is one of the most common standards for structured authoring, but the principles of structured content can be applied using other frameworks as well. By adopting structured authoring, organizations can keep content organized, so it’s easier to update, manage, and reuse across various channels.

Implementing a content reuse strategy with a CCMS

To effectively manage content reuse, organizations need a robust content management system (CMS), or more specifically, a component content management system (CCMS) like Adobe Experience Manager Guides. Here’s a step-by-step guide to implementing a successful content reuse strategy:

1. Assess your current content: Begin by auditing your existing content to identify opportunities for reuse. Look for redundant or overlapping content that can be consolidated.
2. Adopt structured authoring: Implement structured authoring practices to organize your content into modular, reusable components. This will facilitate easier management and updates.
3. Select the right CCMS: Choose a proven CCMS that supports structured content and provides robust tools for managing content reuse across multiple channels, like Adobe Experience Manager Guides.
4. Develop content templates: Create templates for common content types, such as product descriptions, procedures, and compliance information. This ensures consistency and simplifies the reuse process.
5. Train your team: Make sure your content creators, editors, and managers are trained in structured authoring and the use of your CCMS. This will help them identify and create reusable content effectively.
6. Monitor and optimize: Regularly review your content reuse strategy to identify areas for improvement. Use analytics to track the performance of reused content and adjust as needed.

Business benefits and case studies

The business benefits of content reuse are significant and well-documented. Here are some real-life examples:

• Ciena achieved a 147% content reuse rate across its flagship product line, leading to substantial cost savings and faster time to market. Susanna Carlisi, Ciena’s senior content strategist of global product documentation, says, “The opportunities for content reuse have significantly increased our speed and efficiency as a team.”
• At Ariel Corporation, content can be reused in multiple places, keeping installation instructions, safety statements, and other material standard across documents. Taking advantage of reusable content saves time spent duplicating work, for when it is time to make content updates, writers only need to make the changes once. According to Ronald Egle, Ariel’s content systems administrator, “We’ve reduced our linguist translation efforts by 31% and improved the quality of our machine translation by over 100%. We also had a 100% reduction in manual file copying between systems.”

• Grundfos was able to reuse over 750,000 topics across various documents and channels. “With more reuse, easy updates, and fast translation, we are achieving a much faster time to market,” stated Bo Jensen, IT project coordinator. “Adobe Experience Manager Guides allows us to be much faster with documentation today.”
• Briggs & Stratton saw a 25% reduction in translation costs and a 15% increase in content reuse within six months of implementing a reuse strategy. According to John Piechowski, director of dealer support, “Between the time savings for writers and decreased need for translations, we’re reducing translation costs by up to 25% with Adobe Experience Manager Guides.”
• Palo Alto Networks improved its publishing efficiency by allowing significant content reuse, thanks to Adobe Experience Manager Guides. “AEM Guides has really helped us with the efficiency of our publishing by allowing us to reuse content,” said Laralyn Melvin, Senior Director, Technical Documentation, at Palo Alto Networks.

Get started with a CCMS

Content reuse is now a must for large organizations dealing with vast amounts of product information, technical documentation, and support content. By adopting structured authoring practices and leveraging a powerful CCMS like Adobe Experience Manager Guides, organizations can reduce costs and time to market and improve content consistency and compliance. The risks of not implementing a content reuse strategy are too great to ignore, making it imperative for organizations to take a structured and strategic approach to content management.

Saibal Bhattacharjee is the director of product marketing for the digital advertising, learning, and publishing business unit at Adobe. Saibal has been with Adobe for more than 14 years. In his current role, he oversees GTM and business strategy for a diverse product portfolio in Adobe, including Adobe Experience Manager Guides, Pass, FrameMaker, and RoboHelp. Saibal holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.

https://business.adobe.com/fragments/resources/cards/thank-you-collections/experience-manager-guides