Elevate your content marketing with a cascading strategy. Create core content, then repurpose across channels for consistency, efficiency, and to reach new audiences.
The benefits of using a cascading content strategy
How to create a cascading content strategy
Develop your core piece of content
Identify themes in your core piece of content
Choose marketing channels for your derivative content
In today’s digital landscape, creating and managing content across multiple platforms and channels can become a heavy lift. Enter the cascading content strategy— a powerful approach that streamlines content creation, repurposing, and delivery, ensuring your message resonates with your audience at various touchpoints.
When you implement a cascading content strategy, you can tap into a range of powerful advantages that will elevate your content marketing to new heights.
Cascading content is the process of creating a core piece of content to be repurposed, adapted, and tailored to fit other formats and channels. The core content is often a long-form article, white paper, or comprehensive guide that serves as the foundation for derivative pieces of content.
Picture your core content as the top of a waterfall. As the water cascades, it falls into pools and fills in cracks, also known as your derivative content. At the bottom of the waterfall, you have a complete cascading content strategy.
Use a cascading content strategy to improve efficiency, consistency, and the ability to reach target audiences in your marketing efforts.
A cascading content strategy maximizes your ROI by allowing you to repurpose components of your primary, high-effort content piece across multiple channels. The initial investment you put into creating a comprehensive core asset gives you more bang for your buck when you strategically repackage and redistribute key elements tailored for different platforms and audiences. Rather than constantly generating new content from scratch, you’ll reframe your existing work to get the most mileage for your content development efforts.
When you share your expertise on one topic across multiple platforms, you’re showing your audience that you’re a reliable and consistent source for information. You not only believe in what your core piece of content says, but you’re doubling down and sharing it to different channels so even more people can see it. Keeping the same point-of-view promotes trust, allowing audiences to diagnose you as credible. Additionally, reinforcing your core message from multiple touchpoints makes it more memorable and impactful for your audience.
Your core piece of content is important and valuable, so why not share it with all applicable audiences? Audience members may not discover your core piece of content organically, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t find value in it. Putting derivatives of that content on other platforms will allow it to become more discoverable, letting audiences know what they need to know.
Looking to create an effective cascading content strategy? It all starts with your content pillars.
Analyze your content pillars and brainstorm a list of topics that are valuable to your audience. After brainstorming, choose one topic you think would be the most important to your audience. This will inform what you’d like to create as your cornerstone content. Remember, this core content piece can be anything from an informational video to a comprehensive guide. The most important things to ask yourself are:
- Is it valuable to your audience?
- Is it relevant to your business or organization?
- Is it easily adaptable for other channels and platforms?
If the answer to all three questions is yes, it’s time to create your core piece of content.
As we mentioned before, your core piece of content can take on various forms. Whether you create a white paper, comprehensive guide, or podcast, your core content should have the bulk of the information. Perform extensive research to make sure this content is valuable— ensuring your core content is high-quality will make it easier to create great derivative content.
Once you create your core content, it’s time to identify key takeaways to start repurposing content.
With a clear understanding of your core content themes, you can strategically plan and prioritize the types of derivative content you create. For example, if one theme is particularly important or resonates with your audience, you can focus on developing more derivative content around that theme, maximizing its impact and value. Finding key messages in your core piece of content will also ensure you remain consistent with your brand voice and messaging across your derivative content.
Consider which platforms and channels you already use and the ones you’d like to try to make a plan for your derivative content. Here are some channels to consider:
Blogs
From your core piece of content, identify smaller, more specific blog topics that would interest avid readers. Write blogs that apply the evergreen content to current happenings or events in your industry.
Social Media
What elements of your core piece of content would most interest your social media followers? Spread content across multiple social media posts to make it more digestible and engaging. Inspire followers to start an open discussion about the topic so you can learn more about their perspective.
Digital Ads
What elements can you take from your core piece of content to inspire an ad campaign? Select parts of the evergreen piece that best show your expertise and could entice users to work with you or make purchase decisions.
Email Marketing
If you already have an email newsletter or digest, your core piece of content is the perfect resource to draw from. Let users receive valuable insights and expertise delivered right into their inboxes.
Print Materials
Use your evergreen content to create a visually appealing print version. How can you use a flyer, postcard, zine, or other print materials to share your expertise on an important topic?
Your content calendar should detail all of the content your business or organization is working to produce, streamlining creation processes across departments. Add your core piece of content and derivative content to your content calendar to create deadlines for the production and distribution of your work.
A cascading content strategy is a game changer for businesses and organizations seeking to maximize their content’s impact and reach. By embracing this innovative approach, you’ll empower your brand to establish a strong and consistent presence across marketing channels.