Practically halfway through Digital Content Strategies! It feels like this course just started, but simultaneously, we have covered a lot so far. This week’s module (Module 4 or M4) and related reading material focused on reusing content.

What did you read or watch that surprised, delighted or disappointed you? Why?

I think I resonated with this week’s lecture the most, especially the explanation of how effective reusing content is. Reusing content is one of the most surefire ways to increase the business value of a company’s content. You save money by reducing translation costs. Time, by not needing to “reinvent the wheel.” And since customers will engage with the same content, it keeps the company’s brand and voice familiar and consistent. The issue of customers engaging with inconsistent content is mitigated. For example, as discussed at the beginning of the course and in my first blog post, I can see how this could possibly help reduce the content disconnect sometimes seen between a company’s technical writers and marketing communicators.

I also can see with our ongoing client project how content reuse would be strategic in keeping the brand’s consistency and improving the customer’s experience when engaging with different products or services. It’s a smart move, and while it seems like it initially might be a huge undertaking to organize, it would ultimately be worth it.

What was most meaningful for your own career goals? Why?

Reusing content feels like another tool in the tool belt and a work-smarter-not-harder approach. I can see this strategy being something good to know if placed in a position of needing to organize different types of content (PDFs, articles, tutorials, user guides, etc.) for an organization. In my current role, we (in a way) use this method to keep language consistent between documents that share the same components/topics. However, knowing how to do this better will benefit the work I do now.