What is modular content and how your team can benefit

It seems like every creative industry has been flirting with the idea of going modular for a while now. From modular construction to modular content marketing, there’s a good reason why everyone is working towards modularity!

While it might sound daunting, modular content marketing can make the lives of strategists, creators, and salespeople much easier.

But first, let’s take a step back and answer some key questions.

What is modular content? 

Modular content is content that’s designed to work as individual pieces or that can be combined to form a larger body of content. Each asset is created with singularity and cohesion in mind. When you make content this way, it’s easy to break down, repurpose, and rebuild long-form content offerings – all using the same individual pieces but in different combinations.

In a non-content context, the meaning of ‘modular’ can give some clues as to what modular content looks like:

The term refers to specific types of collateral that can act as short, standalone pieces or combine to create comprehensive long-form content. As a rule, it’s created by teams that use a modular marketing strategy looking to create content that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Content creators can combine various pieces in any number of ways, resulting in new pieces of content from the modules. Most importantly, a modular content strategy allows you to create a significant amount of content from the same modules. Basically, stretching one set of information as far as possible.

The key features of modular content are:

• Adaptable
• Informative
• Time-saving
• Targeted
• Personalizable

Modular content works by breaking down larger content into smaller, reusable pieces, or “modules.” Each module can stand alone or be mixed and matched with others to create something new. It’s like having a bunch of Lego blocks – each one is valuable on its own, but when you put them together, you can build something even bigger.

For example, if you’ve got a long guide, you can split it into bite-sized sections like an intro, some how-tos, and a wrap-up. These can then be repurposed into blog posts, social media snippets, email blasts – whatever you need. The beauty of modular content is that it lets you tailor your message to different audiences and platforms without starting from scratch every time.

Marketers

Scale up collateral production and demand generation with modular content marketing. Creators can do this by tailoring modules for individual use cases, audiences, and channels.

We’re all familiar with the increasing demand for marketing to prove ROI while producing personalized content under tight time constraints. As marketing departments everywhere face both budget and resource cutbacks, mastering the art of doing more with less is high on the priority list of every marketer at the moment.

Sales teams

Presenting prospects with sales collateral that isn’t personalized based on their particular profession, use case, or interest, runs the risk of losing their attention. Without a modular content strategy, creating this collateral can be overly time-consuming.

A modular content strategy can also combine with digital content creation tools that grant everyone an easy way to make online digital brochures. This combination means sales teams can create more personalized sales collateral for themselves without having to wait for marketing or creatives to act as a go-between.

Sales enablement

Need the 411 on what a sales enablement person does? Turtl has you covered in our Diary of a sales enablement associate blog post.

Think of these guys as the bridge between sales and marketing. They make sure salespeople never go into a customer-facing meeting without the latest intel or necessary collateral. But how does Sales Enablement deliver effective intelligence around prospects’  interests? And how can everyone make the most of the marketing materials you’ve already invested in?

A modular content strategy is, of course, the answer. Without a doubt, a dedicated Sales Enablement team will empower Sales to reach new heights. But a Sales Enablement team equipped with modular content allows Sales to create specialized, on-brand collateral for any prospect, at the drop of a hat.

HR teams

Increasingly, HR and people teams are involved in content creation in the form of internal communications and newsletters, and exploring comprehensive and personalized onboarding documents.

The new creative responsibilities of people teams leave them with less time to carry out the tasks typically expected of them. Adopting a modular content strategy to produce these internal and external communications, frees up time to focus on the jobs more traditionally associated with HR, like talent acquisition and retention – as illuminated by the Great Resignation – and necessary to avoid high employee turnover costs.

Let’s say you’ve created a long-form article on reducing demand generation friction and published it on your blog. You’ve geared this particular piece of content toward attracting readers who have the time to read an in-depth guide. However, this isn’t going to cut it for readers who are short on time or just looking for a quick overview.

Using the process of modular content creation, you can break down the article into tasty sections: ‘What is demand generation friction,’ ‘Making demand generation a two-way conversation,’ ‘The great gate debate’’, and so on.

You can then use these shorter pieces, and target them at subsets of your audience. Say a prospective client is particularly interested in integrating their CRM with their new digital content platform, your sales team could send over  ‘Making demand generation a two-way conversation’ as a module. By sending readers the content they need and want, you’re silver-serving them content that matters to them, warming up their relationship with you, and mitigating the risk of them losing interest in your brand.

Next, say you want to create some social media posts on the same subject. You can use the smaller modules for social posts. Bite-sized modules can be used for posts or pulled through as quotes for wider sales collateral.

Creating modular marketing collateral means taking a different approach to your writing.

One of the first fundamentals to work out is: what exactly does a module of content look like?

Your modules should be large enough to exist by themselves, but small and adaptable enough to work across various channels, audiences, and contexts.

Once you have your module definition established, you can begin to write content. There are two ways of approaching this step, either by building up from smaller modules or by dividing existing content into parts.

1. Module-first method

One way of modularizing your content is to think about your target personas. Really getting to know your audience lets you anticipate exactly what they want to know about a subject so you can cater directly to their queries.

Segmenting your audience and then speaking directly to separate pain points is an effective way of informing the structure of your content modules. Well-formed modules are then ready to combine and create something long-form or remain as stand-alone snackable content.

2. Module-second method

This approach is more effective for anybody with existing content already out there that could work harder. Break your content down into sections that appeal to audience members in different parts of the funnel. Your introductory overview gets adapted to suit top-of-funnel audience members and reused in a blog post. While the persuasive summary can be re-purposed for your sales team scripts to help them close deals with those at the bottom of the funnel.

Implementing modular content is like putting together a puzzle – you’ve got all the pieces, and your job is to figure out how they fit together in a way that makes sense for your brand and audience. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started:

1. Define your core messages and goals

Before diving into content creation, take a step back and think about the key messages you want to convey. 

What are the main themes or topics you need to cover? Who is your target audience? And what are your goals – are you looking to educate, entertain, or drive conversions?

2. Break down your content into modules

Now that you’ve got your core messages, it’s time to break them down into smaller, standalone pieces. Each module should focus on one specific idea or piece of information. Think of these as your building blocks.

For example, if you’re creating content around a new product launch, your modules might include:

• Product overview: A general introduction to the product.
• Features and benefits: A breakdown of what makes the product unique.
• Customer testimonials: Quotes and stories from happy customers.
• How-to guides: Step-by-step instructions for using the product.

3. Create adaptable content

One of the key benefits of modular content is its adaptability. When creating your modules, make sure they’re versatile enough to be used across different platforms and for different purposes. 

This might mean creating variations of the same module – for example, a long-form blog post could be shortened into a social media post or expanded into a detailed guide. Using a tool like Turtl to create your content allows you to craft intelligent, interactive content at scale.

4. Plan your content distribution

With your modules ready to go, it’s time to plan how and where you’ll use them. Create a content calendar that outlines when and where each module will be published. 

Think about the different channels you’ll be using – your website, social media, email newsletters – and work out how you’ll tailor each module to fit the platform.

5. Personalize for different audiences

One of the coolest things about modular content is how easily it can be personalized. By mixing and matching different modules, you can create content that speaks directly to different segments of your audience. 

For example, you might combine certain modules to create content specifically for beginners, while other combinations might be geared towards advanced users.

This personalization can extend to different industries, demographics, or even individual customers. The more relevant your content is, the more likely it is to engage your audience.

6. Implement a system for managing your modules

As you start building out your modular content, you’ll need a system to keep everything organized. A content management system (CMS) can help you store and track all your modules, making it easy to find and repurpose them when needed.

You might want to think about using tags or categories to organize your modules by topic, format, or audience segment. This way, when you need to create new content, you can quickly find the right modules to pull together.

7. Test, measure, and refine

Once your modular content is out in the world, it’s important to track how it performs. Use analytics tools like Turtl Analytics to see which modules are getting the most engagement, driving the most conversions, or resonating most with your audience. This data will give you valuable insights into what’s working and what’s not.

Based on this feedback, refine your modules and your overall strategy. Maybe some modules need to be reworked or combined differently, or perhaps you’ll identify gaps where new modules are needed. The goal is to keep improving and optimizing your modular content strategy over time.

8. Collaborate across teams

Finally, remember that modular content isn’t just for marketers. Collaborate with other teams – like sales, customer support, and product development – to create modules that serve different parts of your business. 

For instance, sales might need modules that focus on specific pain points, while customer support could use how-to guides as part of their onboarding process.

Got a bunch of content already? Perfect! You can turn it into modular content without starting from scratch. Start by doing a content audit to see what you’ve got and where it can be broken down into smaller, more flexible pieces.

Once you’ve identified these sections, reformat them into modules that can be reused across different platforms. For instance, a detailed report might be split into a summary, some key takeaways, and a few actionable tips. Each of these can be used separately on social media, in newsletters, or as a series of blog posts.

By breaking down your existing content into modules, you’ll give it a new lease of life and make it more adaptable to different needs.

If you’re diving into modular content for the first time, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Start with a clear plan: Before you start creating, map out what your modules will look like. Know what key points need to be covered and how they can be split into smaller chunks.
• Stay consistent: Keep your brand’s tone, style, and messaging consistent across all modules. This ensures that everything fits together nicely, no matter how you combine them.
• Quality over quantity: It’s tempting to churn out a ton of modules, but focus on making each one high-quality. Engaging, well-crafted content will get more mileage.
• Keep it fresh: Regularly update your modules to keep them relevant. As your audience’s needs change, so should your content.
• Measure and tweak: Keep an eye on how each module performs. Use this data to fine-tune your approach and make your content even better over time.

If you and your content team value efficiency, then modular content could be exactly what you’re after.

As more teams come under pressure to become more creative and efficient, modular content could present the solution.

• Save time on creative processes
• Save resources on creating new content
• Give new life to older content
• Easily make content more personal

Using the modules you create to appeal more personally to your audience members as individuals should not be undervalued. Personalizing content is one of the most effective ways of increasing engagement, and it extends beyond just including your contact’s name and company. ‘Deep personalization’ means using hyper-relevant content that will resonate with each reader on an individual level, and is shown to achieve fantastic results.

👇Read the Turtl Labs research into the effects of differing levels of personalization on content performance.