Why creating a modular content strategy should be your primary goal

I'll try to explain the modular content approach from a totally different perspective.

Have you ever watched Kaleidoscope on Netflix? Besides great crime/heist drama stories, this series gained popularity for the fame of its structure: each of the episodes can be watched in any order, but they do add up to tell one story. Viewers can choose the order of the first seven episodes in the eight-episode series, which amounts to more than 5k combinations.

A pure example of modular content.

You have a story to tell, you have the narrative, and you allow your audience to suit their own content experience to their needs by consuming unique and once-created content.

If you want to learn how to incorporate that into your content strategy, keep reading.

What is modular content?

Modular content refers to creating pieces of content that can be reused, reconfigured, and repurposed across different platforms and formats. This approach is particularly useful in content marketing and web development as it allows for greater flexibility, consistency, and efficiency in content creation and management.

Put it simply: Modular content management focuses on content reuse.

How does content reuse help your team?

Here’s why content reuse is essential for your team:

For the content creation team:

• Reduced workload: By reusing existing content, creators save time and effort that would otherwise be spent producing new material from scratch.
• Consistency: Ensures that the same information is presented uniformly across various platforms and formats, maintaining a consistent message.
• Lower costs: Reusing content reduces the costs of creating new content, such as research, writing, editing, and design.
• Maximizing value: Extracting more value from existing content by repurposing it for different uses (e.g., turning a blog post into a video or infographic).
• Improved search rankings: Consistently updated and repurposed content can improve search engine rankings by keeping the website fresh and relevant.
• Broader reach: Different formats of the same content can attract different audiences, expanding reach and engagement.

For the developer team:

• Code reuse: Reusing code components, templates, and modules speed up the development process, as developers can leverage pre-existing solutions instead of building from scratch.
• Streamlined updates: Updates and maintenance become more manageable when reusable components are used, as changes must only be made in one place.
• Uniform design: Ensures the website's consistent look and feel, improving user experience and brand identity.
• Reduced errors: Reusing well-tested components reduces the likelihood of introducing new bugs or errors.
• Easy scaling: Reusable components can be easily scaled and adapted for different projects or parts of a project.
• Flexibility in development: Promotes modular development, where different parts of a project can be developed and updated independently.

Modular content processes and workflows

Content modeling involves modular content. Structuring and managing different content types that can be easily reused, reconfigured, and repurposed.

Components of modular content

Content modules: These are the basic building blocks of modular content. Each module is a standalone unit of content that addresses a specific topic or function.

Examples include:

• Text blocks
• Images
• Videos
• Infographics
• Call-to-action buttons
• And so on

Templates: Templates provide a structured layout into which content modules can be placed. They ensure consistency and help streamline the content creation process.

Learn more: Structured Content guide

Metadata: Metadata provides information about each content module, such as its topic, audience, usage rights, and expiry date. This makes it easier to find, manage, and use the content effectively.

How modular content works

The key to building modular content is thinking about a content architecture that can be applied to a wide range of media types, including those that will be used in the future.

To accomplish this, you'll need to understand how to use modular content fields, which define a dynamic area for better page layouts.

Implementation steps

1. Identify content fields: Determine the core elements that can be modularized based on the type of content you are creating (e.g., blog posts, product descriptions, landing pages).
2. Create modular templates: Develop templates that incorporate these modular content fields. Templates serve as blueprints for how the modules will be assembled.
3. Populate content fields: Fill each content field with specific content. Each field should be self-contained and able to stand alone.
4. Assemble content: Use the templates to combine the modular content fields into complete pieces of content.
5. Repurpose and adapt: Modify and adapt the modules for different contexts or platforms as needed, leveraging the flexibility of the modular approach.

So, let's break down a simple example of creating modular content fields for a blog template. I'll create a few basic fields that can be reused and assembled into a complete blog post.

Blog template example using Modular Content fields (Step-by-step)

Identify content fields

The first step is to identify all standalone fields needed for a blog template.

• Title:
• Slug:
• Created at:
• Updated at:
• Preview title:
• Category:
• Preview Description:
• Image:
• Authors:
• Content area:

Create a modular template structure

Template structure for the modular fields:

Populate content fields

Now it is time to create content for each field as separate. I’ll use this blog article as an example:

• Title: Why creating modular content strategy should be your primary goal
• Slug: modular-content
• Created at: 30.07.2024
• Updated at:30.07.2024
• Preview title: Why creating modular content strategy should be your primary goal
• Category: Content operations
• Preview Description: Creating modular content means building small building blocks of content and then using them to construct larger pieces.
• Image:
• Authors: Arso Stojovic
• Content area: Blog copy

Assemble content

Combine modular content fields and blog copy ( with images, video, and call-to-action button) to complete content pieces and you are prepared for content production. The final result looks like this:

By leveraging modular content fields, you can streamline their content operations workflow, ensure consistency, and maximize the value of their content assets.

Which content to modularize

Choosing which content to break down requires a strategic approach since not all content can be modularized. Here are some key considerations and steps to help you decide what content to modularize:

Repetitive content

Look for parts of your project that repeat often, like headers, footers, navigation menus in web development, or recurring sections in your blog posts. These are good candidates for modularization because you only need to create them once and then use them everywhere.

High-performing content

There is a good chance that high-performing content includes useful modules that could be repurposed. You'll need to identify content pieces that have performed well in terms of engagement, shares, and conversions.

Complex content formats

Consider the complexity of the content or functionality. Content involving complex logic or functionality, such as forms, carousels, or data-fetching components, is a prime candidate for modularization.

Best practices to create modular content

Ok, you identified and broked your content into pieces. How to manage those puzzle pieces? Well, you need “glue” that can bring those pieces together. Strong glue connection you can make with:

Content tags

Using content tags for categorizing allows easier organization but at the same time makes your content more discoverable for users.

They enhance search engine optimization with relevant metadata and allow content to be reused across different sections without duplication. Tags also streamline workflows and simplify updates in content management systems, enable targeted content delivery based on user interests, and provide data for tracking content performance and user engagement. Overall, tags improve the structure, accessibility, and effectiveness of content.

Component library

As a collection of digital assets, the content library can be stored, organized, and accessed from a central location. It eliminates the need to start from begin with each content development assignment, saving significant time and resources.

CMS

CMS for modular content offers significant benefits, especially for those involved in front-end development and blogging.

Firstly, it ensures content reusability and consistency. By structuring content types that can be reused across different parts of your site, you only need to update a piece of information once, and it will automatically update everywhere it's used.

Learn more: Structuring BCMS by content types

What features make a good Modular CMS

Modular CMS needs to offer features that support flexibility, scalability, and ease of integration.

Here are the key aspects of modular CMS:

• Headless CMS decouples the backend from the frontend presentation layer, allowing for more flexibility in delivering content across various platforms (web, mobile, IoT, etc.).
• Content Modeling: Modular CMS needs to be able to define and manage various content types and their relationships.

• API-first approach: API calls enable interaction between the CMS and other services or applications.

  Learn more: Information Architecture: Lost in data? Call an API for directions.

• RESTful API or GraphQL: Ensures efficient content delivery and interaction between the CMS and other systems or applications.

• Extensibility and plugins: CMS must support plugins and extensions to enhance functionality without modifying the core system.

• User roles and permissions: The granular user permissions feature offers control over who can create, edit, publish, and manage content.

Examples of Modular CMS implementation

BCMS + Gatsby:

BCMS serves as a content repository, while Gatsby generates static sites. This integration allows for dynamic and modular content blocks delivered as static pages for performance and SEO benefits.

Learn more: Why use BCMS as a Gatsby CMS

BCMS + Next.js:

BCMS provides content through a customizable API while Next.js can fetch this content and render it dynamically or statically based on the use case.

Learn more:  Why use BCMS as a NextJS CMS

Conclusion: Are you ready to make your Kaleidoscope

If you want to have the same structure as "Kaleidoscope" on Netflix, you need  to remember the following modular content benefits:

• Flexibility: Quickly adapt content for different markets and platforms without starting from scratch.
• Consistency: Maintain a uniform brand voice by updating all your content simultaneously.
• Accuracy: Ensure precise product descriptions and data as your products change.
• Compliance: Reduce regulatory and compliance risks.
• Collaboration: Enhance teamwork during content creation and publication.

Ready to try? Let BCMS be your modular asset management platform.