Imagine turning one podcast episode into 47 pieces of engaging content, reaching audiences across platforms without starting from scratch every day. Sound too good to be true? It’s not—and I’m going to show you exactly how to build a content creation machine that does just that.
Universities and research organizations are treasure troves of untapped content. Every researcher’s office holds ideas and discoveries that could shape the future of our societies. Yet, many organizations struggle to scale their communication efforts. In this post, I’ll walk you through why content creation at scale matters, how repurposing is the key to efficiency, and how to build your very own content machine.
Why Is Content Creation at Scale Important?
The most direct way to ensure your research has an impact is to communicate it. Social media is the cheapest and most efficient tool for attracting attention and building relationships with your target audience.
Why Attention Matters
Whatever you aim to achieve—whether it’s securing funding, building collaborations, or influencing policy—attention is your starting point. Without it, your audience won’t know you exist, let alone engage with your research.
So where is your audience’s attention? Increasingly, it’s online. In Western countries, internet penetration is nearly universal, and the hours we collectively spend online are rising every day. By creating valuable, well-targeted content for these platforms, you can engage your audience where they already are and build lasting relationships.
This process—creating consistent, high-value content to attract and engage your audience—is called a content marketing strategy. While businesses pioneered this approach, it can be easily adapted to universities and research organizations to amplify their impact.
The Key to Scaling Content Creation: Repurposing
Creating content at scale may sound overwhelming, but the secret lies in repurposing. This strategy allows you to maximize the value of every piece of content by transforming it into multiple formats.
What Is Repurposing?
Repurposing involves taking one piece of content and using it in different ways or formats. For example:
- A video interview with a researcher can become a blog post, a podcast episode, and multiple short social media clips.
- A written report can inspire a webinar, infographic, or explainer video.
Repurposing content eliminates the pressure of creating something new every day. Instead, it focuses on making the most of what already exists.
Direct vs. Indirect Repurposing
- Direct Repurposing: Transforming content into the same format (e.g., a long video into short clips).
- Indirect Repurposing: Changing the format entirely (e.g., a video into a blog post).
Both methods allow you to generate a high volume of content from a small number of initial pieces.
Setting Up Your Content Creation Machine
To build a content machine, start with pillar content (also called primary or hero content). This is your rich, foundational content, such as a recorded talk, a podcast episode, or a research press conference. From this, you can create a cascade of repurposed content that fits different platforms.
Example: Turning a Podcast into 47 Pieces of Content
Let’s say your university records a video podcast featuring a researcher. Here’s how to transform that single recording into a content powerhouse:
- Post-Produce the Video:
- Publish the full video on YouTube. (1 piece)
- Extract the Audio:
- Turn it into a podcast episode. (2 pieces)
- Create Short Video Clips:
- Identify 15 smart, engaging moments and chop them into short clips.
- Share them strategically across platforms:
- Twitter: 10 clips (12 total)
- LinkedIn: 7 clips (19 total)
- Instagram: 5 clips (24 total)
- TikTok: 3 clips (27 total)
- Write Blog Posts:
- Create two blog posts inspired by the podcast, one for your university’s blog and another for LinkedIn. (31 total)
- Promote the Content:
- Tweet and post twice about the YouTube video, podcast episode, and both blog posts. (47 total)
By following this process, you’ve turned one piece of pillar content into 47 pieces of high-value, platform-specific content.
Why You’ll Succeed with a Content Machine
Scaling content creation can feel daunting, but here’s why it’s achievable:
- You Don’t Have to Do It Alone
Most communication departments consist of multiple team members. Share the workload, distribute tasks, and leverage each person’s strengths to make the process manageable. - Start Small and Scale Up
If 47 pieces of content feel overwhelming, start with 15 or 20. Focus on maintaining quality while building momentum. - Efficiency Improves with Practice
As your team becomes more familiar with the process, repurposing content will become second nature. Over time, you’ll be able to scale up while maintaining quality.
Real-Life Success: How Repurposing Works
Here’s an example of a content machine in action:
At NTNU, we transformed a single research webinar into a blog post, an explainer video, five LinkedIn posts, and a series of tweets. This not only saved time but also maximized our reach, engaging policymakers, students, and industry professionals across platforms.
Take Action: Build Your Content Machine Today
Ready to create impact with your research? Start small: choose one piece of pillar content this week and challenge yourself to repurpose it into at least five new formats.
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