How does syndication work?

This article will explain how the "syndication" feature works.

What is Syndication?

What is the difference between Syndicated "In" and Syndicated "Out"?

How to syndicate content from Channels you manage

How to syndicate content from Channels you don't manage

FAQs

What is Syndication?

Syndication allows a channel owner to create content in one channel and then share it out to one or more other channels.  Syndicated content can be identified by the "In" or "Out" flag on the Channel content page:

What is the difference between Syndicated "In" and Syndicated "Out"?

This refers to where the content came from:

• If you see the Syndicated In flag, it means the content was not created in your Channel. 
  
  
• If you see the Syndicated out flag, it means the content was created in your channel and is being shared out with other Channels.
  

There are also some noteworthy differences in functionality:

Syndicated in content:

• The date, time, and duration of the content are not editable.  
• You can only see the current Channels analytical data (pre-registrations, views, etc.)
• The content cannot be cancelled (however you can remove it from your Channel)
• The presenter screen cannot be launched from a syndicated in content.

Syndicated out content

• You can see the analytical data from this Channel, any of the other syndicated Channels, or all Channels in aggregate.  
  
• Changing the date/time/duration of the content or cancelling the content will also update all of the syndicated versions.  

How to syndicate content from Channels you manage

If you are the Channel owner/manager of multiple Channels then syndication can be carried out self-service via the 'Syndicate in' option on the second page of the creation carousel:

How to syndicate content from Channels you don't manage

If you need to syndicate content from a Channel that you don't currently manage or own, you will need to request assistance from BrightTALK support  (support@brighttalk.com) or your Customer Success Manager.   

They will be able to then "broker" a syndication request between your Channel and the other Channel.  Once they do this, both sides will need to "approve" the syndication request.  

To approve the syndication, follow these steps:

1. From your Channel content listing, find the content with the syndication request.  It can be identified by the grey in/out flag (the grey flag indicates the syndication is not yet approved):



2. Click "Manage" next to that content and at the bottom, click on the "Syndication" accordion:

3.  Click "Approve."  If the other Channel has already approved this request, your syndication will be approved and accepted.  If they have not, you will need to wait until they approve.

FAQs

Q: What happens if I decline a syndication request?

If you decline a syndication request, you'll still see the content in your BrightTALK Central content listing, but it will not be active (the flag will be grey and the content will not be publicly accessible).  If you wish to completely remove it from your content listing, you can do so by clicking "Manage" next to the content and then clicking "Remove."

Q: How does reporting work with syndicated content?  

Reporting on syndicated content is kept separate- meaning that if the user "John Smith" registers for the syndicated content in Channel A, Channel B will not that see "John Smith" in their reports.

We do however provide high-level registration and viewing data (i.e the counts) to the originating Channel- those can be seen both on the content overview page and on the content analytics page.

Q: You said register separately- how does promotion of syndicate content work exactly?

Once content is syndicated and approved, it can be promoted independently by each syndicated Channel.  While they are all still essentially pointing to the same content, the registration and viewing data (as noted above) will be kept separate.  

The links for each syndicated version will look similar but will use a different Channel id.  For example:

Originating Channel link:  https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/14701/368553

Syndicated Channel link:  https://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/11463/368553


Q: If my content is syndicated and I change the details of it, will those changes be reflected in the other syndicated versions?

Only changes to the date, time, and duration (which can only be done in the originating Channel) will be reflected on the other syndicated versions.  Changes to details like the title, description, and feature image will not be reflected.

Q: Wait, so does mean that the syndicated versions can have different titles, descriptions, etc?

Yes it does.


Q: Is there a limit to how many times content can be syndicated?

There is not.


Q: I'm using a Connector and I need to track multiple syndicated versions of the same content.  What's the best way to do this?

The easiest and best way is to use the "Campaign reference" field on each syndicated version.  This will allow you to either tie each syndicated version together (i.e. use the same reference value for each) or identify them individually.

Alternatively, since each syndicated version will have a different "Channel ID", you can also use that field as an identifier in conjunction with the content title or webcast id.