Good content marketing takes a lot of time and effort. Webinars, white papers, and in-depth blog posts can take hundreds of hands-on-the-keyboard hours. This is a goldmine of source material that can be repurposed in many different ways!
I see countless marketing teams create great content, post about it once or twice, and then never circle back to it. It’s so easy for that to happen because we all have a long to-do list, we’re juggling too many priorities, we’re watching sales targets, etc. So let’s work smarter and take advantage of what we already have, shall we?
What Does it Mean to Repurpose Content?
Just so we’re all on the same page, I’m talking about finding new ways to use the marketing assets you’ve already pulled together. This can be anything from newsletter copy, YouTube videos, and roundtable chats to more traditional formats like webinars or blog posts.
I think every content strategy should include a process for sharing in different formats across different mediums.
Plus, it’s fun and also satisfying to find ways to make old content new again! 🤓
Why Should You Repurpose Your Content?
My clients always say to me, “people will get sick of hearing the same message” or “it will look like we’re lazy.” Nope, that’s not going to happen!
I’m not saying to simply copy and paste your content, the search engines definitely don’t like that. We want to repurpose it, not reuse it, so the end result will look and feel different.
The Marketing Rule of 7
Have you heard of the Marketing Rule of 7? Coined in the 1930s by the movie industry, the idea is that a customer needs to see or hear a brand’s message 7 times before they will make a purchase. The movie studios realized people needed to hear about their movie seven times before they would come to see it.
Of course, this was back when radio ads were much more limited. Almost a hundred years later, TV and internet ads have exploded – not to mention we always have our phones with us, and we see constant social media ads. We’re basically bombarded with advertising.
Today, brands need to work smarter to break through the noise and get their audience to remember them.
People Have Different Preferences for Content
My former coworker loves to listen to YouTube videos all day while she works. I can’t focus like that.
My neighbor lives for a good podcast while she jogs. My husband prefers Twitter.
Some people are drawn to visual depictions (infographics) while others need a traditional written format.
When you repurpose your content and post on different platforms, you can create assets that resonate with different individuals, and it allows them to consume it in their preferred format. Win/Win.
Repurposing Increases your Chances of Being Seen
I don’t mean that in an obvious way, either. When you repurpose your content across channels, you also increase the chance that you’re reaching your prospects multiple times. A familiar look and feel will be more likely to stop the scroll when the user recognizes your branding.
A new channel can also mean that your content is seen by a new audience, too! Challenging yourself to re-use your content on a new medium can expose your brand to a wider audience. Who doesn’t love a simple way to reach different audiences?
How to Repurpose your Content
OK, content creation is hard work and you’re devoting valuable resources to creating original content. Let’s make those assets work harder for you!
Take Inventory of Your Existing Content
The best way to start is to see what you’re working with. This could be a literal inventory where you create a spreadsheet or a more informal notepad situation. For each piece of content, try to think of 2-3 other ways to use the material.
Think outside the box, too, don’t just look at your blog content.
A lot of my clients forget about the video content they already have, which is an easy way to get started with content repurposing. Something as simple as using slide decks from a training or webinar can become a powerful lead magnet.
And old blog posts are still one of the easiest ways to repurpose content. You can bulk up shorter posts or update them with new information – and that’s also great for SEO, too!
Be Intentional with New Assets
When I go shopping, I try to think of 2-3 occasions where I would wear that item.
So when you’re working on new content, brainstorm all the different ways you could use that content in a new format. Then, schedule these out on your content calendar so you don’t forget about them.
Think about how you can repackage smaller pieces into long-form content and suddenly you’ve created a new, original piece of content.
My Favorite Sources for Repurposed Content:
- Do you have a newsletter? Package up a few of your articles into an ebook. Audit your email newsletter reports and create a blog post of your most popular tips and tricks of the year.
- Mine your Google Analytics and recap your most popular blog posts for the year – people will love that you’ve given them a shortcut to your best content!
- Do you record internal training sessions getting your team up to speed on new technology? Create short videos that teach your audience how to use new features.
- Did your CEO host or participate in a fireside chat? Convert the audio into a podcast, or transcript it into a blog post.
- If you held a webinar, turn all of the questions into a blog post and link back to a recording so people can catch the replay. If the webinar contained a demo, edit the video so the demo becomes a quick YouTube video or featured video on your website.
- Do you have customer survey data? Create an infographic showing off the results.
- Pull together your most comprehensive assets and blog posts to create a pillar page – this makes great evergreen content, too!
- If you have a new hire training program, this type of content could be ideal for online courses
OK, so now I’m going to take that list and I’m going to turn it into an infographic, and I’ll also grab 3 of those bullet points and create a Reel to share on Instagram. Gotta practice what you preach, right?
I’ll dig into how to repurpose your content specifically for social media in a follow-up blog post. I hope for now I’ve given you some inspiration for using your older content on different channels. If you’d like help creating a strategy to reuse your content effectively, let’s talk!