Content Repurposing: Why and How to Do It?
Many marketers incorrectly believe that repurposing content means jazzing up a blog with more relevant or evergreen data, and the rankings go up. If only life as a marketer was that easy, right?
It is, in fact taking existing content on your site, changing the format altogether, and getting two or three uses for it instead of one. So although it requires more thought, planning and execution to accomplish, it is still very much worth your while and will save you on the bottom line in due time.
Why repurpose content?
The primary reason is that it saves you time. Creating content from scratch is extremely time consuming and can be terribly expensive if you want to scale up your publishing cycles. By using what you already have, you save time and money - and you keep your content creation fresh enough to focus on more thought-leading masterpieces in your niche. It also allows you to reformat a single creation for various marketing channels - creating great synergy and multi-media campaigns at a fraction of the cost.
By changing a piece of content into various formats, you can reach a wider audience. Some users enjoy reading a 3,000 article, while others prefer listening to it. By looking at the numbers in the latest global content marketing reports, you'll see that the most significant part of most audiences is moving towards watching videos. By providing various formats, you can ensure you reach the largest section of your demographic without fail.
Finally, repurposing existing content extends its lifecycle and increases your ROI on it. Think about hot topics you have covered in your blog section. Use those blog topics and turn them into a new social media thread. People love discussion, and it is an excellent way to blow new life and create awareness of existing content again.
We all agree that content discovery on Google is a constant concern. If it does not rank, the possibility of being rediscovered is dismal. By converting it into various formats for separate channels, you give it a new lease on life and a greater chance of users finding it.
How to repurpose your content?
There are many different strategies you can implement when it comes to repurposing content. It all depends on your goals and objectives for the campaign, so there is no "one-size fits all" solution here.
But, content repurposing requires some work. It's not one-to-one conversion - you have to expect that there will be rewriting or editing needed for the new format and platform.
"Repurposing" is an essential part of content marketing. But it's only as good as the team you have behind you. If you don't have enough time and resources for your project, prioritise which content to tackle.
Let's say you want to use a blog post to create a YouTube video. The first step is to ensure you understand the algorithms YT use to rank - it is not necessarily the same as a written blog post. The format and the resources you need for this repurposing task also significantly differ - so ensure you have it available to pull it off successfully. Also, research the most searched topics on the new platform and match it well with a piece of content that fits.
Some inspiration
If you're ready to give your existing content a fresh makeover, here are some great ideas to help you get started:
- Turn your blog post into an e-book
- Turn your blog article into a video
- Turn your podcast or video into a blog article
- Turn a series of videos or podcasts into a course
- Turn the above course into another e-book
- Turn longer YouTube videos into short films for TikTok
- Turn longer blogs into a series of shorter guest posts
- Turn your blog articles into Twitter threads
- Use your content as Reddit posts
- Use pieces of your content to create new social media posts
It's a wrap
Although you might initially ease into content repurposing by only using already published content, you should aim to make it a part of your overall content marketing strategy. If you create a new piece of content - understanding the multi-faceted approach you will take - will help you sculpt it with a new vision from the get-go. Have fun when planning your content. If you are passionate about your business, this should be easy advice. If you struggle to implement such a content strategy, reach out to a reputable digital advertising agency to help you get it off the paper and into practice.
