If you have a content marketing plan, it may seem like all you do is create content. Your content calendar is always in planning mode. Your marketing team is continuously creating. It’s a vicious cycle that takes a lot of time.
But what happens once you have all that content in place? That’s where repurposing your content can help you reach a wider audience, effectively and successfully.
Why Content Marketing Should Be a Top Strategy
The numbers say it all:
- Almost 32 percent of companies with a content strategy achieve 27 percent higher win rates than those without one in place.
- Over 80 percent of people prefer learning about a company through custom content.
People are hungry for content. They’re looking for copy that speaks to them, video that entertains them, visuals that teach, and information that satisfies their interests.
That’s a lot of content. And a lot of time creating it. But when you create it the right way, it never dies. It has a long shelf life, meaning you can reuse it repeatedly.
Benefits of Repurposing Your Content
Repurposing content gives you the ability to:
Save On Marketing Dollars
Creating it once and using it many times helps reduce the number of hours spent creating the content and the labor costs associated with production. It gives you a chance to plan out your content wisely, knowing it will be used across platforms for many months to come.
Give Consumers What They Want
Your first step is to determine what each platform wants. Then, as you map out your content strategy, you can adjust production to ensure you’re getting the correct soundbites for each platform. You may spend a bit more time during production, but the content you have to move forward with is solid and will be viable for activity and engagement.
Create a Stronger, More Concise Message
When people see similar content as they move through the platforms, it solidifies integrity and reputation. Marketing is something that takes time to build. The average person needs to see a marketing message up to seven times before noticing and engaging with it. Using well-thought-out content means your followers will recognize you faster as they listen to what you have to say and how it speaks directly to them.
Gives You an SEO Bump
Creating content you’ll use across different platforms allows you to focus more on keywords and develop a stronger SEO strategy. And as you place this content on various sites and it’s shared deeper and wider, it provides a boost to your optimization results, meaning you’ll have an even better chance of coming up in your keyword results.
Makes Content Marketing Even More Economical
When you buy traditional marketing pieces like brochures or flyers, once you send or hand them out, you lose control. The recipient may hold onto it, pass it along, or throw it away. In most cases, its potential dies almost as soon as you deliver. Repurposing content allows you to take your past marketing efforts and breathe new life into them. Whether you create a blog post, video, eBook, or free training, it’s always available to you for use. Revival can be as easy as placing the URL into a new ad or talking about it on a new platform. Instant results from something you may have produced months or even years before.
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How Do You Know What to Repurpose?
The world is ever-changing, and with that, our desire for content changes. It adjusts as we move through the seasons. It cycles with current events. If you post content targeted toward working moms and how to handle summer breaks, the content can remain relevant year after year.
Some content is better equipped for repurposing. This includes:
Evergreen Content
Evergreen content remains fundamental to your industry and key searches. This is content that is highly searched and widely received by your audience. It’s not swayed based on current events or time-sensitive situations. It holds true for years to come.
Popular Content
What does your audience find exciting? What receives the most traffic every time you send it out? Is there content that is widely shared or that triggers a lot of engagement? These are your popular posts, things your audience finds exciting.
Content Easily Updated
Every industry has content that remains true, yet new information only adds to your credibility. By updating it and adding new statements, concepts, or resources, it only adds value to the original information. Give the content a makeover by adding just enough information to make it relevant once more.
Think Beyond Your Original Content
Some of the best ways to use repurposed content are to bring it to new and different channels. Update it in such a way that it stands out on a new platform. You can do this in many ways.
Use a Series of Blog Posts to Create a Book or a Guide
When you’re thorough in your content delivery, you’ll eventually have a series of posts that, when lumped together, create a highly specialized piece of content. By combining it, you can create a free guide to market and promote your business, or take it one step further and turn it into a book to increase your credibility. Many companies have used blog writing as a way to write their books one chapter at a time.
Use Blog Content to Create Newsletters
Not everyone in your audience will read every blog post you create. By repurposing it into e-newsletters or printing it and sending it out as a paper version gives you a chance to increase the possibility of your content being read.
Turn Your Blog Content Into Videos
Videos are easier to consume while on the go. If you have long blog posts, consider shortening them into bite-sized content. Then create a series of videos you can all link together. Be sure to build a catchy intro and a way to sign up or further connect with you.
Turn Blog Posts Into a Podcast
If your content is well-received online, convert it into a podcast. Podcasts are increasing in popularity because they are so easy to consume. When you link it to the most popular podcasting platforms, it gives you a boost by spreading your content to more channels. It’s easy to consume podcasts while driving to work or working out at the gym. It’s a great way to connect with people on a deeper level.
Are You Repurposing the Content You Create?
Repurposing content allows your marketing dollars to go further. Instead of creating it and using it once, find ways to keep it alive longer. The first step is to create great content. The second step is to have a strategy in place that allows you to use content across channels to capture your audience’s attention.
Have you tried repurposing your content as a marketing strategy?