What if I told you that you could create 2x the high-quality content in 1/2 the time? More content, saved time, and increased traffic? I’m already starting to sound like a late-night infomercial. Gross.
But seriously, this isn’t a fantasy. With content repurposing, more traffic with less effort is a dream you can make come true.
Think about the last piece of content you created: blog post, guide, webinar, infographic, video, case study, or whatever it was. How long did it take you to create? Likely a minimum of 2 hours, right? Perhaps closer to 10 to 20 hours for the larger pieces? Maybe even more.
And what happened when you finished? You published it, made plans to promote it, and then got to work on the next piece of content. Sound familiar?
That content marketing strategy looks a lot like work harder, not smarter. And it’ll eventually lead to growth plateaus and content burnout. Not good.
Take a look at your content library. You likely have so much great content already. What are you doing with it now?
That library is a goldmine of content. You just need to learn to harvest it.
It’s time you got on board with the old, not-so-secret content marketing adage: write less, promote more.
And there’s no better way to jump on the bandwagon than by repurposing your already existing content.
In this post, I’m going to show you a whole new magical world of content repurposing. Trust me, by the end of this article, you’ll be rushing to start doubling, tripling, quadrupling your content output with repurposing. Let the content flood gates open!
Sounds gimmicky, huh? I agree, but I promise this isn’t the next-generation weight loss pill that will exotically melt fat from your body overnight—this is legit.
Outline:
Let’s start with the basics and then work our way through all the wonderful ways you can begin repurposing your content:
- What is repurposing content?
- Why should you repurpose content?
- 20 best ways to repurpose content (what you came for!)
- Tips and tricks to repurpose content to perfection
- Follow the 80/20 content marketing rule
- Go forth and repurpose
What is repurposing content?
You know how people transform useless junk into a beautiful piece of furniture or how they turn an old tire into a boat fender? That’s repurposing.
Repurposing content is taking your awesome existing content and “reusing” it differently with a new target audience on another platform.
One example of repurposing content would be to transcribe one of your podcast episodes, add a bit of commentary to it, and publish it as a blog post. You could also take the audio from the podcast, add a background image to it, and publish the piece as a video on YouTube and Vimeo.
And voila—you’ve just produced two additional pieces in likely 1/10th the time it took you to create the original content. Plus, you’ve also reached new audiences on different platforms.
Did a metaphoric lightbulb just flick on above your head?
Imagine all the time you can save and the new audiences you can reach by repurposing your great evergreen content!
Below, we’ve compiled a list of the 20 best ways you can start repurposing content. Skip on down the page if you’re getting too anxious—or stick with me if you’d like to satisfy your curiosity with some impressive benefits.
Why should you repurpose content?
Creating fantastic content day after day isn’t easy. It takes time, money, and energy.
Repurposing content takes the draining creativity out of the production cycle—you’ve done the hard work already with the original piece of content.
Here are a few reasons you should start repurposing:
Piggyback on your success
If a blog post performed well, there’s a good chance the same material would be well received on other channels, too. Take a look at your best-performing pieces of content and determine how you can reuse it on different platforms.
Revive your failures
Have you ever spent a ton of time producing content that hardly left a ripple in the sea of your marketing efforts? Don’t beat yourself up—you’ve built the foundation, now you just need to polish it up a bit. Amp up, spin in a new direction, or combine your not-so-successful pieces to create brand new content creations.
Reach new audiences
You’ve done the hard work creating the content—now you just need to share it where new audiences will see it. Your thriving YouTube series might perform well as a podcast, too. Or perhaps your good ebook would make an even better audiobook. Communicating your same content through different mediums allows you to engage unique audiences on their favorite platforms.
Save time and money
While most content doesn’t have any tangible value, it takes time, effort, blood, sweat, and sometimes tears to create. By repurposing, you’ll be able to produce more high-quality content in a shorter time—which means less stress, fewer tears, and a happier content team.
20 best ways to repurpose content
Repurposing content works any which way. You can turn a bunch of blog posts into a guide or a guide into a bunch of blog posts. You can convert your Vimeo tutorials into a webcast and turn your webcast into an email series or email newsletter.
The only limit to repurposing is your imagination.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at 20 awesome ways you can repurpose your content.
1. Convert into a blog post
Pretty much any piece of content will work appropriately as a blog post. Did your CEO send an inspirational email to your employees? Have you invested weeks, months, or years publishing an ebook? Is your podcast series getting tons of traffic? Convert any piece of content into a blog post (or multiple blog posts) to get extra mileage out of it and to drive traffic back to the source.
2. Build a new guide
If you’ve published multiple pieces of content on a specific subject, combine all your material into a long-form guide. You don’t need to recreate the wheel. You can even take different types of content (videos, text, audio, infographics, case studies, etc.) and mix them to create a more comprehensive resource.
3. Create a resource list or roundup post
A resource list can be a powerful means to connect your audience to relevant pieces of content. For example, look at our Holiday Sending Packing List—it simply tells a short narrative by linking out to excellent content we already created months and years ago. Or look at Copyblogger’s end of week recaps—they summarize each of the most recent blog posts and tie them all together with a compelling ribbon.
4. Compile an ebook
If you’ve maintained a blog for at least a year or two, you likely have hundreds of old blog posts covering a range of topics in your industry. Organize all of that old content neatly into a downloadable ebook. You could use the ebook as a lead magnet or even sell it.
5. Print physical book copies
Take your ebook to the next level with a physical print version—a tangible, real-life book (yes, they still exist). A printed book will require money for printing costs, but it’ll demand little extra work. You can then send copies to your most valuable customers or hand them out to guests at your next conference.
6. Make an email series
“When it comes to repurposing content, email series are a perfect channel. You can take an ebook or even a long blog post and split it into several parts, which you send out to your email list over a few days or weeks,” said Hootsuite’s Bill Widmer.
7. Transform into a SlideShare or slide deck
Presenting at a conference? Instead of creating your slideshow from scratch, source the information from all your great existing content.
Once you have your slide deck presentation, upload it to sites like SlideShare to get even more eyeballs on it.
8. Turns slide decks into webinars
If you took a lot of time to create a unique, kick-butt presentation, repurpose the slides into a webinar. Now you’ll just be doing a digital delivery instead of an in-person presentation.
9. Repurpose content into videos
The time spent watching video content online continues to grow year over year. To capitalize on the trend, look at ways to convert your existing content into videos. For example, record your webinars, and once they’re over, post the recordings on YouTube and Vimeo to gain further traction. Convert your blog posts into videos with little-to-no effort with video creation software like Lumen5 and Content Samurai. Grab the audio from your podcasts, throw a background image on it, and presto—you now have a YouTube video.
10. Produce podcast episodes
Perform the inverse of the last tactic. Strip the audio from your videos, add a little intro, and turn them into podcast episodes to publish on Spotify, iTunes, SoundCloud, and more.
You can record a podcast with one of your content creators where they talk through a topic they’ve already written about. For example, if a member of your team wrote “10 SEO Tactics to Keep in Mind in 2020,” you could do a Q&A with the author on the topic for a podcast episode.
11. Turn data into an infographic
Everyone loves pictures—that’s why 32% of marketers say images are the most vital form of content for their business.
If you gather data from a survey or benchmark report, repurpose the content into an infographic. You can embed your infographics in a blog or post them as stand-alone images on your Pinterest account.
If design isn’t your thing, try using services like Canva and Piktochart—they provide plenty of templates for those with less-than-sophisticated creative skills.
12. Compile your guest posts into a guest book
Usually, when you guest post on another site, you agree not to republish the same content on your blog to avoid getting penalized by Google for duplicate content. But if you compile your guest posts into a non-searchable downloadable PDF—problem solved! Now you can reuse all that great content without fearing the wrath of Google.
13. Repost on LinkedIn articles, Facebook Instant Articles, and Medium
LinkedIn articles and Medium are great places to syndicate your blog content. Yes, there is a risk of getting penalized for duplicate content or that Google will rank the LinkedIn or Medium version of your content higher in the search results. However, if you follow Google’s recommended best practices, you should be just fine reposting.
Here are a few tips from IMPACT for reposting on LinkedIn and Medium:
- Don’t publish the entire article. Make the piece more of a teaser. Offer some great content, and then encourage readers to see the whole piece on your blog.
- Don’t repost every article. Focus on your best, evergreen pieces of content. Social platforms reward quality over quantity.
- Optimize for the platform. Your LinkedIn and Medium audiences are different than your blog’s audience. Make sure to adjust the titles and CTAs to appeal to the audience on each unique platform.
14. Turn your posts into stories
Almost all the social media giants (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat) enable users to post stories (bite-sized pieces of content). If you just published an article, repurpose it in a series of stories. For example, if you just posted “6 Tips to Streamline Your Small Business’s Email Marketing,” you could create stories to introduce the article, share 2-3 tips, and encourage your followers to read the whole piece.
15. Recap your social media conversations
Did you promote a hashtag at a conference? Or have you hosted or participated in Twitter chats? If so, recap those social media posts in a blog article. For example, look at our #SIGNALConf Day 1 Recap or our 2018 Collision Conference Recap. We did the hard work already by coming up with unique Tweets and engaging with the community—then we simply compiled it all together into short, fun articles.
16. Develop an online course
If you have content galore on a specific subject, consider compiling it neatly into an online course. An online course is basically a more instructional version of an ebook. Instead of just having content for visitors to read, you include resources, quizzes, check-ins, and provide a way for consumers to ask questions (email, forum, Q&A, etc.).
17. Answer questions on Quora
You may be getting some interesting questions on Quora regarding your brand, product, or industry. Repurpose your existing content to give long, in-depth answers to the Quora community’s concerns. And if you come across a question you don’t have content to support, take the time to craft a thoughtful, well-researched response. You can then repurpose that response on your blog or in your documentation.
18. Compile an experts roundup
If you’ve taken the time to interview professionals (both internal or external to your company) for specific pieces, repurpose the highlights from those conversations in an experts roundup. In the end, you might have an awesome article like 250ok’s Email Service Provider (ESP) Buyer’s Journey.
19. Share your secrets
Have you created shortcuts to writing email subject lines, crafting high-converting landing pages, or managing your busy schedule? Repurpose your own processes into valuable pieces of content. You’ve already spent hours refining your methods—now just share your secrets with the masses.
20. Collect questions for an FAQ
Your support squad, social media manager, and customer success team get hundreds of questions every year. Talk to them, compile the questions, perfect the answers, and post the end result as an ongoing FAQ. Now your team can direct customers or visitors to the FAQ for a complete response to their questions without doing the work all over again (plus, they’ll potentially find answers to questions they haven’t even asked yet).
And there you have it—20 simple ways to repurpose your awesome content.
Get out your stopwatch and see how much time you save cranking out the next batch of work. Plan an extra 30 minutes for lunch tomorrow because you’re going to be way ahead of schedule!
Tips and tricks to repurpose content to perfection
The digital world has enough meh pieces of content. Repurposing content isn’t an excuse to get lazy and copy/paste your work everywhere—it’s a strategy to do more with less.
Want to create new content even better than the original? Then check out our tips and tricks below:
- Breathe new life into your old posts by giving them a regular update. Revise data, make amendments, delete irrelevant content, and keep it fresh. If the piece isn’t performing well in search results, experiment with optimizing towards a new keyword.
- Don’t duplicate your content. Even if you’re compiling your blog posts into an ebook, take the time to polish up the copy and create smoother transitions. You might want to change the layout around, delete a paragraph here or there, or condense sections. It’ll be glaringly (and embarrassingly) obvious if you just copy/paste together an ebook or guide—take the time to thoughtfully create a high-quality standalone piece.
- Link all your content together. If you publish a blog post based on a podcast episode, link back to the source podcast. And vice versa—in the podcast description, link to the blog post. Do this with all your content to create natural, helpful links for your audience to follow.
Follow the 80/20 content marketing rule
Remember the marketing adage we mentioned briefly: write less, promote more. It deserves a bit more attention.
The 80/20 content marketing rule is simple: 20% of your time should be spent creating content, 80% percent should be spent promoting it. I like to think of repurposing as promoting content.
Put in the time, do the hard work, and create super high-quality pieces of content. Then, stretch that content to its limits by repurposing it on every appropriate channel. So if your original article took you 10 hours to create, you should spend 40 hours promoting it (repurposing, emailing, sharing on social media, creating ads, and more).
Don’t fall into the dark, endless content creation blackhole. It doesn’t matter how great your content is if nobody sees it!
Go forth and repurpose
Save time, create better, and increase traffic by repurposing your content. Need I say more?
Start getting the most bang for your buck with every piece you create by repurposing it to its absolute limits.
Need help with the email-specific content repurposing? Check out our Email Marketing Getting Started Guide to go step-by-step through everything you need to know to get your email program up and running.
