Unique, innovative, new, compelling, original — all too often, marketers and creatives are told to approach content creation through the confines of these platitudes. Although your brand can aspire to be these things, pursuing those ideas with every piece of content may mean that you’re not getting the most out of the once-new-and-compelling content you’ve already invested in — not to mention the burden this places on your team and creative budget.
“Marketers are often focused on the next piece of content they need to produce, and either jump into that using all their creative skills, or the idea sits on the back burner due to lack of resources,” says Stoney deGeyter, VP of search and advertising for The Karcher Group.
“It’s also easy to believe that more content will solve all your organic woes. However, repurposing content is far and away the smartest technique to get the most bang for your buck and keep your content/SEO team from burning out,” adds Katie Pennell, senior performance content and SEO manager at Nina Hale Performance Digital.
Repurposing content may not be as flashy as avant-garde content marketing, but it can be effective and economical. Pennell and deGeyter will be discussing the benefits of repurposing content and applying a multi-faceted approach to both creation and curation at our SMX Advanced conference June 4-5 in Seattle. They’ll also discuss cross-channel strategies that can help maximize your content’s reach and your campaign’s impact.
Left: Katie Pennell, senior performance content and SEO manager at Nina Hale Performance Digital. Right: Stoney deGeyter, VP of search and advertising at The Karcher Group.
With over thirty years of marketing experience between them, deGeyter and Pennell shared why they think repurposing is an underestimated strategy as well as some ways marketers can build off of the momentum of their existing content.
Whether it’s B2B or B2C, many believe that newer content is better. What methods do you use to make repurposed content seem fresh?
“Understanding each channel, from the audiences to content best practices on each channel, should guide the content you publish,” Pennell points out. “Repurposing then could be the length, tone, asset type that accompanies text (if any). These tweaks are often enough to keep the content feeling fresh. Updating with new information or adding a specific, topical angle can also be a powerful way to make older evergreen content fresh and new.”
“If the content is repurposed in a new medium or for a new audience, that alone should reset the fresh quotient,” deGeyter concurs, adding that, “This assumes we are not trying to take the lazy way out entirely but repurposing with a [goal] and a plan for excellence.”
What are some of the biggest mistakes to avoid when it comes to repurposing content?
“I think the biggest mistake that I am personally guilty of is phoning in the repurposed content,” admits deGeyter. “Not only do I not want to do something original, but I look for the easiest way out as possible through repurposing. We need to use repurposing as a shortcut to create new, exciting and awesome content, not a way to just push something out without great value.”
How would you approach repurposing multimedia content?
On the topic of repurposing audio content such as podcasts, Pennell advises, “Including a transcript is SEO best practice, and once you have the transcript you essentially have a whole article just waiting for editing. That then can, in turn, be turned into social posts, email content, and potentially spin off articles down the road.”
“Videos are similar to podcasts, but often require a little more foresight to really make the most of the asset. Going into the shoot with an idea of the channels and uses for the video helps the video budget go further.”
When it comes to getting the most out of multimedia content, Pennell suggests that you ask the following questions: “Do you need a shorter video for social media? What about pre-roll ads? Are you addressing a larger how-to that could be broken into smaller, more specific tips? Knowing all this can ensure you get the lines and shots needed to make each edit possible.”
With social media content generally being shorter in length, is there a way to repurpose it?
“Take something small and expand it. Every book started as an idea. A tweet can easily be the basis of a 1000 word blog post,” deGeyter states simply.
Pennell’s advice is based on the same premise, “You should be using social to understand what topics resonate with your audience, both from a post-engagement perspective as well as mining the comments and DMs for additional content opportunities. Using the metrics to understand the most successful topics can provide prioritization guidance of what topics to focus on first,” adding that, “Social media posts that resonate can then be expanded upon to create blog posts, evergreen site pages, or even just email subject line tests.”
Content marketers, strategists and creatives can learn even more smart ways to create and repurpose content at Pennell and deGeyter’s session at SMX Advanced. Check out the full SMX Advanced agenda and register today.
About The Author
George Nguyen is an Associate Editor at Third Door Media. His background is in content marketing, journalism, and storytelling.