Repurposing Content: A Cheat Sheet for Busy Marketers
You’re a busy digital marketer, juggling campaigns, client meetings, and analytics reports. On top of that, you need to produce three pieces of content every week. Sounds impossible, right? You’re wondering how to manage this without turning into a content-producing machine. Well, here’s the magic trick: repurposing content. It’s like recycling but with a creative twist. Let’s break it down in this fun guide!
Table of Contents
1. What is Content Repurposing?
Recycling with Style
Picture this: You’ve written an in-depth blog post about SEO trends for 2024. It’s gold, but it feels like one piece isn’t enough to do it justice. Repurposing allows you to take that one valuable piece and transform it into various formats—like turning a dosa into an uttapam or idli (same batter, but different looks).
Instead of reinventing the wheel, you reuse it in a smarter way. A blog post becomes a podcast, social media posts, a newsletter, or even an infographic. Sounds like a breeze, doesn’t it?
2. Why Should You Repurpose Content?
Save Time and Energy
Let’s face it, none of us have the luxury of extra time. Whether you’re managing multiple clients or hustling through the day for your brand, creating original content takes hours, if not days. But by repurposing, you maximize the value of each piece of content you create. Instead of spending hours crafting new pieces from scratch, you can reshape existing ones into different formats.
Imagine You write a blog post on “5 Ways to Boost Your Social Media Engagement.” From that one piece, you could create five individual LinkedIn posts, a YouTube video, an Instagram carousel, and a newsletter. That’s six pieces of content from one source!
3. Start With Evergreen Content
Pick the Long-Lasting Stars
What’s better than a smart strategy? A long-lasting one! Evergreen content is content that stays relevant over time—think “How to Save for Retirement” or “Beginner’s Guide to SEO.” Unlike time-sensitive content (like a cricket match result or breaking news), evergreen content has a much longer shelf life.
For example, If you’ve written a guide on “SEO Best Practices,” it’s something that remains useful all year round. Take that piece, update it once in a while, and boom! It keeps on giving, like a perfect masala chai recipe that works in every season.
4. How to Identify Content to Repurpose
Spot the Hidden Gems
You don’t need to repurpose everything. The key is knowing what’s working. Check your blog analytics to see which posts are driving the most traffic or engagement. These are your golden nuggets. If a piece of content already resonates with your audience, it’s more likely to succeed in other formats too.
Let’s say you’ve noticed that your post “SEO Tips for Small Businesses” is getting a lot of views. That’s your cue to take that content and repurpose it into bite-sized LinkedIn articles or a webinar for startups. Reuse the same core ideas, but adjust the format to match the platform.
5. Repurpose in Different Formats
Mix it Up Like a Pro Chef
Just like how Indian food can be both spicy and sweet, your content can take many different shapes. A single blog post can be repurposed into various formats, each tailored for specific platforms and audiences. Here are some examples:
- Blog to Social Media Posts: Break your long-form article into smaller chunks for social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Use bullet points, quotes, or even create a poll to engage your followers.
- Blog to YouTube Video or Podcast: Got a blog post that’s packed with useful information? Record yourself explaining the key points and share it as a podcast or video.
- Blog to Infographic: If you have a post that’s heavy on data or steps (like “How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps”), create a visual infographic. Tools like Canva make this super easy.
If You’ve written a detailed post on “Top 10 Email Marketing Tips.” Instead of leaving it there, design an infographic listing those tips and post it on Pinterest. Then, go ahead and make a quick Instagram Reel summarizing the key points. One idea, three platforms—maximum impact!
6. Leverage Social Media Stories
Quick, Fun, and Engaging
Social media stories (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) are all about quick, engaging content. Your long-form blog posts may not fit here, but repurposing them into bite-sized facts, tips, or quotes works like a charm. Think of stories as a fun snack-sized version of your full meal content.
To give an idea, You wrote a blog titled “5 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2024.” Instead of just posting the blog link, break those trends into individual slides, add some cool graphics, and voila! You’ve got a vibrant Instagram story that captures attention.
7. Refresh and Update Old Content
Polish the Old for New Success
Sometimes, your best content is already sitting there, quietly waiting for a refresh. Updating old blog posts or videos with new statistics, insights, or even just new graphics can breathe new life into them.
Example: Maybe you wrote an article about “Digital Marketing Tools” back in 2020. A lot has changed since then! By updating that post to include the latest tools and trends, you instantly make it more relevant—and it becomes a whole new piece of content without the need to start from scratch.
8. Create Multi-Part Series
Break It Down, Build it Up
You’ve got a big, juicy topic—let’s say “A Complete Guide to SEO in 2024.” Instead of writing one long post that might overwhelm your audience, why not split it into a multi-part series? This gives you more opportunities to repurpose each part individually.
Break down the guide into three parts: “SEO Basics,” “Advanced SEO Strategies,” and “SEO Tools.” Each post can stand on its own and be repurposed into social media snippets, email campaigns, or video series.
9. Tools That Make Repurposing Easier
Your Repurposing Arsenal
Why do it all by hand when you have tools that can make life easier? Here’s a list of some tools that’ll make repurposing a breeze:
- Canva: For designing infographics, social media posts, and other visual content.
- Lumen5: Transform blog posts into videos with this tool—it’s like magic!
- Anchor.fm: Create podcasts from written content with ease.
- Buffer: Plan and schedule your repurposed content across multiple platforms.
These tools help you save time and energy, so you can focus on what you do best: coming up with creative marketing strategies.
10. Measure and Optimize Your Repurposing Strategy
Keep Tweaking for Best Results
Just because you’re repurposing doesn’t mean you can set it and forget it. You need to measure how each repurposed piece is performing. Use analytics to track views, likes, shares, or conversions on each platform.
If you notice that your infographic performs better on Pinterest than on Instagram, focus more effort there. Similarly, if your podcast episodes are getting more attention than your blog, consider shifting more content toward audio.
Repurposing content is like a cheat code for busy marketers—it saves time, effort, and can seriously boost your content output. Remember, it’s not about constantly creating from scratch but creatively recycling and reusing your best work. So, the next time you feel swamped with content creation, think about how you can repurpose what you’ve already got.
There’s no need to stress over new ideas every time when you have the power of repurposing at your fingertips. Go ahead, give it a try, and watch how much lighter your content calendar feels!
