While it might seem like a cop-out or even just plain laziness, recycling or repurposing content helps to not only expand its audience reach but also its lifespan. While creating new content it is important to be thoughtful with regards to existing data. So how can you repurpose content to benefit your customers?
While some might view it as a cop-out, it really isn’t. It is a strategy. One with great results.
Think about it. Users don’t want rehashed content. When they feel the site isn’t putting forth the effort to create new content they won’t bother coming back. It’s that simple. So why would a site want to repurpose content already posted?
Simple. It’s not simply reposting or copying the same material exactly the same way. It’s using the content in a new form, breathing new life into it, so that old and new visitors alike can benefit from the value in the content.
Why Repurpose Content?
That’s easy. It saves time. If you already have proven content that has driven traffic or sales through the site, why wouldn’t it make sense to reuse it? To repurpose content means to give the site an added SEO boost. With similar content utilizing keywords the search engines will hit on it, recognizing it as a source of authority.
By creating a blog post gives a web presence and useful content to draw traffic and convert that traffic to customers. But what if the blog post could also be repurposed as content for a newsletter or a YouTube video? Suddenly the content has three uses and had to be created only once. Three separate platforms. Three separate audiences. Who wouldn’t be happy about that?
How to Repurpose Content for a Blog?
So, the decision has been made to repurpose content. Great. How is it done effectively? The site has an excellent click-through rate on a particular blog. How can it be reused in a meaningful way?
Because most blogs are text-heavy messages with regards to their content having the same information illustrated via video can be an easy and effective way to repurpose the content.
Again, simply using textual information and converting it into a different medium can open up an entirely new audience. Slideshares are easily shared and produce your content in a different way. They also allow different types of media to be posted which is above and beyond the typical blog post.
This allows the same content presented in a long blog post but in a more permanent form. It also allows additional coverage for a different audience base.
If some of the blog content comes from industry experts, then glean a half dozen quotes or so from hard-hitting sections of the post and repurpose them in infographics, email snippets, or social media accounts.
Podcasts are all the rage right now. Presenting a well-received blog post in audio format will again provide different audience access to the site information.
So, there are various ways to repurpose your content, give it new life and expose it content to different audiences. We’ve briefly mentioned it above, but we’ll cover more examples of repurposing content for social media below.
Repurpose Content on Social Media
While every business uses social media to one extent or another, it is an easy outlet for repurposed information. Here are some ways to repurpose content.
High-quality images can be reused as backgrounds on social media posts. Use it behind quotes or infographics on social media accounts. It can refer to an old project or perhaps celebrate a great moment or event.
If there are long videos of company-related content online, why not take a few small snippets out of it and post it on social media where long, involved video presentations are not allowed. Again, it would reach another under-serviced audience for web content. Video content always posts a higher return on investment than text alone.
User-created content could simply be product reviews posted on the website or off of Amazon. These can easily show customer satisfaction to a social media audience and drive traffic to company websites.
These are ideal for social media purposes. A quick message from a quote or a satisfied customer can pay big dividends. Audiences remember video content for a much longer time than text-only content.
Repurpose Your Content with Digital PR
These strategies don’t suggest the end of new content creation. They simply suggest that there is an alternative method to maximizing the content created and increasing the reach of said content.
As always, reach out to Digital PR with feedback or questions.
