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What is Repurposing Content and Whys is it Important?
Why Repurpose Content?
5 Ways to Repurpose Content for a Blog
5 Ways to Create and Repurpose Content on Social Media
How to Repurpose Your Content with Digital PR
What is Repurposing Digital Content?
Essentially, repurposing new content involves changing formats, updating evergreen content, resharing content with key messages, and building off of content already created. This guide will demonstrate examples, strategies, and the overall importance of repurposing content.
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 regard 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.
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?
5 Ways 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?
1). Create a YouTube video
Because most blogs are text-heavy messages with regard to their content having the same information illustrated via video can be an easy and effective way to repurpose the content. A comprehensive creation guide and what software to use can be found here.
2). Create a Slide Share
Again, simply using textual information and converting it into a different medium can open up an entirely new audience. Slide shares 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.
3). Create an eBook
How to Create an eBook (Free eBook Templates)
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. HubSpot offers a comprehensive guide, that walks businesses’ through the process.
4). Create Leadership Quotes
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.
5). Create a Podcast
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 its content to different audiences. We’ve briefly mentioned it above, but we’ll cover more examples of repurposing content for social media below.
At DigitalPR, we have blog content that pairs with our CEO Zach Hoffman’s marketing podcast. For example, its blog 5 Key Reasons Why Branding is Important podcast episode covers the ins and outs of company branding.
Repurpose Content on Social Media
While every business uses social media to one extent or another, it is an easy outlet for repurposing information and strengthening your social media strategy. But first, your business must choose the right social media platform for your target audience.
Here are some ways to repurpose content:
1). Use old images
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.
The software company WordPress reuses the same images as posts, backgrounds, and featured images on their social media. Using convenient images allows the company to create content quickly while keeping the theme of the social media page.
2). Post snippets of videos
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.
3). Post user content
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.
For example, The Spero Clinic has a FAQ highlight on its Instagram. This way, potential clients don’t have to search across media to find the answers they’re looking for.
4). Create Infographics
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.
The research platform HubSpot, often provides its followers with relevant infographics, that incorporate the brand’s theme and values.
5). Ask Questions
Using questions from blogs, live streams, or YouTube videos can be translated into social media Q&As. Even further, these questions can be pinned permanently on your company’s profile as highlights that can be easily updated.
How to 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.
For more information and resources, check out DigitalPR which offers the following services to help your company with its social media strategy:
As always, reach out to Digital PR with feedback or questions.