Is your client out of time? Short on new topic ideas? Need to get more bang from their content? Might be time to repurpose.
We’re not talking about curation, where you gather material created by others and assemble it into content to deliver to your own audience. We’re talking about re-using content you’ve already created in newly appealing ways so you can reach more people.
Repurposing is recycling, but only in the best sense of the word.
You can use repurposing in two distinct ways:
- Stretch the value of certain information that is not time-sensitive, so it continues to be valuable to you and your audience over time.
- Deliver timely content in multiple formats across multiple channels simultaneously or in short succession. This is dandy when you need broad-brush impact right away, say for a special campaign.
You have myriad tools at your disposal – blog, e-newsletter, podcasts, videos, SlideShare presentations, webinars, ebooks, whitepapers, photos, case studies, spec sheets . . .
- Collate smaller pieces into an ebook, or turn a whitepaper into blog-length chapters.
- Expand on an idea you used previously, with a more in-depth article.
- Update previous piece with “breaking news” or re-visit an essential theme after some time has passed, for two reasons: the information is worth repeating because it’s that important and you’ll reach a new audience.
- Make text into a visual -- turn a how-to blog article into a video and post it on YouTube. Then introduce the video to your social communities. You’ll reach everyone who’d rather view it than read about it.
- Deliver video or webinar content via your blog or newsletter.
- Convert a case study presentation into Slide Share. Use minimal text, getting your point across primarily with charts, graphics or photos. If it’s endless or ponderous, it’ll be useless, too. Besides, visuals have exponential value.
- Use excerpts and interview quotes – in text, audio or video – as Facebook posts and tweets.
- Serialize – movie theatres did it back in the early days, television has done it for decades. You’ve hit the engagement jackpot when you make it irresistible for people to “tune in” for the next installment.
- Turn sales materials into educational pieces, turn a blog article or infographic into a catchy handout, or turn that infographic into a print ad or poster.
Audio and video personalize you and your content. And, frankly, as long as your audio is good, sketchy video is fine. Even the network TV news people are now airing interviews conducted via Skype and cell phone. If it’s OK for Scott Pelley, it’s OK for you.
Does all this seem somewhat circular? In a way, it is. All digital marketing is interrelated, so you’re using the system to best advantage.
Bear in mind that not all content works in every, whereas certain formats lend themselves particularly well to certain things. So use your imagination, but keep your industry and audience in mind, too. And study your online analytics to see what draws the strongest traffic. Do more of that.
Make your own mashup.
Isn’t that a great word? It just sounds like fun. Technically it refers to an application that draws from several other applications to create a composite result – like when you look up a restaurant and get a page that shows a description, a map and a short video about their newest dessert.
It’s the composite part that’s interesting. With so many different formats and channels at your disposal, it’s crazy not to combine them. Think “mish-mash,” but in a good way. Your content becomes more interactive, and you can capture attention from various learning styles simultaneously. Oops, we don’t say “learning styles” any more, the new buzzword is content consumption. You’re not actually gnawing on my blog article, are you?
The point is that since different formats appeal to different audiences, combining them helps you cover more bases, invitingly. For example, your blog article about a new product launch could include both a relevant image and an embedded short video showing how to use it. See, you’re already doing that, aren’t you? Kudos. Keep it up.
The point of creating content is for people to find and use it.
Repurposing can give your client's SEO a healthy boost. You’re not only providing content people want, you’re putting it where they’re most likely to be looking. Your creating content more efficiently but more effectively, too. You’re reaching out to your targets, wherever they are, and holding their interest with great stuff, presented engagingly.
So, are your clients ready to repurpose? Go forth. And have fun!
