What are the considerations for repurposing existing content to maximize its value in a content plan?
Content repurposing is a strategy that involves taking existing content and transforming it into different formats to reach a wider audience and maximize its value in a content plan. It is a cost-effective way to create new content from pre-existing material, leveraging its potential and extending its lifespan. By repurposing content, marketers can save time, create a robust content bank, develop a consistent publishing frequency, expand content visibility, reinforce their message, improve SEO performance, and increase brand familiarity.
Understanding Content Repurposing
What is content repurposing?
Content repurposing is the process of taking an existing piece of content and adapting it into various formats to serve different purposes and target different audiences. It involves reworking, repackaging, and redistributing content across different platforms and channels. Instead of creating new content from scratch, repurposing allows marketers to make the most of their existing assets and reach new audiences.
Benefits of Repurposing Content
Save time
Repurposing content can save a considerable amount of time for content creators. Instead of starting from scratch, they can build upon their existing material, making necessary updates and edits. This eliminates the need for extensive research and writing, speeding up the content creation process.
Create a robust content bank
By repurposing existing content, marketers can create a robust content bank that can be utilized for various marketing purposes. This content bank acts as a repository of valuable information that can be repurposed and shared in different formats, ensuring a steady stream of content for different platforms and channels.
Develop a consistent publishing frequency
Repurposing content allows marketers to maintain a consistent publishing frequency across different platforms and channels. By repackaging and redistributing existing content, they can ensure a regular flow of content without the need to constantly create new pieces from scratch. This consistency helps in engaging the audience and building a loyal following.
Expand content visibility
By repurposing content and presenting it in various formats, marketers can expand the visibility of their content. Different audiences have different content preferences, and by adapting the content to suit different formats such as videos, infographics, podcasts, or social media posts, marketers can reach a wider audience and increase content visibility.
Reinforce your message
Repurposing content allows marketers to reinforce their key messages and core ideas. By presenting the same content in different formats, they can emphasize and highlight important points, ensuring that the message is effectively communicated to the audience. This repetition reinforces brand messaging and helps in building brand recognition.
Improve SEO performance
Repurposing content can also have a positive impact on SEO performance. By optimizing repurposed content for different keywords and topics, marketers can increase the chances of their content appearing in relevant search engine results. This can lead to improved organic traffic, higher search engine rankings, and increased visibility for the brand.
Increase brand familiarity
Through content repurposing, marketers can increase brand familiarity among their audience. By consistently presenting the brand’s message and content across different platforms and formats, they can create a cohesive brand identity that resonates with the target audience. This familiarity builds trust and loyalty, ultimately driving customer engagement and conversions.
Identifying Content for Repurposing
Evaluating content performance
When selecting content for repurposing, it is important to evaluate its performance. Analyzing metrics such as page views, engagement, and social media shares can help identify the most successful content pieces that are worth repurposing. By focusing on content that has already resonated with the audience, marketers can maximize the impact of their repurposed content.
Selecting evergreen, popular, and relevant content
When repurposing content, it is advisable to select pieces that are evergreen, popular, and relevant to the target audience. Evergreen content refers to content that remains useful and relevant over a long period of time. Popular content pieces with high engagement and positive feedback are also good candidates for repurposing. Additionally, content that aligns with current trends and audience interests is more likely to resonate with the target audience.
Ways to Repurpose Content
Update and extend existing articles
One of the simplest ways to repurpose content is by updating and extending existing articles. This can involve adding new information, insights, or case studies to make the content more relevant and valuable to the audience. By republishing the updated article or promoting it through different channels, marketers can maximize the reach and impact of the content.
Turn blog posts into podcasts or videos
Another effective way to repurpose content is by turning blog posts into podcasts or videos. By converting written content into audio or visual formats, marketers can tap into the growing popularity of podcasts and videos. This enables them to reach a new audience who prefer consuming content through audio or visual mediums.
Create infographics from research papers or reports
Infographics are a visually appealing way to present information and data. By repurposing research papers or reports into infographics, marketers can make complex information more digestible and visually appealing. Infographics are highly shareable on social media platforms and can attract a new audience to the brand’s content.
Develop email newsletters from blog series
Blog series are a great source of repurposable content. By compiling a series of related blog posts into an email newsletter, marketers can provide valuable content directly to their subscribers’ inboxes. This helps in nurturing the relationship with the audience and keeps them engaged with the brand.
Transform customer testimonials into case studies
Customer testimonials are powerful social proof that can be repurposed into case studies. By gathering customer testimonials and success stories, marketers can develop in-depth case studies that highlight the benefits and value of their products or services. These case studies can be shared on the website, social media, or used in sales and marketing collateral.
Use social media posts to generate blogs or articles
Social media posts often contain snippets of valuable information. By repurposing social media posts into blogs or articles, marketers can expand on these ideas and provide more comprehensive and in-depth content to their audience. This not only maximizes the value of the initial social media post but also drives traffic back to the brand’s website.
Best Practices for Repurposing Content
Maintaining consistency across various formats
While repurposing content, it is crucial to maintain consistency in terms of brand identity, tone of voice, and messaging across different formats. This ensures a cohesive brand experience for the audience and builds brand recognition and trust.
Optimizing for different platforms
Each platform may have different technical requirements and audience preferences. When repurposing content for different platforms, it is important to optimize it accordingly. This can involve adapting the format, length, and visual elements to suit the platform and enhance audience engagement.
Aligning with current trends and audience interests
To maximize the impact of repurposed content, it should align with current trends and audience interests. By staying updated with industry trends and understanding their target audience’s preferences, marketers can create content that is more likely to resonate with the audience.
Ensuring legal compliance and ethics
When repurposing content, it is important to ensure legal compliance and ethical practices. This includes obtaining necessary permissions for using copyrighted material, giving appropriate credit to original sources, and respecting intellectual property rights. Adhering to legal and ethical standards avoids any potential legal issues and helps maintain a professional reputation.
The Impact of Content Repurposing on SEO
Creating multiple touchpoints
Content repurposing creates multiple touchpoints for search engines, increasing the chances of the brand’s content being discovered. By repurposing content into different formats and targeting different keywords, marketers can generate more opportunities for search engines to index and display their content in relevant search results. This improves the brand’s overall SEO performance and visibility.