Being green is the new black.
We’re told to recycle everything, so how about recycling your content?
Over the years, you’ll build up a valuable library of content. It contains things like blogs, articles, videos, reports, white papers, and case studies.
Rather than leaving it on your hard drive, make it work for you by repurposing it.
What is repurposed content?
Repurposed content is, in essence, recycling; creating something new out of something old.
It’s a fantastic way of re-sharing your old content in a new format.
Take white papers as an example.
Usually, once written they are emailed out to customers, published on your website and then forgotten about.
The problem with that is they cost a lot to produce, so why not extend the life of your investment by serialising them into bite sized articles. That way, you are reusing the content but in a format that is accessible to more people. BY also changing the tone and way the information is displayed, you’ll create a raft of new, original material for your website.
That way the white paper will now live on to attract a whole new barrage of visitors to your website.
Pretty cool.
There are, of course, right ways and wrong ways to go about repurposing. Here’s a short guide to help you smooth your repurposing path.
Share older content
Over time, your blog will become an extensive library of valuable content. Make sure you keep sending them out through your social media channels. Even the oldest material will be relevant to your readers.
This will show new readers the depth and breadth of your knowledge, while making the most of your work.
Don’t share stuff that’s out-dated
Sharing your old stuff is great, bit it’s important to make sure it’s not out of date.
Every so often, take a look through your old stuff and see if there are any posts that can be update and shared again. You can reference the older post and reuse some of it’s content. Then, simply add in the new information. This will help you maintain a constant stream of content without having to completely re-write everything.
Tailor your content
Every company, including yours, has several audiences. Each will have a preferred way of obtaining their information.
Why not create articles from your podcasts and visa versa. Create articles and blogs from old white papers. How about making ‘how to’ videos from old blogs?
The possibilities are endless.
Don’t make out it’s new when it’s not
People aren’t stupid; they’ll know when you’re recycling stuff.
Rather than trying to convince them you’re post is new, stay above board and add something like “here’s one from the archives; as true to today as the day it was written”.
Don’t be a one trick pony
Repurposing is an efficient way of making your content go further. However, that doesn’t mean you can just rely on it; you must still create new stuff.
After all, Google (and your readers) want to see a constant stream of high-quality, original content.
In summary
Repurposing will lead to greater engagement, more clicks and more social sharing.
If you originally wrote a white paper, report or blog, turn it into a video, podcast or infographic? You could even create an eBook from a series of old blog posts.
Take a look through your archives and work out what can be shared and how to share it.
It’s such a shame to let so much great information go to waste; start repurposing and supercharge your marketing machine.
Sally Ormondhas been repurposing her clients’ content for years. Through her creativeness, their old content has gone on to inspire and attract fresh audiences. To get professional help with your repurposing, contacting her on +44(0) 1449 779605.