Post on social media multiple times a day. Write a blog. Produce videos. Add content to your website. The list of recommended marketing efforts is miles long. How is any small business—where, let’s be real, the owner is likely the person handling all the marketing as well—supposed to do “all the things”?
Well, while it may not be possible to check off every item on your marketing “wish list,” the good news is that there is a way to get more done in less time. I’m talking about repurposing content. Here’s how to do it.
Benefits of Repurposing Content
There are a number of reasons why it is advantageous to repurpose your content:
- Reach different audiences: Different forms of media appeal to different audiences. For instance, video may be a better choice for some individuals than text-based material.
- Extend your content’s lifespan: Offering your content in a variety of formats gets more mileage for the work you put in. No one and done here.
- Boost SEO: More content provides greater search engine visibility.
- Save time: This is probably the biggest reason for most us. Repurposing resources we already have is a huge time saver.
Getting Started: Identify Good Content
If you have the bandwidth to create a lot of content, you may not have to be strategic about which content you will further leverage. For the rest of us small businesses though, we’re lucky to crank out one blog post or one video per month. If that’s the case for you, start repurposing by first identifying good content:
- Analyze which pieces you created that really resonated with your audience. Use analytics tools to see which pieces got the most views or had the longest dwell time.
- Consider subject matter that will stay evergreen over time. Let’s say you are a personal trainer. An article like “10 Exercises to Improve Posture” will be as relevant tomorrow as it was 10 years ago.
- Focus on content that aligns with your business goals. Maybe you own a women’s fashion store, and you’d really like to increase sales of jewelry next year. Consider making those products a heavier focus of your content production.
How to Repurpose Content
The idea behind repurposing content is to take your content pieces and rework them to function for a different marketing channel. Often, repurposing is done by breaking big content pieces down into smaller messages. But you can go the other direction as well! How to repurpose content may look like:
- Turning blog articles into social media posts.
- Converting longer explanatory videos into quick, short-form excerpts.
- Taking a data-heavy article and designing an infographic.
- Gathering similar articles to create an eBook.
- Using a piece of content to develop an email drip campaign.
- Breaking an article down into a slide deck presentation.
- Converting high-performing social media posts into paid advertising campaigns.
Planning of Repurposed Content
One question you may have, when creating various assets around a particular topic, is whether you should use all of the content at once, or should you “space it out”? This is a good question, and the answer is that is depends on your goals.
Is it a really important topic? Does the material relate to a product or service you are promoting really hard at that time? If this is the case, you may want to consider releasing all your content at once to create a big, cohesive splash.
If your material does not necessarily serve a big product or service push, it might be helpful to space your content out a bit. Doing it this way allows you to:
- Avoid audience overload: Releasing similar content simultaneously may overwhelm your followers, leading to lower engagement overall. Spacing the content out helps each piece get its own attention.
- Extend content longevity: Spreading out your communications allows you to get more use out of your efforts.
If you’re unsure what is best, strike a balance. Consider an initial communications blitz to promote a piece of bigger content—some social media posts to support a new blog post or new video, for instance. Then, plan out additional communications on a regular schedule for as long as that bigger content is relevant and useful.
Conclusion
Repurposing content enables small businesses to maximize their marketing efforts efficiently. If you’re looking for guidance on content marketing, contact us to see how we can help.
