Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose

Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose.

2019 is truly the year of green. With people becoming more environmentally conscious, getting rid of plastic straws, and the rise of the practice of recycling, it seems that people are now more concerned than ever about omitting as little waste as possible. Why not apply that concept to your marketing strategy? Why not get the most out of the content you are writing?

Do you ever work on a piece of content for days, weeks, or months only for it to be posted and then forgotten about? Where do those forgotten pieces of content go? Do they deserve to be shoved down into the depths of your archives?

In the spirit of being green, we here at Hyperchat Social have put together a comprehensive guide to the art of repurposing your content.

So what is repurposing content?

Repurposing content is basically using content that you have already posted to make something new. Whether that is changing the format of the information or optimizing the format for a different medium, the content goes under some kind of major transformation. While it may seem similar to reposting, it is not. Repurposing is like a reincarnation for the content you have forgotten about—It gives the content new life.

When you successfully repurpose content, it should be unrecognizable. You are giving your content a full surgical cosmetic makeover.

But why should you bother repurposing content?

1. It saves time.

As any seasoned social media expert knows, keeping up with a content calendar is no easy task. Keeping your ideas creative is even harder. So why not take the basics of a great blog post and use the points in your company's podcast? When you are in a crunch or a creative lull, there is no better posting than a repurposed post.

2. It can make people want to visit your other platforms.

The fact that you have used some kind of variation of the content you are posting does not have to be a secret to your followers. When crafting a repurposed piece of content, be sure to plug where your followers can find more about the subject. For example, let's say you repurposed a blog post's information into an infographic to be shared on social. When you share the infographic, tell your followers they can learn more by reading the full blog post on your website. This stops the scroll and redirects the consumer off of social and to your website or blog. Stopping the scroll of a consumer is key when talking about online marketing tools.

3. It's GREAT for SEO

We all have heard of the importance of an online presence. The bigger you are on the web, the more traction you will see. Repurposing your best content to be platform specific will stretch your presence on the internet without spreading yourself, your time, and your resources too thin.

4. It gives your less successful content a chance to redeem itself.

When you are posting as consistently as you should, it's obvious to say that some posts or types of content outshine and outperform others. This does not mean the original piece was bad content, but it may not have been the right medium to convey the message. For example, an eBook that did not perform well may be better suited for a series of blog posts expanding on the content in the eBook. Of vice versa, a series of blog posts that were not as successful can be repurposed and condensed to an eBook to give to clients.

5. Enhancing your own knowledge and skillset

Whether you are an industry leader or a hopeful entrepreneur, you can never know too much about what you do. Writing repurposed content can help reinforce the knowledge you have already and challenge you to expand more on that subject. Think of it as an opportunity to learn and grow in your field. This will also allow you to familiarize yourself with different content strategies and platforms, making you a better marketer for your business all around

Now that you know the ins and outs of why you should be repurposing content for your business, let's get into some more creative ways you can repurpose content for the greater good (of your content calendar).

Repurposing Inspiration

1. Turn your webinar into a video tutorial.

Webinars are a great way to improve your brand's reach and also generate new leads for your business. Why should webinar content only exist on a marketing effort? Your followers need the information too! Turning your webinar content into a video tutorial can expand the scope of the people seeing your tips and tricks. Take this new video and share it on your social pages!

2. Turn old blog posts into eBooks.

Blog posts can take so much time to write. Why would you put that effort into crafting the perfect blog post to only have your blog followers see it? Take what you wrote in your blog and glossy it up to a nice eBook! You can give this new eBook full of great content away to your clients and prospects.

3. Take leads from your Facebook ads and use them in your CRM system.

Content is not the only thing you can repurpose. Are you running a Facebook lead generation ad? If not, find out why you should be here. You can actually go into the results of your ad and download the email addresses captured into a CSV file. Take that CSV file and import it into your CRM system! You can use these new-found contacts in your newsletter mailing list or even your drip marketing campaign.

4. Take a slideshow presentation and turn it into an infographic.

Have you ever made a creative PowerPoint that needed to see beyond the walls of your conference room? Turn one of your educational presentations into an infographic to share. Your new creation can be a new marketing tool for your brand to utilize!

5. Compile related blog posts to form a long-read article.

If you run a blog, you often have somewhat of a niche market and there is a good chance you have blogged on similar subjects. Try compiling these blogs into a long-read article. Long read articles are already automatically prioritized via search engines. You not only get to repurpose your content but you also get to boost your own SEO and ranking higher in Google searches.

As we learned, repurposing content is a great way to save yourself the stress of creating new content but still combined with the creativity of transforming old content into something new. If you want to get started on your social media journey, be sure to click here to schedule a demo to start Turning Social Into Sales!