How To Repurpose Your Content - And Make It Awesome!
When it comes to making content like the pros, there’s ONE rule of thumb you should never forget:
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Let’s face it. Creating GOOD content isn’t easy. It takes time, energy, and - most importantly - MONEY. And we all know small businesses have all those things in limited quantities. So why waste what little you have into churning out new blog posts, new social media content, and researching new topics, if you don’t have to?
Giving old content new life is almost like an art. And we’re sharing all our tips and tricks with you.
1. Keep Your Content Evergreen
The best thing you can do to keep your content reusable is to make it timeless. That means avoiding dates, years, and references with quick expiration dates.
For example, rather than a blog post about ‘Our Favourite Bloggers of 2017’, your post could be ‘Our Favourite Bloggers of All Time’. Some blogging platforms even allow you to remove the publish date on your blog post, so your audience would have no idea when it was originally written. Brands do this all the time. Just take a look at BlogTO’s social media feeds. Do you think all those articles are brand new?
This doesn’t mean you can’t write about timely things like Thanksgiving, Halloween, or the holidays. What it DOES mean is that you need to get a little more creative and deliberate to ensure your content rings true, regardless of the year. Take our holiday campaigns blog post, for example. It was topical, timely, and seasonal - but if you pay close attention, you’ll notice there aren’t any dates or times attached to this blog post. That means we could technically share this same blog post during holidays 2018, 2019, and beyond.
2. Search for the Gold Nuggets
Repurposing and reusing old content is kind of like panning for gold. You’re on the hunt for nuggets of information - quotes, paragraphs, pictures, ideas - essentially any piece of content that can be transformed and turned into something new.
For example, a few months ago we wrote a blog post about how to create a content calendar. There were lots of nuggets in this article that we could expand upon. We could easily write a follow-up blog post about our favourite content management tools, or another article entitled ‘Major Dates You Gotta Have In Your Content Calendar’. Since this post included a variety of steps, we could turn it into an infographic, or an Instagram story, or a tweet asking people how they manage their content calendars.
Next time you’re scrolling through your feeds, ask yourself “Can I present this same information in a new way?” People process information differently, so offering various ways to digest the same content can actually help you reach new audiences and maximize your content’s potential.
3. Don’t be Afraid to Share, Again and Again
You may read this and have your doubts, but research shows that sharing the same content can increase the number of people who see it. On Twitter, for example, tweeting an existing blog post multiple times can generate 75% as many retweets as the time before.
If you’re keeping it evergreen and timeless, then sharing old content shouldn’t be a problem. In my personal experience, I was subscribed to a weekly newsletter for small business owners. At the bottom of the email was the link to the exact same YouTube video for six weeks straight. I saw it each time, thinking nothing of it. Eventually, on week 6, I clicked and watched it!
Like many things in life, a good system can go a loooong way. Create a system to archive old content and keep it top of mind. Make a point to go through your previous blog posts or old photos you’ve taken on a regular basis, and save content you think can be brought out again and again.
Want to work with a team who can help you bring your content game to a new level? Book a free online consultation with us and let’s see if we’re a fit!