Marketers who honor time as one of the most precious resources in marketing know it is important to set realistic goals to build and execute content.
So, if you find yourself short on time in your content creation process, but don’t want to compromise quality, then you may need to consider repurposing your content. Repurposing content is simply recycling content into different formats, allowing you to target your audiences again, or to target a new audience.
So where do you find content that can be repurposed?
Well, if you have been blogging for a while now, you’ve probably have enough articles in your blog archives that you can tweak and turn them into ‘new content’!
Next question: Can you repurpose all of your old content?
Of course not. Just like recycling old clothes, you get to keep the ones that don’t go out of style and are forever useful – in content creation, go with the evergreen ones.
So, any evergreen ones?
I’ve read that some marketers prefer repurposing content that only performed well in the past. In contrast, I feel that any QUALITY, evergreen content that either did well and did not can be repurposed. Repurposing is killing two birds with one stone ― it’s a second chance at promotion and it appeals to more audiences, which helps in extending your content’s reach.
It may sound easy, but it still takes some time at first. Once you get used to it, you’ll realize that it’s really a superhero time-saver for busy marketers.
Now, let’s talk about how you can accomplish blog content repurposing for social media in these seven effective ways:
1) Infographic Blog post Into a SlideShare Presentation
Turn your infographic blog post into a SlideShare post! Slideshare has a big community, so you should be able to get new traffic and leads. When uploading your infographic on Slideshare, they automatically detect it as infographic and include it in their infographic directory. Take note that infographics need to be saved in a one-page PDF format prior to uploading.
Screenshot taken June 2015 from SlideShare
2) Quote from a Blog Post into a Facebook Image Post
Cite a quote from an article and create a Facebook image post to repromote the article. Here’s how we usually do it at our own Facebook page (disclosure: Kairay Media is owned by Brent Csutoras, a partner of Alpha Brand Media, publisher of SEJ).
Screenshot taken June 2015 from the Kairay Media Facebook Page
3) Step by Step Guide Into a YouTube Video
Video marketing has continued to grow in popularity. YouTube has been sending great traffic and leads to marketers who take the visual marketing game seriously. So, if you have a stockpile of content like how-to tutorials and step by step guides, then it shouldn’t take much effort to create top-notch repurposed video content!
Image created by author for SEJ
4) Informational Articles Into An Answer on Quora
You can use elements from your previous content while answering questions on Quora, along with linking back to the original article as well. It’s hitting two goals in one tactic: promoting your personal brand in social media and bringing people back to your website, while being helpful to those who need guidance.
Take a look at this brilliant example:
Image created by author for SEJ
5) Reports and Studies Into a Twitter Image Post
This may be a no-brainer, but let me just emphasize that images fuel tweet engagement! Studies have seen higher levels of retweeting when an image is attached in a tweet. Thus, it is always a good idea to repurpose your content into an image post on Twitter, then link back to the original article.
Here’s a good example of a report turned into a Twitter image post:
Screenshot taken June 2015 from the Econsultancy Twitter Page
6) Old Blog Post Into a LinkedIn Publishing Post
A lot of marketers and professionals have been seeing great success with LinkedIn publishing. And for some, repurposing evergreen content has been a practical choice for getting more visibility in the social network. You can summarize your blog post, highlight some points, and link back to the original article.
Screenshot taken June 2015 from LinkedIn Pulse
7) Blog posts Into a Webinar or a Podcast (Google+ Hangouts)
Google+ hangouts present an incredible follower-building opportunity for marketers and professionals because it lets you show your expertise through live discussion / Q&A.
Screenshot taken June 2015 from Hangouts On Air
Repurposing your content into video allows people to more effectively digest your content and to repurpose your content into a completely new medium. Other than webinars, you can also try podcasting, considering that there have been a surprising rise of podcast networks these days.
The power of repurposing content in social media is boundless, if done in a meaningful way, and leveraging the above tips will be super helpful for your social media strategy, so here’s my two cents in executing them:
Always stick to your customer-centric goals and continue to provide value, no matter what content you offer ― original or repurposed!
