The expert guide to repurposing content
Introduction: What is content repurposing?
You already know that content repurposing is simply when you adapt existing content for different formats, audiences, and platforms.
It’s extracting short clips from a webinar to post on LinkedIn, breaking a longer report down into several blog posts or turning a chart into an infographic. It can also be testing an idea in a relatively low-effort format before investing in a longer content piece.
And you do it because people have different ways of digesting information – some prefer a visual format, preferring to scroll through photos on Instagram, and others text formats on channels like LinkedIn.
Actually, content repurposing has a tonne of benefits associated with it:
- It saves time and effort whilst maximising value.
- It can boost SEO performance.
- It extends the lifespan of existing content.
- It increases the visibility of your message across platforms.
- It helps marketers understand the best venues for a particular message.
The ideas behind content repurposing are fairly straightforward. But as with any other skill, when it comes to content repurposing, there are good and not-so-good ways of going about it.
At Contentoo, content is all we think about all day (and sometimes all night). So, we thought we’d share the strategies and tips that have worked for us and our clients.
Let’s dive in.
Why content repurposing matters
Strategic content repurposing ensures your message resonates across diverse markets and audiences. Before we get into the strategies, though, let’s talk a bit more detail about why you should be repurposing your content.
Of course, it’s a no-brainer in terms of time and money, but there are more subtle but equally important arguments for content repurposing.
First, the research strongly suggests that content repurposing saves time and drives higher organic traffic. You simply reach more eyeballs (or ears) with refreshed and expanded content, helping to connect with those who may have missed it the first time around.
The research mentioned above also shows that content repurposing increases engagement across multiple channels. As mentioned, certain segments of your audience will have specific platform or format preferences. Some people like LinkedIn, others like YouTube, and still, others prefer podcasts.
And you don’t want to miss potential customers who prefer one platform or format over another. You want to engage with your audience – or its segments – where they are most active.
Content repurposing vs. content recycling
It’s worth noting that content repurposing should not be confused with repackaging information from old content into new pieces. This, although similar, is classed as content recycling.
Content recycling and repurposing are often mistaken for the same thing but serve different purposes. Repurposing changes the format, length, or delivery of existing content to create something new, while recycling is just reposting content on the same or another platform.
Another thing to remember – perhaps the most important – is that content repurposing can support your business goals. For instance, many businesses want to distribute their message across international markets, which is an excellent opportunity for repurposing content.
Localisation vs. repurposing content
Before developing a strategy for repurposing content, consider your localisation needs first. Both localisation and repurposing involve adapting content, but they serve very different purposes.
As mentioned, repurposing reshapes content into a different format or platform to reach a new audience. Localisation is all about tailoring content for a specific audience based on language, culture, and regional preferences to ensure it resonates with local customs and expectations.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when repurposing content for a different market:
- Do you have language experts who can ensure that the tone and messaging are culturally appropriate?
- Do you have language experts fluent in the idiosyncrasies of idioms and grammar when repurposing between different markets that speak the same language? (There’s an old joke about the UK and America being ‘two nations separated by the same language’.)
- Have you revised the SEO keywords? They will likely change somewhat when repurposing content between markets using the same language.
Read more localisation.
How to create a content repurposing strategy
Okay, let’s get down to business. Here is our guide to putting together an effective content repurposing strategy.
First things first:
Audit your existing content
The first step in your content repurposing strategy should be to take an objective look at your content using tools like Google Analytics or SEMrush.
Google Analytics has a free version, GA4, available to anyone with a Google account. It’s useful for providing a snapshot of which pages see the most traffic and for certain demographic details. Best of all, you don’t have to spend anything.
SEMrush also provides detailed analytics, allowing for a few free information requests per day. Its paid plans are affordable, so it’s also a viable option for small businesses.
Whichever tool you end up going with, the next step is delving into the metrics. Which metrics you prioritise will really depend on the format of the content – whether it’s a video or a blog post, for instance. Also, the metrics you look at will depend on your business goals, whether they be engagement, conversion, brand awareness, or so forth.
Either way, here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Social media metrics: likes, shares, and comments
- Website engagement metrics: page views, time on page, and organic traffic
- Conversation metrics: conversion rate and lead generation
- SEO performance: keyword rankings
Get it all in a spreadsheet or another central analytics tool so you can tell without any guesswork which pieces of content are performing well and are, therefore, worth repurposing.
Pro tip: We’ve got a super detailed guide on how to audit your content here.
Repurpose by format
After you’ve got a grasp on which content is worth repurposing, it’s time to consider formats.
Obviously, there are a jillion ways to go – there are so many potential formats and channels it can be overwhelming to decide what to put where. Again, here are a few ideas to get you started.
Just keep in mind what your goal is with the content – whether it’s brand awareness, engagement or conversions. Having a clear goal makes it easier both to choose a format and to measure the success of the repurposed content.
Video:
Longer videos can be broken down into snippets for social media. And video transcripts can often be rewritten as blog posts.
Podcasts:
Short clips from a podcast, if they’re interesting or funny, are great for social media, podcasts can also be rewritten as a blog post.
Blog posts:
Often, text can be turned into a strong visual. For example, if you’ve got surprising statistics, make an infographic. Longer posts can also be boiled down into easily digestible lists or quick guides.
Ebooks or reports:
Consider bundling several ebooks into one or taking an existing blog post to create a more extended report or ebook.
Whichever way you go, aim for where your audit suggests you’ll see the most engagement.
Develop a workflow
The workflow is often an overlooked aspect of repurposing, even though it’s quite important, so you’ll want to consider it. Here are the steps we suggest you take to have an efficient and (hopefully) pleasant workflow.
- Centralise content assets in a shared repository.
Repurposing creates loads of content, so it’s in everybody’s best interest to have it all organised in one place and – this is also important – with a clear naming system. - Get clear on who is responsible for what.
Who will identify what to repurpose? Who’s doing the adapting, and who’s doing the reviewing? Everyone should be clear on their roles, and the timelines should be clear as well. - Have a clear process.
Even when repurposing existing content, there will likely be a number of stakeholders wanting to have a look before it goes live, so we strongly suggest you think through the process. We like having a shared checklist so everybody can see their deadlines and where the piece is in the feedback process.
Pro tip: We’ve got an excellent guide to the content feedback process, including content reviewing tools, here.
Consider content repurposing services
Some organisations simply don’t have the resources to audit or repurpose content themselves. And sometimes, there’s just too much of it to handle internally. This is when it’s time to consider a content repurposing service or outsourcing your content.
What are the benefits of content repurposing services? In short, expertise, speed, and scalability. A service will have access to localisation experts when necessary, for example, as well as experts in every format, whether it’s text-based, audio, or video.
We’ve got a few suggestions for content scalers who also do content repurposing here. If and when you talk to them, we suggest you ensure they have people who specialise in repurposing.
Read also: 10 projects to outsource this quarter
More tips for effective content repurposing
Think platform-first
After your content audit, you’ll know what you want to repurpose and where it should be posted. The next efficient step is to adapt the content to match the style and tone of the specific platform.
In other words, let the platform dictate how you repurpose your content – the audience on TikTok, for instance, consumes content much differently than they do on LinkedIn. Sure, you can publish the same content across all platforms but you’ll probably get very different results.
Think specifically about the audience on the platform, and consider what format or approach is best for that audience at that time.
Focus on evergreen content and topics
The world of marketing and communications keeps accelerating.
AI is changing how search engines respond to search requests, regulatory issues are changing in certain markets, and several social media platforms are constantly shifting their algorithms. It can be stressful to continually try and puzzle out what will work and where in terms of content.
But one way to manage all this change is to focus on evergreen content – that is, your assets with a long shelf life (if you don’t mind the mixed metaphor).
Your content audit will likely have turned up content that has been relatively stable in terms of engagement and deals with topics still relevant to your audience. Repurposing these pieces is a great place to start.
Experiment with formats
One of the more exciting aspects of content creation right now is that we’re almost spoiled for choice when it comes to formats.
Your only limits really are ensuring your repurposing supports your business goals, as well as the usual (but crucial) considerations of tone and audience.
Look at your longform evergreen content first, as the longform stuff lends itself to being broken down into shorter content. Reports or podcasts can become blog posts or carousels, or you might pluck out striking statistics for an infographic.
Another good repurposing tactic is to convert content from one format to another, such as turning podcasts into a series of blog posts. Audio content can often be made visual or vice versa. The possibilities are endless!
Track the performance
A lot of creativity goes into content repurposing, which is the fun part.
But you’ve still got to keep an eye on the numbers.
So, measure the ROI on repurposed content using metrics like traffic, engagement, and conversions. Sometimes, the pieces you think will be sure winners don’t do much at all, and sometimes, it’s the opposite – either way, let the numbers be your guide.
Content repurposing in action: case study
As an illustration, let’s go through an example of content repurposing one of our writers did for a client.
The client, in this case, provides IT services to businesses, and they were looking for ways to promote their expertise in AI. However, they didn’t have the resources to create new content from scratch. It was late in the year, and the marketing budget was nearly tapped out.
The good news was that they already had a recent report on AI – where AI is actually making a difference for businesses, including use cases and other real-life implications, instead of all the global predictions and hype. So repurposing, in this situation, was a no-brainer.
The first step was to audit the report and its download page to ensure it was still getting attention from the market. The website analytics were indeed solid, as was the engagement on the LinkedIn posts they did to encourage downloads.
So then it was a question of refreshing the content. As things keep changing quickly in the AI space, it was important to understand how much of the information was still relevant. Fortunately, most of it was, and after talking to the tech people, the writer even added a few more use cases to the report to make it even more relevant without having to re-write the whole thing.
The report made a handy topic for the company newsletter. Also, this company has had a fair amount of success with LinkedIn (not a lot of CEOs go to TikTok to find out about IT services). So, they decided to stick with what was working and break the report down into four discrete LinkedIn blog posts.
The writer also wrote the use cases up as client stories for the website – narratives with quotes from actual humans, boosting their credibility as a business with real-world experience in this new technology. These client stories were also made into shorter LinkedIn posts to drive potential customers to their website.
Finally, when the writer was going through the initial phase of talking to the techies, they found some juicy statistics about the time and money saved by their AI implementations, which made for a strong infographic they could post on a number of platforms.
All this repurposing increased engagement – and created leads for the client. Repurposing saved the day!
Pro tip: If you’ve got content that used to perform well and then fell off a cliff, it’s time for a content refresh when you repurpose and update existing content to boost engagement. We’ve got advice on refreshing content here.
Conclusion: content repurposing saves time and money, and it’s kind of fun
We’re seeing a lot of changes in the way content is distributed. Many of the platforms are in flux, with audiences shifting between platforms. Spam filters and algorithms have shifted as well, and in the latter case, they will likely keep shifting.
On the other hand, some things haven’t changed at all. One is the importance of knowing your audience. Another is that content repurposing is an excellent way to reach them. Content repurposing is still a great way to maximise resources and achieve your business goals.
Content repurposing services can be helpful if you lack the expertise or bandwidth for a repurposing campaign. Whether you go internal or external, though, the whole thing promises to be more successful with careful planning.
It can also be kind of fun – finding new ways to convey a message is a creative challenge. It’s an opportunity for experimentation and for fresh ideas and perspectives. A lot of content creators prefer it to generate new material because they already know they’re dealing with something that has legs.
If you’d like more straightforward guidance on content strategies, look here.
Want to get more mileage out of your content? We’ll help you build a repurposing strategy that saves time, maximises reach, and gets real results. And if you want to learn more about who we are and what we do, get in touch.
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