Jenn VillaCompanies invest so much time creating new, super fantastical content. In fact, many companies are so devoted to pumping out consumables, they have entire marketing departments— including employees with the word “content” literally in their job title— working around the clock (now that’s a serious investment)!
You spend all this time crafting fresh, attention-grabbing morsels, but after your audience takes a few bites, they often forget about it. And frankly, so do you.
It’s certainly been proven that repurposing content works, so why are we still letting content die?
We’ve got eight creative ways to give your dying content the CPR it needs to breathe again, and enjoy a long-lasting life— as an evergreen, multimedia force.
The Benefits of Repurposing Content
What if you could take last year’s blog post and make it into a video, or turn it into a snazzy infographic? This wins for multiple reasons:
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Repurposed content can reach a different audience. // People have different preferences for how they consume content. Maybe they don’t have time to sit down and watch a video, but they’ll listen to a podcast during their afternoon workout. Strategically target your audience based on their preferred consumption methods, with help from HubSpot.
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Traffic, traffic, traffic. // The more opportunities you give your audience to hop back to your website, the more traffic you’ll receive. And, the better the chance it’ll actually convert into leads!
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Repurposing content gives you time to focus on new projects. // Consider the time your team invests into pumping out new content. If you could shave off even half that time by repurposing content, think of all the time you’d have to make truly new content more robust, while still pushing out a full newsfeed.
Ideas for Repurposing Content
Start off by choosing evergreen content, or topics that will still be relevant for years to come, to ensure your efforts will have a long-term return. Here’s some tips for deciding which content makes the cut.
1. Repurpose Blogs into an E-book
You might be thinking, “An e-book? SNORE. Does anyone actually read those?” Before you write it off, consider this: one study found that 63% of buyers are willing to exchange their information for e-books. If the information is appealing enough, and free, you could get a few leads out of it.
Take a look at your pillar pages (or click the link to learn what the heck that means). Do you have posts that support each pillar? For blogs that all fit under the same broad topic— maybe it’s six posts about eating healthy to support your nutrition services— consider compiling your “topic clusters” into an electronic book.
E-books don’t necessarily have to be long or boring. Just like blog writing, the value and depth is more important than the length. Take some of your past blogs and Frankenstein them together. All you’ll have to do is whip out an introduction and conclusion, add some small transitions and team up with a designer. The amount of work will be significantly less since most of it is already written!
You could always reoptimize a blog in addition to repurposing it. Read more about content optimization here.
2. Repurpose Podcasts into an Audiobook
If you’re already taking advantage of the power of podcasting, consider repurposing your content into an audiobook. While podcasts often win because they are quick and bite-sizable (like our Wayfinding Growth podcast), some people prefer to binge-listen.
Just like e-books, audiobooks offer a way to compile thematic topics into one place so listeners don’t have to dig to find various episodes. If you have popular guest stars on your podcasts, this is the perfect way to showcase a bunch of big names in one bundle, or, to cut up highlights from your best podcasts. This will require a bit of editing, and maybe recording some transitional pieces, but in the end, you’ll have one super juicy content offer.
You could do this with blogs too, but you’d have to take the time to record yourself reading them. Again, though it would take a bit of an initial investment, you’ll be targeting a completely different audience: auditory versus visual learners.
3. Repurpose Data & Results into a Case Study
We all run reports and produce charts and numbers to prove our work has an impact. Oftentimes, this data is only presented internally, or to a client, and then left to the wayside— or only revisited during an annual review.
Take those Databox reports and craft a case study to showcase your influence, outlining specifics about how you helped to move the needle, or how your product or service impacted your customers. Case studies are a great place to weave in testimonials too, using raving accreditations from your website or review sites to build trust. We’d recommend placing this in an easily accessible part of your site, encouraging anyone to see your results, anytime.
4. Repurpose Statistics into an Infographic
Just as you could use stats and data to make a case study, you too can use your findings to make an infographic. Even if you don’t have your own independent studies to reference, you could still link off to other sources, like we did in this example graphic.
These graphics can be cut up into smaller graphics and shared as a fun series on your company’s social media pages, added in a blog post or on a web page and used in link building campaigns.
5. Repurpose Webinars into Slideshares
Live webinars can be extremely beneficial learning tools, especially those where audience members poise questions and add input. The problem is, once they’re over, a recording is often sent to the guests and then forgotten about.
Uploading a recording of your webinar to YouTube or your website is a great way to get more eyeballs on the content, but it doesn’t have to remain in the form of a video. Repurpose your webinar into a Slideshare by taking screenshots and outlining key takeaways in bullets. With more than 80 million users, Slideshare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. Simply embed the slide deck into a web page and let the traffic flow in. You can easily turn a PowerPoint presentation into a Slideshare too.
6. Repurpose Prezis into “Animated” Videos
The presentation software Prezi is often beloved for its motion and zoom abilities, transforming a traditional slideshow into a three-dimensional interaction. For those who don’t know what it is, check out their templates and toggle through a mock presentation to see their visual journeys.
For those who don’t do video animation, this software could be an easy way to add blocks of content and images to paint a visual story, with transitional flow just like an animation. Simply use a screen recording software like QuickTime and record yourself going through the presentation as if it were a video you edited! They’re much more visually stimulating that most PowerPoint templates. Add music or sound effects to the Prezi or post recording, too.
7. Repurpose Video Tutorials into a Web Course
If your company is big into making video tutorials, these are juicy pieces of content to repurpose. Let’s say you made a how-to video for navigating software, like Photoshop, or have a series of clips on instructions for playing your favorite songs on piano— to support your music store. Even if these video are ranking like a boss on YouTube, why not make some side cash off of your shared wisdom?
Create a course on a site like Udemy, where learners can pay a flat fee to purchase an entire curriculum. If you have a few lesson all under one theme— like our Drift tutorials, for example— consider packaging them into an organized class, so curious students can engage at their own pace, with easy access to a vault of information in one place.
Many of these classes offer the opportunity for the “teacher”— you!— to be involved, helping you to build yourself as a thought leader and make new connections.
8. Repurpose Internal Insights/Updates into a Newsletter
Depending on the size of your company, you may have an internal newsletter that gets sent to all employees. Even if you don’t, there’s still a ton of buzz that happens within your office that probably never gets shared with your customers.
If your team is active on Slack and shares cool articles, or you snap some photos of your crew sporting their Halloween costumes at the office, these are pieces of content you can put in front of the public eye, beyond just a social media update!
Set aside an hour a month to compile a newsletter for your customers, covering a short overview of the big and the small. Did someone on your crew have a new baby? Adorable. Include a picture. Did you just run the numbers and realize you helped a client increase their traffic by 200% in the past six months? Amazing. Show that graph off with pride.
Be sure to include something specifically valuable to your audience in each email too, like a link to a recent blog with tips or even a surprise coupon to delight!
Don’t Do All of This Repurposing for Nothing!
Still a little skeptical? Here’s 12 real life examples of how content repurposing worked— generating more traffic, shares and engagement for companies just like you.
The whole point of pushing out all this content is to reach one big end goal: SALES. That means, you need a lead generation strategy. Do you have one? Or rather, do you have a good one?
Download our e-book all about Online Marketing Strategies for Lead Generation and Conversions to generate and close higher quality leads.
