9 Content Repurposing Tips

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Have you ever felt like you've hit a wall with your content creation?

Maybe you're struggling to come up with new ideas, or maybe you're feeling overwhelmed by the amount of content you need to produce. Or maybe you're looking for a way to maximize your returns at a time when terms such as "recession" and "budget cuts" are being thrown around.

Repurposing your content is a great way to solve those problems and meet your content marketing goals.

In fact, 46% of marketers report that repurposing content brought the best results—even more so than creating new content.

And it's a cost-effective way to bring in new leads and conversions.

When you've decided to repurpose your content, the options are seemingly infinite. You can turn a blog post into a video, a podcast into an infographic, a whitepaper into a series of social media posts, and so on...

But you can't just pick a random blog post off your website and convert it into a random content format. Not all content is suitable for repurposing. You need to make sure that the repurposed content has potential and that it can truly add value to your content marketing strategy.

So let's jump in and explore nine ways you can take a strategic approach to repurposing your content.

1. Look at Your Most Popular Content

Your best-performing content already has a strong audience, and it could easily be repurposed into other formats, such as infographics, videos, or podcasts.

Consider content that...

Still has high engagement and traffic
Covers topics that are still relevant and in demand
Can be easily updated with new information or data
Can be repurposed into different formats to reach new audiences

You can use tools such as Google Analytics, SEMrush, or another tool of your choice to see what content has performed best in engagement, shares, and conversions. Those metrics will give you a good idea of which pieces of content resonate with your audience and have the potential to be repurposed into other formats.

For example, if a blog post you wrote a few months ago received a lot of comments and shares, you may want to consider turning it into a video or an infographic to reach a different audience on another platform—say, Facebook or YouTube.

Also, look at the analytics of your pieces of content to see what specific elements were successful. For example, were certain sections of your blog post more popular than others? Were specific images or videos more engaging than others? You can use that information to optimize your repurposed content and make it even more effective.

2. Consider Content With Timeless Themes

Some pieces of content are evergreen and have audiences looking for them year after year. Productivity tips, life hacks, and how-to guides are often timeless and can be easily repurposed into videos, podcasts, or infographics. For example, a blog post on "five ways to boost your productivity" could easily be turned into a video or a slide deck.

As another example, if you have a high-performing YouTube video on a timeless topic, you can convert it into a blog post with additional information and link the two of them together. After a while, you can make an infographic for the blog and use Pinterest to further drive traffic.

3. Break Down Long-Form Content Into Smaller Pieces

When repurposing content, consider the format and length of your original content. Long-form content, including articles and e-books, can be broken down into smaller, more easily digestible pieces, such as blog posts, slide decks, or small downloadable resources like checklists. That makes it easier to reach a wider audience and target new channels with different types of content.

But not all long-form content needs to be repurposed into smaller pieces just for the sake of it.

You need to identify the high-performing pieces with scope to build on. Conducting a comprehensive audit of all your content will give you a clear picture of what you already have and what can be repurposed.

When conducting your audit, consider the following:

Content quality: Is it still relevant and valuable to your audience?
Content performance: How well did the content perform (e.g., engagement and conversions)?
Content gaps: Are there any topics you haven't covered that your audience is interested in?
Content type: Does the long-form content already have complementary video, images, or an infographic you an use?

Answering those questions will get you one step closer to figuring out the best pieces of long-form content to repurpose, as well as the angle of approach to make the most of the repurposed content.

4. Consolidate Content on Similar or Complementary Topics

Combining several pieces of content into a comprehensive guide or resource can provide more value to your audience. For example, you could combine several blog posts on a similar topic into an e-book or a whitepaper, which could be a valuable resource for your audience and give them another reason to engage with your brand.

When you're combining content from similar themes, consider not only the process of the consolidation but also the content format itself. Based on the information you're consolidating, you need to pick a format that's engaging, simple to understand, digestible, and valuable.

For example, you could turn...

A set of blog posts into a video: Turn a set of posts with a similar theme (or content pillar) into a video by visually presenting the information.
A set of blog posts into a podcast: Convert similar posts into an audio format by consolidating and recording a podcast.
A set of videos into a long-form blog post: Write a long-form post based on short videos of a similar nature, with the videos linked inside the post.
A set of blog posts into an infographic: Create an infographic that presents the information from multiple posts into an easy-to-digest format.

Consider the best content format for your industry and go from there. In the B2B space, repurposing into PDFs, webinars, and e-books often works the best, whereas that may not be the case for B2C organizations.

5. Tap Into User-Generated Content

When repurposing content, many focus on updated statistics and time relevancy. But there's another way to add more value to repurposed content: Add user-generated content.

Share your audience's experiences, stories, and thoughts wherever relevant to add a new perspective or dimension to the repurposed content.

Tapping into user-generated content adds a new layer of authenticity and engagement to your content marketing and offers new opportunities for repurposing content, which in turn can help you reach new audiences, build deeper connections with your target audience, and drive conversions.

6. Repurpose Content to Meet a New Goal

When identifying the right content to repurpose, consider whether the content can be adapted to meet a new goal.

Do you want to increase engagement, reach new audiences, drive traffic, or generate more leads? Having a clear objective for your repurposed content that is different from the original objective will help make the most of your content marketing budget.

For example, a blog post initially written to educate your audience on a specific topic could be repurposed into a video or an email to convert prospects at the last leg of the customer conversion journey.

By thinking about the purpose of the original content, you can determine how best to adapt it to meet new goals.

7. Look for Content That Provides Solutions

Repurposing content that offers practical solutions to common problems is often highly valuable, because it addresses a specific pain point or challenge your target audience is facing.

Typically, bottom-of-the-funnel content addresses a highly specific issue and presents a solution tied in with a conversion goal. Repurposing such content often has the maximum impact because conversion is only a short path away.

For example, if you have a blog post that provides step-by-step instructions on how to fix a common issue, you could turn it into a video tutorial. That would allow you to reach a wider audience and provide a more visual, interactive experience for your viewers.

8. Pay Attention to Seasonal Trends

Seasonal trends can be a great opportunity to repurpose content and reach new audiences. By taking advantage of those trends, you can create timely, relevant content that resonates with your target audience and drives engagement.

Consider repurposing content related to seasonal events, such as holidays, and adapting it to various formats to reach new audiences.

For example, if you have a blog post on holiday gift ideas published a few years back, you could update it and make it relevant to the current holiday season and repurpose it into a video or a series of social media posts or an infographic to support your current content marketing strategy.

9. Interview SMEs to Add Value

When you have a high-performing blog post that's slowly losing traction, a good way to get a new foothold is to bring unique perspectives from subject matter experts (SMEs) and add them to the post. That tactic can be used for e-books and similar educational resources to up their value.

You can also link back to the SMEs' websites and ask them to share the content on their social media, which will give you a fresh wave of traffic to work with.

* * *

Repurposing content is a smart way to maximize its value and reach a wider audience. Using the tactics outlined in this article, you can transform your content into multiple formats to keep your brand at the top of your target audience's mind.

Whether you're looking to increase engagement, drive more traffic, or simply save time and resources, repurposing content can help you achieve your goals.

So go ahead—dust off that old blog post, podcast episode, webinar, or video, and get creative!