The Best Modern Content Repurposing Example
Marvel comics. Yes, that’s right – Marvel has traditional comic books which they are now turning into movies. What do you think that is? Content repurposing. Walt Disney acquiring Marvel has a lot do with this strategy but nonetheless you can see the value.
Photo credit: The Avengers movie art
Why Repurpose Content?
To answer this question I would like to bring in 2 experts and their quotes:
You can breathe new life into old content and continue to gain value from your “Hall of Fame” posts – Kevan Lee
Recycling old content is like recycling old jeans: They’re just sitting there in your wardrobe, but you can always rock them because they never go out of style! – Kristel Cuenta
1 – Multiply Content Reach
Essentially, content repurposing is a handy content marketing technique. Each new piece of content can be promoted to bring in additional traffic. You can always link back to the original post to make it work harder for you.
2 – For Social Media Engagement
Followers may have missed your 1st wave of social content updates; content repurposing gives you another shot; this time with a different heading and maybe even a different content format.
To keep your social media followers engaged and to get new followers you need to provide them with fresh content and content repurposing can help with that. For more social shares check out this post.
3 – For Search Engine Optimization
More content means better potential for long tail keywords. A video provides its own SEO benefit as YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Ultimately what you need is more traffic and the more content you have with different formats the better your chances.
4. Target New Audience Who Enjoy a Particular Type of Content
If you are producing only the traditional text-based content with a few images – you are missing out. Modern content marketers are targeting the millennial with visual content like infographics, videos and podcasts. Each target market may have a different content format preference, find out what they are so you can serve them better. A bigger market provides more traffic potential and leads.
You can use any of our Infographics in your site with a link-back to us.
8 Ways to Repurpose Content
1 – New Articles and Blog Posts
The easiest form of content repurposing is to write another piece of content based on the original topic. This could be updating the original post or creating a series of posts – going further on the topic.
Tools to use:
- CoSchedule Headline Analyzer – A great tool to analyse your headline and provide a score. A click worthy heading is very important to get visitors to your website.
- Grammarly – You don’t have an editor in chief or a VA, so how do you ensure your post is grammatically sound or spelled correctly? Head down to Grammarly.
2 – Images
The quickest way to repurpose content, in my humble opinion (IMHO) is to add images or to create images with captions that can be used in social updates. This can give your original content another lease of life in social media. I am sure you would have seen tweets with image captions like this.
3 – Slides
Slides can provide the biggest bang without breaking the bank. Creating slides is going a step further from creating images from your content. Simply put when you use a bunch of images to explain your content with the aid of captions that is your basis for slides.
Tools to use:
- Slideshare.net – With over 70 million visitors create or upload your slides to get additional visibility and traffic for your repurposed content. You can also upload infographics here.
- Prezi – Who said presentations have to be boring? Try Prezi for amazing slides that zoom in and out to make the presentation look more interesting.
4 – Audio
You can create an audio or podcast version of your original content. People who enjoy podcasts can either listen to the content while in the gym, at work or while driving to and from work. If you are shy of using your voice, find a family member or friend who is not. Prominent SEO Brian Dean says getting a link from an audio site is an underutilized link building tactic.
Tools to use:
- Audacity – Awesome tool to create audio content like a podcast. Free to use multi track audio recorder and editor.
- Music Alley – Looking for free to use music for your podcast or slide deck? Look no further.
5 – Video
Videos provide a better reach for your content simply because it has a few of the above elements – audio, images or visuals. Video platform like YouTube and Vimeo also have a large viewer base you can tap into. Multimedia content is definitely the future of content marketing, so do jump on board if you haven’t already done so.
Tools to use:
- Google Hangouts – Record a webinar or create a video hangout in a breeze.
- Powtoon – Do you want to create an animated video but scared it will be too complicated? This tool provides easily editable video templates you can customize.
6 – Infographic
This is my favourite content format. If you have a piece of content that did well in the past, why not bring it back to life in the form of an infographic.
Do you know what’s the best part of an infographic other than the higher potential for social shares and backlinks? It’s a ready-made topic that is complete and is ready to be used by pretty much anyone. You have done the research and design; it’s conveniently packaged.
The below tools make infographic creation easy and cost-effective. Did I mention free infographics?
Tools to use:
- Visme – Truly an awesome tool to create a simple infographic free of cost. You can also create a presentation with this tool.
- Infogr.am – Very powerful tool that allows you to create interactive infographics and data visualizations. Make complex data easy to consume.
7 – eBook
One of the traditional form of content repurposing is to create an eBook from your existing content. You can either give the eBook away as a bonus for email sign-up or even monetize it. One of the advantages of creating an eBook is that you may discover some gaps in the content you have created so far and gives you some much-needed content ideas.
Tools to use:
- Evernote – Capture your ideas as they occur with Evernote on your mobile device. You can sort and rearrange using Evernote on a computer at a later stage.
- 750words – If you are finding it hard to create your eBook try 750 words a day which makes it fun and holds you accountable. The concept is you write 3 pages of 250 words each per day which is a good goal to aim.
8 – Guest Post
When people talk about guest posting we always think new topic, but wait, you can repurpose an existing body of content and write a guest post on it. What’s even better in this strategy is you can link back to the original post. Other advantages of guest posting are more traffic, links, authority, free marketing and building relationships.
Content Repurposing Strategies
Strategy #1: Create Companions to Original Post
Find ways to enhance the original post by providing additional content in a different format. Each piece of content could be exploring a different angle on the original topic.
Strategy #2: Rewrite Old Content
Update outdated content or modernise it with images, slides etc. Give a breadth of fresh air to your old content by giving it some glamour.
Strategy #3: Content Refreshing
Promote your original content after a period of time to get better bang for buck. This could be content promotion after a week, month or even a year. Social life of content in Facebook and Twitter are only a mere minutes and at best a day so doing another round of promotion can bring in more traffic and attention.
Strategy #4: Reuse Content Design
Do you have an infographic? Why not use the same design theme to build a slide deck? Content repurposing does not only apply to written content it can also be applicable to design. Don’t overdo the design reuse though as it can get tiring.
Strategy #5: Add Value to the Original Post
Last but not least, always add value to the post by providing more detail or presenting a different angle. Never rehash content for the sake of it or if you have run out of content ideas. Rule one of quality content – it should provide value and be unique.
Wrapping it up
Hope we have provided you with some inspiration and some ideas on how to repurpose your old content. Don’t go overboard, rock your old jeans with some modern accessories to stand out from the crowd. When it comes to repurposing their content, most people think about this after the original content has been created and promoted; but the real skill is to think about this when creating the initial content. Good luck with you content repurposing efforts.
References:
- Content Repurposing and Upcycling: Tips and Strategies – Hacknovations.org
- The Ultimate Guide to Repurposing Content – Bufferapp.com
* Special thanks to Christopher Jan Benitez for collaborating on this project.
Great infograhic and very convincing article why content needs to be repurposed. I love the way you have covered all aspects in this article and it have certainly convinced me that i should focus more on repurposing. I see a lot of experienced bloggers do this so it must certainly be working.
Hi Helen,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, most big name bloggers do it. The art is to think about the repurposing while you are creating the original post. Good luck.
Cheers, Cent
i like the way you have refernced the marvel comics in your article.I absolutely agree with you that repurposing content will only get more audience and promote the article more. You have covered all aspects in this article – which is great and i most definitely liked the content repurposing strategies .Thank you for giving us such good information.
Hi Adibi,
Great to hear you liked the post. Thank you for leaving a comment. Let me know if there is any topic you would like to see in the form of an Infographic.
Cheers, Cent
Great topic,great article and as always great infographic. You have covered everything in this topic that needs to be covered. Enjoyed reading it.
Hi Baz, Great to hear you enjoyed the content and the Infographic. Thanks for the comment. Have a good one. Cheers, Cent
This is a really great read! I enjoyed reading this and will start applying these tactics to increase my reach!
Hi Van,
Glad to hear you enjoyed the content repurposing tips and tricks. Great to hear you will be applying them. Thanks for the comment.
Cheers, Cent
Content acts as a “raw material” for online machinery so every body who is online needs a proper mechanism of dealing with content, the way you have suggested for content re-purposing is just great and on the top it is practical.
Hi EHDF,
Thanks for the comment and awesome to hear you say the tips are practical. I also like the “raw material” analogy, wish I had thought of it! 🙂
Cheers, cent
There really is immense value in repurposing evergreen content. However, a lot of people usually miss this opportunity. One possible reason is that they are not aware that they can use their original content and present it in another format. Great work, Cent M. I enjoyed reading the article from beginning to end.
Hi Tammy,
Glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for the comment. I couldn’t agree with you any further. I think the key is to plan a piece of content and simultaneously do another format so you can market it to another set of audience.
Cheers, Cent
Content repurposing and curation is one great way to keep a your content feed ever fresh without creating new content.
This post is valuable, thanks
Dan
Hi Dan,
Glad you think so. Appreciate your comment.
Cheers, Cent
Great information here. It’s so important to repurpose your content so you can get the most out of your time and effort time and time again.
Thanks for stopping by Zac. Well said – get better bank for buck for your content.
Cheers, Cent