Okay, so everyone reading this understands the power of content. There isn’t much argument that content is king. It is also true that creating consistently compelling content can be quite a challenge.
Some of you have hired others to do this on a full-time basis. Others have outsourced part of your content production. And some are doing it on top of everything else they have to do for their business. Whatever you choose, the need to generate ideas is a constant.
This can become a stumbling point. You want to maximize your content with instructional videos, white papers, podcasts, newsletters, blog posts… the list keeps growing. It is true that creating content can be downright hard work. But there are also ways to ease the burden significantly and one of the best is to re-purpose content.
Some find the idea of re-purposing a little off-putting. Isn’t it kind of like re-heating leftovers? Maybe it doesn’t taste terrible, but it is not as good as a fresh meal. But you shouldn’t take the “leftover” point-of-view. If the content is quality, getting it in different formats simply expands its reach. And re-purposing is not about re-posting content. You can re-purpose in a bland way or you can give it a new twist and re-purpose with attitude.
Here are some quick ideas for re-purposing:
Take a PowerPoint presentation you have for clients and record it (Make minor revisions if needed). Post it to YouTube and/or SlideShare
Take your existing white paper and break it down into blog post-sized chunks. Revise each of these chunks and use for your blog. And, of course, you can gently promote your white paper at the bottom of each post.
Do the opposite of the idea above by blogging a white paper. Create a series of blog posts around a common theme. Then weave them together to form a white paper.
Interview clients to create case studies. Record interviews and use as material for podcasts.
Use your case studies to reach out to journalists. Perhaps one of them would make the basis for a good story in an industry journal or website.
Re-purpose your own reading. You probably do a fair amount of reading through the web, industry publications, and books. Why not take one extra step and become a content curator for your audience? This could be as simple as a monthly email that briefly reviews and links to what you read.
When you answer a customer question via email, paste a copy of the question and answer in a separate document. Once you have enough saved, you have either a FAQ document or the main content for a compelling blog post.
Are you regularly creating offline marketing materials? If so, are you adding this content as another page on your website? Almost any offline piece can be put on the web with some light editing.
Interviewing industry experts can be a re-purposing bonanza. The audio can be podcasts. You can transcribe and edit them and turn them into an eBook. You can use themes from each interview as a central topic for a blog post.
Document several of your social media campaigns and use it to create a guide or eBook. Take your reviews of social media campaigns and expand them in to guide or book format. You demonstrate expertise and beef up your credibility.
If a particular video you post on YouTube gets a lot of views or hits viral status, write about the experience on your blog.
Those are some starter ideas. More important than these suggestions is to enter into the mindset where you are looking for new ways to use existing content.
One word of caution: It is usually a bad idea to use the exact same content in an almost identical format. So simply moving a blog post without change to become part of your newsletter doesn’t cut it. But teasing a popular post in your newsletter is a great idea. Or you could use the same core content but pick one area to isolate and expand upon.
Yes, creating content can be hard work but is easily done by making it a little simpler by finding your re-purpose with attitude.