Content repurposing is converting an existing piece of content into another content format. It’s a digital marketing tactic that should be built-in to your entire marketing strategy.
A simple example is converting an article you have into an infographic. You could, then, create a new post about that infographic. Taking it further, you can use this infographic by sharing it to social media, in your email, and even transform that into a deck that you can upload in SlideShare.
Remember, content is any information that is seen and/or heard.
A content format is how the content is presented. Examples of different content formats are articles, infographics, videos, and podcasts.
The Importance of Content Repurposing
Content repurposing is the tactical implementation of the content pillar approach.
In summary, it’s an effective and efficient approach to creating content. You (or together with the content team) plan and execute on an agreed upon topic. Kapost calls this an initiative.
You create a big piece of content first — the pillar. From there, you break it down into smaller pieces — content repurposing.
Instead of trying to create content original every time, you can focus your resources on creating new content just once. Then, you use that original content by breaking it down into smaller pieces.
After all, it’s always easier to transform an existing content (edit it) instead of coming up with something new.
Content Repurposing in Action
For example, your big piece of content is a white paper like this. You can then repurpose that PDF into smaller pieces of content — several articles.
You can then create a podcast for each article. Each article can also be converted into a video that you can share on social media and in your email campaigns.
You get the idea.
That is why if you read the framework popularized by Kapost, you’ll see that for each initiative, they recommend determining what types of content you’ll be repurposing them to and the quantity. This way, you won’t have to recreate the wheel every time you do this.
Repurposing your content is only limited by your imagination. A single content pillar can give you several weeks’ or even months’ worth of “content” that you can share.
Two Approaches to Content Repurposing
There are two ways you can repurpose your content. If you’re starting out, I strongly recommend you start by building the small pieces first, then repurpose it once it is finished. This approach allows you to start creating content and reap the benefits (higher SEO rankings, increase your reach and authority) faster.
The other approach is to start with the actual pillar. Once it’s done, you make it public. That’s when you start repurposing it into other content formats.
I only recommend this approach if you are already consistently publishing content. That way, the repurposing supplements your existing efforts. What’s most important is that you start creating content first. All the planning and strategizing in the world don’t mean anything if you don’t get any return from it.
Have you tried content repurposing? Did you get some new ideas about how you can repurpose your content? Let me know in the comments below!
