What is repurposing content?

If you’re running your business online, you’ve surely heard the statement “content is king” more than once. Although these words were coined several years ago, they haven’t lost their relevance. This is because year after year, more and more people are searching for essential information on the Internet, and sites that take the subject of content seriously are standing out higher in search results, increasing their chances that a user will come across them (and remember the brand, buy the product or use the service). You can generate content in many different ways and marketing people very often overlook the possibility of recycling it through content repurposing. What is repurposing content and how can it help your daily operations?

What is repurposing content? – table of contents:

1. Repurposing content – what is it exactly?
2. Recycling – facilitating your marketing efforts
3. How to recycle content?
4. Repurposing content – summary

Repurposing content – what is it exactly?

As the name suggests, content repurposing involves giving content new life – just as it is done in other industries (clothing, paper or electronics). The process doesn’t duplicate previously published content but refreshes it, betting on making it different in the way it is presented from the earlier version. What can you change by recycling content in this way? You can think of virtually any aspect that comes to your mind – the way you approach a topic, the format, the nature of the message, or even the way it is worded (to make your content appeal to a younger audience, for example).

Recycling – facilitating your marketing efforts

For what reason do knowledgeable marketers use content recycling? Because giving new life to content that was once created saves resources (especially time and money), extends the life of topics and helps in situations of impotence. When conducting marketing activities, it is very likely that at some point you will face a challenge to publish an interesting post on social media, and you simply will not have an idea or any inspiration on what to write about. This is when already created content (especially long blog articles) comes in handy.

You can recycle it, i.e. turn it into several posts, a video or even a podcast topic. This way, you can present one topic in a variety of different ways, depending on your publication source, audience or purpose.

Recycling content is crucial from a business point of view as well, because as you grow your business, you are constantly increasing the audience your content can reach – and you can do it via any channel: website, social media, blog or even music listening apps (podcasts). Therefore revisiting old topics makes sense (if you present the issue differently, of course), because it gives new people a chance to learn about the content you’ve prepared. Moreover, it ensures that you’ll tailor the content to the current situation (trends) in the market.

How to recycle content?

If you’ve been in business for a long time, it’s a good idea to go after the blog topics that have generated the most interest among users (determined by, for example, the hits seen in Google Analytics). However, keep in mind that not all content is recyclable. In this regard, so-called evergreen content, i.e. content that is forever relevant and can be replicated in various ways without fear of losing its level of content, will work best. Hence, when creating content daily, bet on searching for these types of topics to make your next steps easier from the start.

If you’ve already chosen your content, it’s time to think about how you can create related additional content. Here are some suggestions for the most successful forms:

• podcast – the ongoing boom in listened content simply has to be taken advantage of, and everyone is eager to listen to an interesting conversation or a lecture by a specialist on a business-relevant topic. This is your chance to reach a whole new audience with the help of already-invented content to increase your brand recognition.
• video content – you’re surely well aware that short video forms (Youtube shorts, reels on Instagram or TikTok) reign supreme in social media these days, especially in reaching younger generations. If your business is geared toward such an audience, you need to look for ways to create short educational materials that will spark interest and expand your reach.
• social media formats – based on one blog article, for example, you can generate a whole series of interesting posts (infographics, carousels, etc.) to share on your social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn). Then you will appeal to an audience that relies on content delivered in a shorter form.
• webinar – the content discussed during a live webinar will also work well in the form of an ebook or video content in episodes shared on YouTube.

These are just a few examples of the most popular ways, the catalog of which is virtually unlimited. When deciding on a new way to present an older topic, you should be guided first and foremost by what content works best with your audience, thus meeting your company’s business goals.

Repurposing content – summary

Are you keen on simplifying your daily work in the marketing department? Do you feel that the distribution of the existing content is insufficient? Or are you focused on saving resources as much as possible and shifting employees to more creative activities? No matter what your goal is in the area of content activities, you can be sure that recycling will work perfectly. Choose the most interesting topics, devise a few additional formats with great potential for each, prepare the content – and voila! You’ve got the publication plan (e.g. on social media) for a few weeks ahead.

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