How do you reuse and repurpose content?

Giving your content multiple lives is a skill! You'll never run out of ideas or come to stagnation point if you master and control your systems. I have repurposed the 100+ recommendations that I have received on LinkedIn as carousel posts for my targeted audience! You can turn them into a visually engaging video featuring real-life success stories, or transform a product demo into a step-by-step guide for your audience. Content reuse is as good as repackaging a gift, so what if it has had it's rounds? -It's still a gift! And the possibilities are endless! By reusing content creatively, you maintain consistency, make the most out of your existing assets and maintain a branding (that in itself is a challenge! You are practically a salvager!

Tip: Repurpose your popular LinkedIn text posts into video “scripts”. BIGVU is a great teleprompter app for your phone - all you have to do is read the script and record to create a high quality video!

It’s not a one size fits all but the goal is to find a creative way to stay connected without overwhelming team members with information. There is such thing as information fatigue unless there is value added to the audience.

Your reuse plan should play to your strengths, or those of team that will be delivering the content. A piece of content should begin in the format that you and/or your team can best execute on; this way, everything to follow originates from the strongest possible starting point. Content with a shaky beginning typically becomes less impactful when repurposed. Creating from your strengths first ensures a strong foundation on which to base future iterations.

Not all content is suitable for reuse, but having a content reuse strategy is essential for evaluating what content is valuable and beneficial to reuse. It's important to consider who will benefit from the reused content and how it aligns with current needs. One critical factor to consider is the content's shelf-life. With the rapid pace of change, staying aware of current trends and updates is crucial before implementing a reuse strategy. Be prepared to archive outdated content. This would involve auditing existing content, identifying content that holds value, and recognizing content that may have never been valuable at all.

Let me share a real-life scenario of when I assisted a Life coach in transforming their case studies into compelling webinar content, that generated organic leads from their niche audience! The coach was able to leverage their existing success stories to reach a wider audience, establish brand credibility, increase followers, and nurture meaningful connections with potential clients. To be effective with your content repurposing - you need to first have a 'purpose', you can not tie up loose ends and expect your audiences to see through the patches. Repurposing must have a goal, a roadmap, a no-compromise attitude, and an end-game planned. I for one, can't be the best side-kick to a nobody, right? C'mon Hero, bring it on!

Content is like liquid. Sometimes, it's not just meant for one container, but to flow and adapt across many. Content reuse and repurpose tends to give a new life to content, which otherwise would've been lost and forgotten. This helps you in more ways than one - 1) Helps you reach a greater audience, as multiple channels have different audience reach. 2) Repetition of content helps reinforce your message that's most likely to stick in your audience's mind. 3) Helps you fulfill different marketing purposes and keep up with changing trends. 4) Helps you test content effectiveness across different platforms. 5) Builds your authority over content consistency.

I feel this one analogy that illustrates the disadvantage of not creating a sustainable content value system, should be enough for one to realise what they are missing out on: You are basically, reinventing the wheel, every day. Every single day as an entrepreneur/content creator you are starting from scratch. Are you willing to spend so much of your time and resources? or do you really wish to grow your business aspects? Think again!

Content repurposing should be more than just a one-off task; it should not be some thing to fall back upon, it's not your Plan B! It should be well integrated, into the DNA of your content creation energy! Building a system around reusing and repurposing ensures sustainability and hygiene in your content efforts. It allows you to streamline processes, maintain brand consistency, and optimize your resources. As a core practice, you can create a structured framework that maximizes the value of your content, saves time and effort, and keeps your content strategy relevant. So, embrace content repurposing as an integral part of your strategy and watch your content ecosystem thrive! No kidding, I have a business based on this!

When I create content, it's designed for multiple purposes. It's also designed to be picked and chosen at the user's (designer's, usually) discretion. Once content is created, it becomes a durable good, to be used over and over again, in multiple places -- Web site, fliers, speeches etc. In short, you create content once, and it's yours to use forever.