Working Smart Not Hard

Guide to repurposing content

I get it, you're busy, I'm busy, we're all busy & often one of the last things we want to be doing is writing new, consistent content. However, here's the thing. You can create incredible pieces of content & repurpose them with ease, which therefore creates more than one piece AND the ability to work smart, not hard.

Repurposing content, otherwise known as content recycling, is when you take a piece of content and either up-cycle, recycle or repurpose, taking something 'old' and transforming it into another piece of relevant content.

Why is Repurposing Content Important?

The main benefit of repurposing content is that it makes creating content a lot easier to manage, and in the long run, to scale.

It means that you don't have to constantly be sat at your laptop or in front of your camera creating new content from scratch. Instead, what you can do is use your main content piece, what we like to call your Pillar, and use this as the foundations towards the rest of your posts.

For example, the following outline shows the process I go through now when it comes to repurposing my content:

Recently I launched my Podcast, Start A Movement With Your Message, & this will now become my Pillar. Therefore, once a Podcast is recorded, it's then transcribed & utilised for other platforms.

Not only that, the repurposed content will reach audiences that are varied (we all have one or two platforms that are our favourite, am I right?).

To explain this further;

1. The Podcast goes out to Spotify & Apple
2. The Podcast then will be utilised in video format for YouTube & For LinkedIn in shorter formats
3. The Podcast will then be utilised & turned into Infographics
4. Next up is short content bursts through tweets
5. & If we want to round it all up, we'll repurpose & create a blog/article

So how can you repurpose your content?

Great question.

One of our go to's in practice with clients, and myself, is to find the sweet spot, the formula that works for you and that makes you feel most alive. To do this we need to find your ideal Pillar content. To give you some examples of these, this can be:

• Long Form Blogs &/or Articles
• Podcasts
• Video formats (YouTube)
• Longer Caption based posts

Once you find your ideal Pillar, it's about working out which other platforms you may want to utilise. Don't overwhelm yourself with trying to be everywhere at once, think about what works best for you and where you feel most confident showing up.

Once you have that, it's about creating content the content ready to be repurposed elsewhere.

The content you need to create.

Before we begin this section, I just want to make it clear that you don't need to create NEW content just to repurpose it, the point of the repurposing is to also take OLD content and bring it back to life in a way that wasn't available before.

You could take an old blog from a few years ago and turn it into a YouTube video or even a recorded webinar. The possibilities are endless here.

However, what's key to note is the content that you're creating needs to be Evergreen.

So what does that mean?

Well, the content you are creating not only needs to be relevant to the audience you're looking to attract in & the current audience consuming, but it also needs to be content that stays relevant to your niche.

Now, that's not saying you can't talk about what's trending, but the posts you may use to talk about trends and what is going on TODAY, won't necessarily be great to utilise when repurposing in a few weeks time.

However, posts that are niche focussed, align with your personal brand & message, these are the key to your repurposing.

I'll give you an example to explain it more:

If you're posting about something that's on the news regarding a new App release, in 2 weeks time this won't be great content to repurpose. However, if you write about how best to utilise that App for your business, this content could be repurposed further down the line (as long as it doesn't go out of fashion).

So how do you know what content to write?

Let me tell you.

Understanding your audience & your content

Before you even put pen to paper, finger to keyboard or voice to mic, you have to have a basic understand of the content you want to be delivering and the content that your ideal audience is looking for.

Do you understand their pains?

Do you understand their problems?

How can you solve these?

Do you know what your values are?

What is your core offer?

Have you got a process or a framework?

& do you intend on having calls to action?

These questions are key when looking at creating a foundation of ideas, along with understanding whether you are; educating, entertaining, promoting or inspiring.

Once you have these and you're off into the world of content creation, when it comes to the time you're now ready to venture down the path of repurposing, it's time to look at your analytics.

What type of content is your audience looking to consume?

What are they engaging with the most?

Are there questions coming through from your audience?

Are you interacting & looking to create audience based content?

Can you check your analytics for website/socials?

Once you have a baseline of content, and the foundations created, utilise tools and technologies to support your creation.

From apps like Canva to take care of all your infographic needs to transcribing tools for your audio. Are you scheduling content or hoping to remember when to post day in, day out?

Have you hired specialists to support you in your streamlining or are you going solo?

In Summary

Finding your formula that works for you is important. Know that your content isn't dead in the water once it's been released as it has the potential to keep on giving through other realms.

You are your own voice, so maximise your own potential and connect with your audience.

If you're looking for more guidance, strategy or support, the Amplify Team within Powerful Leaders is here to support.