Why You Should Start Repurposing Content

We at People First Content are fans of the mantra “Work smarter, not harder.” It’s a mindset you can and should apply to your content. That’s why you should start repurposing content.

Because if you’re putting effort into producing quality content, why not have it work harder for you?

So that’s why we made this quick guide to repurposing content, the benefits of repurposing content, with some bonus examples and ideas for inspiration.

In This Article:

What Is Repurposing Content?

Repurposing content is taking existing content (in whatever format) and translating it into another medium. This process can look like using bits and pieces of existing content or reproducing something in its entirety.

And while we usually mean blogs or written content when we refer to content, this isn’t necessarily the case. Anything you produce—video, audio, image—can be mined for recyclable content.

This process has a similar aim as content amplification, which is getting content in front of more eyes through re-contextualizing it.

But what about duplicate content?

Search engines don’t like it when you copy and paste your content in different places. While they understand that this often isn’t malicious, Google does penalize websites with content that appears consistently:

However, in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results.

So self-plagiarizing is something to look out for and think about when repurposing your content.

However, if you’re repurposing content to add value and adapt existing ideas to new mediums, you’re in the clear. As they say in their warning, Google is primarily concerned with a positive user experience, and repurposed content enhances user experience.

4 Benefits of Repurposing Content

Like I said earlier, if you’ve put effort into producing well-researched, engaging content, it only makes sense to get as much mileage out of it as possible. But there are some other significant benefits.

It saves time and money

When repurposing content, you’re essentially skipping the first couple (often extremely time-consuming) steps of content creation. Instead, you get the building blocks—topic, statistics, flow, conclusion—from your other content and essentially remix them. Again, it saves time since you don’t have to start from scratch.

In the case of content amplification, you don’t even have to change the content itself. You simply have to create a new frame for it. So if it was originally a blog post, you could amplify the content by posting excerpts on social media.

Finally, if you’re outsourcing your content, you’re getting more bang for your buck by repurposing. You can take a product and use it in multiple contexts and as the basis for more content.

It ensures that your content isn’t getting stale

When repurposing content, especially if it’s something you published a while ago, you’re likely to be able to incorporate new ideas, data, or examples. You can use these both in the repurposed content and the original.

You can also link or combine the new content with the old as companion material to jazz up the original product. So if you took a blog post and turned it into a video, you can post that video on YouTube or other social media. But you can also embed it in the existing post. Same with an infographic.

You can reach more people with the same message

To piggyback off that last point, providing different means of consuming the same idea is a great way to ensure you reach all parts of your audience.

People have different learning styles and different preferred means of consuming content.

For example, I am not a huge fan of instructional videos. If I’m out and about, I don’t want to bother with sound, and I often find it takes longer than just reading the same material. But if the success of TikTok and reels are anything to go by, many people prefer to watch something than read it.

So by doubling up on the means of delivering content, you’ve effectively doubled your audience.

Another element is the idea of accessibility. Differently-abled people often cannot participate in certain mediums for one reason or another, and providing different options means your content is accessible to all.

It’s a great way to test out different formats or styles before committing

And finally, it’s an excellent way to shop around before settling on a purchase. While producing different versions of every piece of content you publish would be ideal, it’s not feasible.

You will have to pick and choose sometimes, and repurposing content is a great way to do that because:

1.         You can determine your preferred mediums and which ones work best with your message. For example, there’s a reason a lot of book-to-movie adaptations flop. Sometimes an idea is best explained in text, and sometimes it’s better as an image.

2.         It’s more straightforward to A/B test your audience’s response to one medium over another. For example, suppose you’re trying to choose whether to make more podcasts or videos. In that case, if they have entirely different content, it will muddy the waters. Does your audience prefer short videos, or are the subjects of those videos just more interesting than your eBooks?

Content Repurposing Examples

Frankly, the uses for repurposed content are endless, but here are some ideas and examples to get started with.

A prime example of repurposing content that PFC has done is this example from our newsletter (sign up at the bottom of the page!).

In this screenshot from one of our posts, there is an example of several benefits and the flexibility repurposing offers.

This image is an excerpt from content published in our blog on the stages in a sales pipeline. However, many people don’t necessarily keep up with a blog page. This email caters to those who prefer faster and shorter written content delivered directly to them.

The second element is the infographic. Initially, we didn’t have any illustrations when we published this piece. But when looking back at it, it was clear that parts of the blog would be clearer as an infographic.

So by creating an infographic, we did a few things:

• We added value to the original post

• Created a piece of content that could be shared in new locations (i.e., Pinterest)

• Added a punchy and attention-grabbing element to our newsletter

• And to let you in on a secret, I’m repurposing that content again as an example

All this with a fraction of the effort it initially took to write, research, and edit that blog post. That’s just one way you can repurpose content!

Here are a few other ideas.

Ebook to Twitter

These cater to very different audiences. One wants to get the in-depth scoop, and the other wants fast, digestible information. But both audiences are going to enjoy exciting facts.

You can take quick excerpts from your eBook and publish them on Twitter. As a bonus, these tweets might attract people to read your eBook if they want to know more.

Blog to podcast (or vice versa)

Both of these are longer-form content that focus on words. So they’re easily adapted to the other medium.

If you’re starting with a blog, take the main points, concepts, and research as a jumping-off point. Then add the conversational element that people want in a podcast.

If you’re starting with a podcast, take the transcript and edit out the extraneous details to make a tighter product.

Infographic/Presentation to Reel/TikTok

Video production can be an extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive endeavor. Even a video under 30 seconds can take hours and hours.

A quick way to make a video is to take an image or illustration that was initially static and add movement and music.

If it’s an infographic, you can chop down the parts of the infographic and show them sequentially. And if it’s a presentation, you’re already there!

Takeaways

Repurposing content is a fantastic shortcut to reaching a wider audience and producing a greater variety of content while saving money and time. Just don’t forget to add value when you can, and don’t try to replicate content in mediums that it doesn’t translate to.

If you want to take the first step to content that works on many different levels, People First Content can help! We can do the legwork to write and research content that keeps giving. Get in contact with us today to get started!

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