The cycle is complete!

You’ve already put the work in, so why not capitalise on it further by repurposing your content? By turning a long-form article into a shorter social media post, you can give it another shot at making the headlines (or at least getting a couple of likes)!

We’re going to explain why you might repurpose your content, how to go about it and some examples. After reading, you should be able to effectively choose and trim your old content to make it relevant again!

Repurposing content

For the uninitiated, repurposing content may feel a bit like cheating. We’re here to tell you that you should feel no shame! As long as you make sure your tweaked content isn’t repetitive, isn’t directly copying someone else or blatant stolen material, you will be absolutely fine.

Updating old blogs with new and relevant data is a good way to repurpose them, as well as finding hard-hitting quotes to put in an infographic. As long as there’s some form of editing going on, like shortening a video into clips to post on social media, it counts as repurposing content!

Why should content be repurposed?

Potentially, your SEO could see a boost from repurposing content. Keywords, as we keep banging on about, can (and must!) be used to propel your content further out into the world. Other SEO factors, like recent or consistent uploads, can be helped along by repurposed content.

Along those lines, the humble blog post can provide more content. For example, you could turn it into an email newsletter in order to send it further, a social media infographic, or even a how-to video – or all of the above! You’re really missing a trick if you’re not using your hard work in more ways than one.

Initial ideas

Well, let’s get started then, shall we? Here are a few ideas to consider, ranging from videos to pictures! If you have some pre-existing content in the bank, you can begin right away!

1. Create a video

If you have pre-existing content in a how-to format, turn it into a video! In an easily-digestible format like a video, it has more chance of resonating right with an audience, who will share it so it reaches wider! Add captions, because 82% of Facebook users watch videos on mute – this rings true across all of the other social media platforms, too – and it’ll be shared on social media endlessly.

Similarly, snippets of longer videos can be used to tease an upcoming release. ‘Best bits’ or other similar compilations may also summarise a longer video, which can be helpful for customers who are put off by a longer video. Another way of making the most of your video content is creating a script for it, and ensuring it’s accessible for text-to-speech programs, letting people who are visually impaired have access to it.

2. Make an infographic

An infographic is a good way to make sure those key stats stick in someone’s mind. By skimming an article for important facts and figures and making them more visual, there’s a higher chance it will be remembered.

3. Key leadership quotes

Making a short post featuring a quote from an influential person is a good way to drum up interest. Those who find the quote inspirational will save or share it, netting you more engagement with your posts. 

You can also find quotes from your own content, your audience or pretty much anywhere, as long as they provide value. You can always link them back to the upcoming or pre-existing media they came from in order to bounce your audience through all of the content you’d like them to look at.

4. User-generated content

Why not put that audience of yours to work? If you have a glowing review you want to shout about, turn it into content! How about a frequently-asked question you really want to put to bed? Yep, you guessed it – content-ify it!

5. Content from other platforms

This may not work on them all, due to word limits and other differences in social media platforms, but synergising content is a hassle-free way of posting regularly. Screenshotting a Twitter post and giving it a cool background for Instagram, posting a LinkedIn status on Facebook or vice versa, or pretty much any other similar method are all valid ways to keep your content fresh.

Okay, that’s a wrap!

That’s all we have to say about recycling content. We hope you found our pointers useful, as well as the outlines of what recycling content entails. By recycling content, you save time, money and effort and get your content in the faces of people who may have missed it the first time. Thank you!