“Content is king.”
You’ve heard the old adage by now.
Content marketing is a powerful way to increase your reach, get more people into your funnel and build a community. That’s why it’s important to create consistent content across multiple channels so you’re maximizing all the benefits of content marketing and reaching as many people as possible.
But for the busybody entrepreneur, that’s easier said than done. There are so many things that have to be done besides marketing your business, especially if you haven’t outsourced the work yet.
That’s why, according to Bonnie S. Hardie, you need to start repurposing your content.
Bonnie is a business coach and consultant from Central Florida. Her company, Rock Solid Business Coaching & Consulting, works with emerging entrepreneurs to help them start the business of their dreams. One of the many ways she helps her clientele is by streamlining their content creation process.
Today, she’ll be sharing her tried-and-true tactics on how to repurpose your content to achieve massive results.
What is content repurposing and why is it important for your business?
Bonnie explains that content repurposing is taking one piece of content and using it to create several new forms or pieces of content.
For instance, you could start with a video that you’ve uploaded to YouTube. You can take that video and transcribe it into a blog post. You can send some of the content to your email list. You can turn some of it into a Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram post. Before you know it, you’ve got a handful of content across different channels without spending much time or effort!
Bonnie adds that content repurposing doesn’t have to be just translating a piece of content across different mediums. It can be rearranging and expanding on pieces of content to create something new. Just adding some extra details to existing content can lead to a new eBook or case study that you can later use to grow your reach and strengthen your content marketing.
She believes that business owners should all start making a habit out of content repurposing. It saves you time, it gets your name out in front of more people and it makes your content more accessible to so many different audiences you never would have reached before. Why wouldn’t you want more eyes on your brand for only a fraction of the effort?
Is it possible to repurpose too much of your content?
Bonnie remarks that there isn’t really such a thing as too much content repurposing. But when in doubt, always look at the hard numbers. If your content stops resonating, then, obviously it’s time to create something new. Obviously, your entire content strategy shouldn’t revolve around repurposing just one piece of content forever. You should always try to put out new stuff when you can.
She states that a common trap people fall in is using content repurposing as a way to get lazy with their content creation. That’s not what content repurposing is about. Yes, it’s an efficient tool, but at the end of the day, you should be using your content to serve your audience. If you’re not doing that, then something needs to change.
Is there a particular process when it comes to content repurposing?
Different platforms usually call for different approaches, but usually you want to start with one piece of content that’s doing really well, or has the potential to do really well.
After that, you want to brainstorm all the different ways you can take that content and put a different, fresh spin on it.
Bonnie explains that, with Facebook being her primary platform of choice, she tends to use a value-packed Facebook post to create more content that builds off of the information within the post. Usually, that means creating a YouTube video to go into more detail on the subject. Then, she’ll repost both pieces of content on other social platforms.
She also makes sure to keep note of the different subtopics or segments within the original post she can use to create even more content.
What if you’re struggling to find ways to repurpose a piece of content? How do you get over that creative block?
When it comes to any aspect of content creation, creative block or fatigue is always going to be a thing.
Whenever she feels stumped (which has happened on several occasions), Bonnie says that there’s no better fix than to step away and take a break.
Taking a walk and coming back with fresh eyes can do wonders for your creativity. In fact, Bonnie usually gets her best ideas when she’s not actively working. So if you ever feel stuck, especially during the brainstorming stage, just get up and leave! Walk outside, take care of other tasks or even take a shower for 10 minutes or so, then return to it.
The key is to create something great, not perfect.
What are some top tips for content repurposing?
It’s important to always make sure to cross promote between different platforms. For example, if you sent an email to your list, embed a link to relevant videos on your YouTube channel or articles on your blog so your audience can access them and potentially subscribe.
Bonnie points out that if you’re reaching different audiences with the content your repurpose, you want to make sure you’re taking advantage of that reach to grow all your platforms as a collective. You spent the time to create that content, so it makes sense to get as much out of it as you can.
She also adds that it’s perfectly alright to repeat yourself with your content. Whether it’s a social media repost or a second blog post that overlaps with the original, repeating yourself does not mean you’re wasting time and energy. In fact, your audience will start to associate you with what you’re repeating. For instance, if you made a blog post and a YouTube video both explaining the benefits of process automation for a business, it just means you’ve become the go-to for automation tips. And that’s a sure-fire way to accelerate your brand awareness.
At the end of the day, content repurposing isn’t rocket science. It’s simple, it’s easy and it makes your content marketing a lot more efficient. As long as you’re always providing value to your audience, you should be A-Okay!
So what do you think? How will you start repurposing your content? Share your comments below!
If you want to find out more about Bonnie, or get in touch with her, you can follow her on Facebook or LinkedIn. You can also check out her Facebook group, Rock Solid Business Support.
