No one likes waste. So why do so many people waste content? There’s a stigma against recycling when it comes to posts, but realistically there’s a lot to be gained from a well-planned content repurposing strategy.
Some audiences prefer visual information rather than stats; some would rather read an interview than watch one. Reusing old content allows you to target a different user type, which can reap just as many benefits as the initial post did. Not only that but repurposing your old work gets more value out of your time and effort – work smarter, not harder!
Here we look at 5 different ways you can make your content go further.
1. “Best of” posts
The first (and perhaps most common) strategy for repurposing content is the classic “best of” piece. This is most frequently written as a yearly wrap up, often with a headline like “our best blog posts of 2017”. A bit of creativity goes a long way here as one of the keys to repurposing content is choosing the right time and topic. Look at your old posts and see if you can group them in a fresh and relevant way for a unique round-up piece.
A good indicator of what you could be sharing comes from looking at Twitter trends and general social media news, as they highlight popular subjects from a wide audience and allow you to piggyback on their popularity.
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These posts work because they encourage users to click through to the multiple source articles and are generally quick and easy to make. The main difficulty is picking a relevant topic where you have enough blog posts!
2. Update the stats and figures
If the content was a hit before, then it might not need a total rework. Sometimes the content needs a little update to be more relevant. This is where statistics and infographics come in.
A good example of this strategy would be to take an old post, update it with the most recent data, and then re-post it with a discussion about how the information has changed over time. This is an easy way to extend the life of a study and another way to get readers clicking back to the original content.
3. Add a new tutorial or demo
Another way to refresh your content is to produce a new video tutorial or demo based on an old article. For example, let’s say you have an old post that discusses the ins and outs of wordpress – maybe you could repurpose it by publishing a video tutorial that discusses some of the main points. You could either link back to that blog or even repost it with the tutorial video embedded.
A good way to get an idea of where users want more explanation is to look at the comments section of the original piece – it might give you an idea of which tutorials or demos would be most helpful for your audience.
4. Interview an industry expert
It’s clear that social engagement impacts SEO, but it’s somewhat unclear exactly how. We know that the more something is shared or liked, the higher quality it is likely to be, and therefore, the higher the Google bots will want to rank it!
A good way to get something shared is to identify a popular industry expert and utilize their expertise to offer a fresh perspective on an existing blog post. Having famous figures offer their thoughts on your post will provide users with an alternative angle on the topic and extend your reach to their audience.
If you’ve got a big enough email contact list, then you can even start sending out weekly updates with the best bits from your blog posts. These are similar to “best of” posts but more focussed on the “best bits” of each post rather than the whole thing.
These emails also enable you to link through to the initial blogs, so as long as the tips are relevant, users are likely to click back to the original post for the full story.
Wrapping up
So remember, if you’re going to revive one of your older blogs, keep it fresh by either adding something new to it (like a video or stats) or use the “best of” or “top tips” plan. If you need help repurposing your content, or don’t have the resources in-house, reach out to a content marketing and copywriting agency.
Not all blogs are going to be suited for repurposing, so make sure you keep them relevant, and you publish them alongside new content too.
Tom is a Content Strategist at WooContent, where he specializes in writing eCommerce, gaming, and video content. WooContent is an international, multi-lingual copywriting agency with offices in Sydney, London, New York, and Singapore.
