Content creation is at the heart of Elle & Company.
Between blog posts, weekly newsletters, Ellechats, social media posts, and Library additions, I spend a lot of time pumping out new content each week.
But here’s the thing about new content: it has a shelf life.
Newsletters get buried in inboxes. Blog posts get buried in archives. Social media posts quickly fade away from the feeds of your followers. Webinars end.
The content you create (along with the time and energy you put into them) quickly gets buried under your newer content.
But don’t be fooled; you didn’t labor in vain!
Enter, the art of repurposing content.
The beauty of content creation is that it can take many different shapes and forms.
The information you share in a blog post can be repurposed for a newsletter, a module in a course, or even an infographic.
And this is beneficial for several reasons. Repurposing content:
- Saves you time. Instead of reinventing the wheel every time you need to create a piece of content, you can pull from the copy and research you’ve already created to expedite the process.
- Helps you reach a new audience. People respond to different forms of media. Some in your audience might enjoy videos and podcasts, while others enjoy blog posts and infographics. By creating different types of content, you have the potential to appeal to more people. Seth Godin said it well, “Delivering your message in different ways, over time, not only increases retention and impact, but it gives you the chance to describe what you’re doing from several angles.”
- Improves your SEO. The more content you have on your website, the higher your chances of being seen as a trustworthy and credible source of information by search engines.
- Reinforces your message. Repetition is a key element of effective marketing. Research suggests that buyers need to hear or see your message at least seven times before they’ll act on a purchase.
So how do you go about repurposing old content? Here are 11 ideas.
1 | Turn a blog post into a podcast episode or webinar (and vice versa)
Do you regularly share your unique perspective in blog posts?
Whether it’s your take on a current event, a polarizing view on a specific topic, or an alternative take on a common topic in your industry, that content can be turned into a great podcast episode.
Do you regularly share how-to’s, give readers a glimpse at your processes, or provide an in-depth look at the tools you use in your blog posts?
The content you’ve shared in those posts can easily be repurposed into an engaging webinar.
While some people love reading blog posts, you might be surprised at the increase in engagement that you’ll receive by sharing audio and visuals.
Do you already create podcasts and webinars? Reverse this approach and start sharing your content in blog posts!
Consider having transcripts made for your audio files or, at the very least, include an outline of the content you shared.
Not only will written blog content help increase your SEO (Google can’t crawl your audio files and videos for keywords), but blog posts will bring more awareness and traffic to your podcasts and webinars.
I do this for each and every Ellechat webinar. The replay goes up on the blog within a week of the live webinar along with a transcript, any links I mentioned, and any slides I share.
Quick tip: Take a look at your blog stats to see which posts of your posts have the most engagement through traffic, comments, and shares. If readers enjoyed the content in those posts, they would probably enjoy hearing about it in more detail in a podcast or seeing it in a webinar. Start there!
2 | Share some of your course content in a blog post or launch email
Online courses require a lot of research.
While those efforts will certainly pay off once you launch your course, you can get some extra mileage out of that research (and plant a seed for your upcoming course) by turning it into a blog post or sharing it in your launch sequence.
When I was creating my visual marketing course last year, I came across a lot of interesting research about visual marketing. To increase people’s awareness about the importance of strong visuals and lead up to the launch of the course, I wrote a blog post that included all of those helpful stats.
Quick tip: Providing proof is essential to building trust and demonstrating a need for what you’re offering. So if you’re creating a course and you don’t have stats or research, spend some time rounding up more information. Having proof will pay off in the long run.
3 | Round up blog content into an e-book
Are you frequently blogging about a certain topic?
Roundup some of your posts from your most popular blog category and turn them into an in-depth ebook.
You can either use it as a content upgrade to encourage people to subscribe to your list, or you can charge for it and bring in a little passive income.
Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: Why would someone pay for an ebook if they can find all of the same information on my blog?
A couple reasons:
- First, you’re assuming every person who visits your site has read every single blog post you’ve written. And while there may be a few exceptions, the majority of people who read your blog haven’t read a good number of your posts.
- Second, people are paying for convenience. Sure, they could search your site and read every post, but most people don’t have time for that. They would rather you do the hard work of compiling the information for them.
- And third, you’ll probably add to the posts, update them, or include new information when you create your ebook. The content in the blog posts can be used as a foundation or a starting point that you can build from.
4 | Share presentation slides and webinar graphics on sites like SlideShare
If you’ve ever presented at a conference or hosted a webinar, you’ve probably spent a great deal of your prep time creating slides.
Don’t let all that time go to waste! Publish those slides on sites like SlideShare. You’re bound to reach new audiences this way.
5 | Turn written content into an infographic
Whenever it’s appropriate, consider creating infographics to accompany your blog posts.
Not only are infographics likely to get pinned from your website, but you can also share them on your own social media accounts and ask people to share or retweet them. You’d be surprised how many people will share or retweet your content when you simply ask them to!
6 | Expand on an existing listicle post
Buzzfeed put listicles on the map.
10 Important Life Lessons You Can Learn From Cats
21 Things That Gave Every '00s Teen Serious Trust Issues
13 British Castles You Can Rent For Under $100 Per Night
If you aren’t sure what a listicle blog post is, you’re reading one right now! A listicle is a fleshed out list in blog post form.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a blog that doesn’t have at least one listicle-style post. You’ve probably written at least a handful of them yourself.
So go back through the listicles you’ve written, dive deeper, and turn these numbered summaries into individual posts.
Some listicles will lend themselves better to this idea, but this type of repurposing will instantly give you dozens of new blog post ideas.
Quick tip: Spend a few minutes researching which of your listicle-style posts are the most popular. If one or two have more shares, comments, and pageviews, those are probably a great place to start.
7 | Update old blog posts
Want to hear a crazy story? I used to be very skeptical about email lists. Gasp!
But last year I began to recognize their value and now I’m fully convinced at their effectiveness in marketing.
So instead of just brushing that blog post under the rug, or worse, deleting it from my blog (I have to admit - the thought was tempting), I posted an update on the benefits of focusing on your email list.
Maybe you’re like me and have a clarification, an update, or new information to add to an old post. Consider publishing a new blog post with a “refreshed” version of the same content.
8 | Share blog post content across all of your social media accounts
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably juggling Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (and maybe a few more social media outlets) all at once.
It can be difficult to post original content to all three platforms every day. And that’s where old content can be a game changer.
Each time you publish a new blog post, share it across all of your social media outlets.
Take the main point and start a conversation around it in your Facebook group. Grab a quote from the post and share it on Twitter along with a link. Share a quote or a few points in your Instagram stories. And at the very least, pin your main blog post image to your Pinterest boards.
You can do the same for new podcast episodes, newsletters, and webinars.
Social media is a fantastic way to cast a wide net with your content, repurpose the information you’ve already shared, and get it in front of a wider audience.
9 | Share old blog content with your subscribers
Are you ever at a loss for what to send to your email subscribers?
Just because someone is on your email list doesn’t mean they’ve read every blog post or watched every webinar, so consider sending out bits and pieces of your old content.
Is a helpful action step buried in an old blog post? Pull it out and make it the primary focus of next week’s newsletter.
Have you shared a step-by-step process on the blog? Break up each step into an email series.
At the very least, you can use your list to point people back to recent blog content. For example, some of you might be reading this post right now because I sent out an email with 3 ways to repurpose content with a link to read more. (And if you are, leave me a comment and let me know!)
10 | Transform old content into a free email course or challenge
Free email courses and challenges are a great way to provide value while growing your email list.
Not everyone who reads your blog posts will receive your emails and vice versa. So repurpose the content from old blog posts and create a free email course or challenge. Same content, new package.
11 | Guest blog posts
If you’re looking to reach a new audience, the spoke and wheel blog post model is sure to do that.
Share a super in-depth blog post on your own blog. Then share small parts of that blog post as a guest post on other websites and blogs and point back to your own in-depth blog post.
If people are interested in the content or have questions, they will find their way to your blog and hopefully you’ll gain a new reader!
Don’t let all of the time and effort you put into creating content go to waste. Get strategic and make repurposing content a part of your regular routine!
What’s your favorite way to repurpose old content? Have you tried any of the methods above?
