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Why content repurposing is taking the online creator world by storm
“You’ve got to work smarter, not harder.” Paul said, tapping his temple.
I had only been there for two days and this was the fourth time he’d offered up this advice. I was starting to get a feel for Paul’s work ethic.
My first real job. It was incredibly exciting.
I was working with an international team and as a newbie, I was assigned to Paul to learn the ropes.
What our manager didn’t know was that his skill set included cutting corners and not showing up for events and when asked to explain something he would flick his wrist and in a very posh British accent answer: “Not now love.”
He actually worked really hard at avoiding work!
It came as no surprise then that every time I heard someone say, “work smarter, not harder,” I automatically thought of Paul and made up my mind that this was just something lazy people said to avoid work.
But here’s the thing…
As I’m someone who tends to over-complicate things, I began to realize that there was some truth to it.
Let me be clear though, there’s a BIG difference between working efficiently and avoiding work altogether. I’m very grateful to the talented mentors I had.
Content creation is one area in business that can get incredibly time-consuming if you’re not smart about it. For years I was stuck feeling like I had to start from scratch every time I posted.
Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Discovering content repurposing was like the first time I discovered a honey nut latte. A superb, where-have-you-been-my-whole-life revelation.
I started including it as an effective content creation strategy for my clients.
If you feel like you just can’t keep up with running your business AND creating the volumes of content needed to be seen online, then lean on in friend. I want to share with you:
- What content repurposing is
- Why it needs to form part of every content creation strategy and
- Its effectiveness in helping your business be found in the noisy online space. Yes, please!
What is content repurposing anyway?
Essentially, it means transforming one online asset into different formats, in creative ways that can be used across multiple channels.
How I like to approach it is by starting off with a meatier long-form piece of evergreen content, such as a video, blog, or audio(podcast). This is the MACRO or HERO content piece. This content is evergreen, which means that it will stay relevant and not need frequent updating.
From there one goes on to create smaller bite-sized pieces of content which can be used in many formats (video, audio and written) and posted across multiple channels such as email, social media, website, Pinterest and Youtube.
Why include content repurposing in your content creation strategy?
1. It provides structure to your content creation
Let’s think about content creation like a recipe. You’ve got lots of ingredients in front of you to create a three-course meal. (These are your ideas.) But you don’t know what you’re making or how to make it (no structure).
Despite this, you start mixing everything together in the same bowl. Chocolate, onion, garlic, peanut butter, mayonnaise. You get the picture.
Before long, it’s a huge mess and you’re left with an unsavoury mixture that you should throw out. But instead, you decide to bake it anyway.
This is like your content creation strategy.
A mash of ideas that don’t work cohesively together, make no sense and ultimately flops.
You need to know which ingredients make what and the proper method to follow in order to create something magical.
You need structure.
Focus on creating one piece of content that is well researched and that your ideal client finds valuable and then create a content repurposing workflow that outlines how your content needs to be repurposed.
You create a Youtube video every week. You know that all the other content you create for the week will flow from that one Macro content piece.
This also helps you to build on an idea and expand on it throughout the week so that your followers get the most value from your content.
There are countless ways that you can approach this, but here’s one simplified example:
- Think of the main theme for the month that you can dive deep into.
- Break it down into four related topics (1 for each week)
- Create one well-researched video/blog or podcast weekly around each of the 4 topics
- Create multiple social media posts, emails, videos or blogs around these weekly topics
There you go. STRUCTURE.
2. It saves you time
The #1 struggle my clients tell me they have is coming up with content ideas.
As I mentioned before, creating a workflow and structure for your content creation will help you stop guessing what to post and therefore save you time.
Brainstorming, conceptualisation, research, design, copy, editing and posting. We take for granted just how much mental energy this all takes. And you still need to find time to run your business! 🤯
The thought of having to do this from scratch every.single.time with a brand new idea makes most business owners want to throw their hands up in surrender.
Reworking existing content is a huge time-saving hack.
You will find that within your macro content piece, there is a lot of content that you can use for social media, your email newsletter, Pinterest, blog, etc.
This will help save you time and mental energy.
You can dedicate more time to researching and creating your main content piece instead of thinking about what to post on the fly.
3. It increases your visibility online
3.1 Multiple platforms
The fact that you’re posing on multiple channels means that your reach is far higher than if you only post on one.
We all know how temperamental the algorithms on social media can be and your content may only be visible to a few people within a few short hours.
All your hard work and nothing to show for it.
By making sure that this content gets pushed out to your social media, email list and website (via your blog), you’re ensuring that there are multiple touchpoints and opportunities for your ideal client to find you and hopefully, work with you. Not just social media.
3.2 SEO, baby!
It’s been said that the best place to hide a dead body is the second page of a Google search. 😲
Having your content rank high on Google helps you get found.
SEO (search engine optimisation) is used to help your content rank higher on Google through organic (unpaid) methods. This is done largely by using effective keywords that your audience is searching for.
Here’s how repurposing content can help with SEO:
- Updating existing content allows you to audit which keywords may not have worked the first time, and test new ones.
- This can help improve traffic to your content.
- It positions you as an authority on the topic.
- It allows you to capitalise on your best performing content
If you work in an industry that is constantly changing, updating your content is vital.
4. It supports your dream client at different stages of the buyer's journey.
I followed my online mentor for TWO YEARS before I invested in one of her programs. (That sounds stalker-like and creepy, but not so much in the online business world.)
She was successful in adjusting her messaging at each step of the buyer’s journey.
The buyer’s journey follows the following stages:
- Awareness (aware that they have a problem that needs a solution)
- Consideration (consideration of different options to solve their problem)
- Decision (they decide you’re amazing and want to buy from you)
- Retention (they’re happy with the product/service and come back time and again)
- Advocacy (customer becomes an advocate for your brand for others)
Your content should serve audiences that are brand new to your offering as well as those who have their credit card in hand, ready to purchase.
My mentor was successful in “warming me up” to the point of sale.
When repurposing your content, you should adjust a message that is tailored to someone who is new to it all as well as someone ready to buy. Still within the same content “theme.”
What do I mean by adjusting the message?
Carli is an online coach creating kick-ass content for her audience. However, she is at the point where she wants to scale her business and can’t keep up with content creation. She is aware that she needs to outsource but doesn’t know that content repurposing services are actually a thing.
Anne, on the other hand, is a photographer creating online courses and has repurposed content before but no longer has the time or desire to DIY it anymore.
She’s aware that she wants to keep creating her macro content but knows that she needs a content repurposing manager to handle the rest for her.
When both these gals come across little ol’ me, I need to tailor my content to support them at the stage of the buyer’s journey they’re at. Then, help move them to the point of purchase and beyond.
I discovered how powerful content repurposing was for me and for my clients.
If you’re interested in how it can benefit your business, check out how my done-for-you content repurposing service can help you free up time and mental energy.
Hi I'm Veronica,
A word-alchemist & ex-social media marketer turned content repurposing manager who rediscovered my love for storytelling, writing and content creation whilst on my social media journey.
As a mom starting a new business, I was ready to ditch the overwhelm around content creation!
I now support creative entrepreneurs and coaches that are exhausted and uninspired with creating content maximise their online presence through content repurposing.
This way they can reach their dream clients with less stress and have MORE TIME to not only scale their businesses but also spend time with family.