How to Repurpose Your Content Like a Pro (And 8 Benefits of Doing So)
In 2024, the content marketing industry is predicted to be worth $600 billion.
There are many reasons why this industry is steadily growing, and we’ve seen firsthand how crucial content is in nurturing relationships with both potential and existing customers. But with the increasing content sources and channels to choose from, it’s getting trickier for businesses to sustainably create content that contributes to their ROI.
Content creation is costly. It takes time, energy, and resources.
If you’re a knowledge entrepreneur, course creator, or a coach building a digital business on your own or with a small team, chances are, your task is not only to scroll TikTok videos or engage in heated debates on Twitter.
You also juggle different business functions on top of content creation: from the admin and finance department to product development and community management (and a whole lot more!).
So how do you consistently create streams of content that help you achieve your goals without it eating all your time and energy?
Try repurposing your content.
What Is Content Repurposing?
Put simply, content repurposing is the process of recycling a piece of content by converting it into new formats and redistributing it to other platforms.
8 Benefits of Repurposing Your Content
1. Take back your time and save on resources
Have data on your best-performing content?
By repackaging what worked before into new formats and distributing them to other platforms, you can maximize your high-performing content and, therefore, allocate your time and resources to other high-impact tasks.
2. Scale your content
One of the game-changing lessons we’ve learned about planning content is to think long-term.
Instead of spending hours on a single piece of content, posting it, and then forgetting about it the next day, we think two steps ahead.
For example, here at Prodigy, each of our blog posts has nine lives. Figuratively. 😻
We put a lot of work into every article because it gives birth to short-form content such as Instagram Reels, LinkedIn carousels, newsletter tips, and tweets, among others. We make sure our long-form content is done excellently so that when we pull short-form content from it, we don’t have to skimp or worry about the quality of our ideas.
You don't have to churn new content from scratch every single day. Strategic content planning and repurposing allow you to scale your content (so you can post twice a day), without sacrificing quality, and without dedicating too much time and resources.
“The content marketing supply chain you want to design is one that optimizes for the highest level of quality without compromising quantity, and vice versa. Volume is good—but only if it’s quality volume.” — Category Pirates, Snow Leopard
3. Reach new audiences and get more eyes on your content (without burning out)
When you publish content on different platforms, you show up for different sets of audiences. So the best practice is to study and respect the nuances of your chosen platforms (instead of merely mirroring your posts for the sake of it).
Because of this, it’s challenging to maintain many content channels if you’re working solo or with a small team. This is why we recommend focusing (and mastering) one content channel and supporting that with a secondary content distribution platform.
Say your main platform is YouTube, and your secondary platform is Instagram. By repurposing your YouTube content into Instagram posts, you get the same ideas delivered to two audience sets without significantly increasing your content creation workload.
“We all have different tastes. There are some people who prefer reading. Others prefer watching, while the rest prefer listening. Converting your content into different formats allows you to reach these different sets of audiences.” — Ahrefs
4. Boost audience engagement through different formats.
We consume content differently.
While others like to listen to podcasts, some prefer to sit and read quietly or watch a video instead. So if you master the art of repurposing, you will be able to engage audiences of different learning styles and content consumption habits.
Kajabi recommends thoughtful repurposing because “using a mixture of these formats can also make your content more inclusive and accessible.”
5. Reap the benefits of repetition
In the age of information overload, not everyone will see, let alone absorb, your content the first time you publish it. Hence, we repurpose.
This works because of these two concepts in consumer psychology: the frequency illusion and the mere exposure effect.
“The frequency illusion means that once you've been exposed to something, you'll start to see it everywhere, and the mere exposure effect guarantees that this heightened awareness of that thing will gradually instill comfort, and even trust—despite your conscious mind's best efforts.” - Jonathan Crowl, The Consumer Psychology Trick Behind Repetition in Brand Storytelling
Some business owners are still on the fence about recycling content because they worry their audience wouldn’t appreciate them retelling the same story over and over. Or that they would get tired of seeing the same posts frequently, wherever they are on the internet.
But that’s the thing. Repurposing content is not just reposting the exact same thing on a number of platforms. We have to look for new angles and give them a fresh take—while retaining their core messages because repetition reinforces your message.
“Poor attempts to leverage the frequency illusion have a poor effect on consumers: They bang the same drum through the same channel, and often get the reputation of being spammers. Brand storytelling should not take this one-note approach. Rather than "the same message repeated many times," think of effective frequency illusion strategies as "the same message, conveyed through a broad range of content and channels.” — Jonathan Crowl, The Consumer Psychology Trick Behind Repetition in Brand Storytelling
6. Boost your SEO
According to HubSpot and Backlinko, repurposing content around similar keywords and publishing into multiple formats can boost your SEO ranking!
7. Get a lot of mileage out of your past content
If your business has been active online for years, you might be sitting on a treasure trove of past content—from blog posts and PDFs to videos and social media graphics. And we’re pretty sure you’ve worked hard to create those.
So why not give them a second chance through repurposing?
As you help your audience rediscover your oldie-but-goodie content, you also drive long-term results from your content marketing efforts. 😉
8. Exude expertise and confidence on every platform
Have you noticed how businesses look credible online when they consistently create high-quality posts on topics they want to be known for, on their chosen platforms?
Instead of posting haphazardly, repurpose your best-performing content and implement a cohesive content strategy to effectively reinforce your expertise on the subject.
Learn about Dan Koe’s repurposing content strategy:
How to Repurpose Your Content Like a Pro
Are you convinced of the benefits of repurposing content and curious about how you can get started?
Let’s get into it.
First, let’s talk about your core content format and content pieces so we can stay on the same page when we start going over the rest of the blog post.
Core Content Format. This is your primary content format, and usually, it’s long-form (think blog posts with more than a thousand words or half-hour-long YouTube videos). Pro tip: When choosing your core content format, pick the one you love doing and where you’re most effective so you can sustainably stick to a consistent content creation schedule.
Content Pieces. These are all the short-form content that you can pull from your core content format.
There are three major formats that you can choose from: written, audio, and video. Here are examples of how you can repurpose content for each one.
1. Written
For coaches and course creators who think through writing, blog posts serve as the best primary content format. Here’s one way of extending the life of every article you pen.
Core Content Format: Blog Post
Content Pieces:
Video or Podcast. You can turn your blog post into a video or podcast script.
Instagram Reel. Break your blog post into sections and create a Reel for each one. Here’s a sample Instagram reel.
Instagram Story. Share an insightful excerpt from your blog post on your Instagram stories. Or you can pull engaging quotes and questions from your blog posts and turn those into fun and engaging IG stories using quizzes, polls, and question stickers.
Quote Graphics. Pull the quotable quotes from your blog post and turn them into shareable images like this.
Abstract or Animated Visuals. Bring the big ideas of your blog post to life with creative visuals like this. Here’s another creative example.
LinkedIn Newsletter. Some people like to read articles in their email. By repurposing your blog posts and formatting them into a newsletter, you can cater to this audience.
Twitter Thread. Your blog post already has a hook, body, and call to action, so you can just simplify it and turn it into a Twitter thread.
2. Audio
If you enjoy doing audio interviews or thinking out loud, hosting your own podcast may be the best way to go. And while most podcasts don’t have interactivity built into them (your audience can’t leave comments or ask questions on most podcast platforms) other than the sharing of episodes and the option to rate your show, you can maximize your efforts by repurposing every episode into fresh formats and onto other platforms.
Core Content Format: Podcast
Content Pieces:
YouTube Video. You can record a video of you while you’re doing the podcast (many creators are doing this already!).
TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Use quick videos to share juicy snippets from the episode and invite your audience to listen to the rest of the podcast.
Twitter Posts. Tweet the best lines from your podcast script.
Blog Post. Edit and turn your show notes into a blog post.
Instagram and Facebook audiogram posts. Clip the most interesting or intriguing part of the episode to tease your audience like this.
3. Video
Not camera shy? You can use video as your core content format. And since video production can take a bit more time than publishing blog posts, it only makes sense to ensure you’re getting the most out of every video you create.
Core Content Format: YouTube Video
Content Pieces:
Blog Post and Lead Magnets. You can create a blog post out of your high-performing videos and even turn them into lead magnets in the form of PDFs and worksheets.
Podcast. Interestingly, we’ve seen successful YouTube creators redistribute their best videos on podcast platforms.
TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Pick the hook and highlight of your video and turn them into trailers and sneak peeks.
Twitter Thread. Use your video outline and flesh it out into a Twitter thread.
Newsletter. Repackage the gist of your video into an easy-to-read and actionable newsletter edition.
Instagram and LinkedIn Carousel. Identify the main points of the video and whip up a carousel out of them. Here’s a sample carousel.
There is no perfect formula for repurposing your content. It still goes down to how well you know your target market and their content consumption habits—and how willing you are to put in the work until you discover the platforms and format that resonate most with your audience.
Bonus Tips for Repurposing Content Effectively
To harness the power of repetition, identify the main themes and messages you want to communicate to your audience and use those as the starting point for creating and repurposing content.
When choosing which content to repurpose, pick your “five-star” or high-performing posts. Consider how evergreen they are, too, to make sure they’re still timeless and relevant pieces from past content.
Treat it as an experiment and follow the signals. If you notice that your audience loves to re-share your aesthetically pleasing quote graphics, keep creating and refining similar content. If your Twitter threads regularly blow up and go viral, keep improving and doing what’s working.
Keep it simple. Don’t just cut up your best content into a million pieces and bombard every social media channel. More for more’s sake won’t cut it.
When redistributing content to other platforms, learn the nuances and best practices, the language, and the culture of the online community in that channel.
Did you know you can repurpose testimonials and create a week’s worth of content out of one well-written customer review?
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Did you learn something from this post? Here’s another post to help you plan your social media content for your course or coaching program in 2023.
