Creating top-notch content that performs exceptionally online is not as easy as it seems. It's both costly and time-consuming. So, whenever you have performing content that your target audience likes, you should repurpose it. That's why most companies are repurposing content.
Repurposing content involves changing a piece of content to serve a different purpose. It's an excellent strategy to get more traction from content that has performed greatly with your audience.
When you repurpose content, it's either you change the content's format or its target audience.
There's always confusion as to the difference between revamping and repurposing a piece of content. The two terms are different, as you will learn in the next section.
Difference Between Revamping and Repurposing Content
Revamping and repurposing content are two different things. It's essential to know the difference. Otherwise, you may be revamping a piece of content thinking you repurpose it.
Revamping a piece of content involves using the same content for its original purpose. But you merely update it to remain attractive and relevant to your audience.
For instance, when you update an old ebook to reflect recent happenings, change its design to make it more amazing, and possibly update the internal structure, that's revamping.
However, repurposing a piece of content involves changing the content format entirely or changing the target audience.
An excellent example of content repurposing is turning a series of blog posts into an ebook or turning key content of a webinar into an attractive infographic.
Why Do Businesses Repurpose Content?
Here's are some of the reasons you should consider repurposing some of your top-performing content;
#1. Saves Time
It's not easy to create high quality engaging content every day, especially if other things require your attention.
Sometimes, you may spend up to a week just writing an excellent article. However, if you already have an article or blog series your audience loves, you can adapt it to suit a new format.
For instance, you can summarize your previous content in a video and upload it on social media.
#2. Their Old Content Still Holds Value
If you have some engaging and thought-provocative content that people aren't seeing, you can repurpose them. For instance, if you can repurpose an old ebook into an easy to read and engaging blog post.
#3. Good for SEO
Generally, your website tends to be more visible to Google and other search engines when you have a significant online presence. Repurposing your content enables you to be active in two or three social media platforms simultaneously.
#4. It Entices People to Visit Your Website
When you repurpose a piece of content and post it on a social media platform, you can easily get people to click through it to your website. Ordinarily, when you feature a snippet that inspires curiosity, social media audiences tend to click through to see the full content.
What Content Deserves to be Repurposed?
Even though content repurposing is an amazing strategy, you can't implement it in every article. Before you can repurpose any piece of content, it must resonate with the people who have seen it before and appeal to new audiences.
So, before you repurpose any content, it must meet the following criteria;
#1. Must be Evergreen
Evergreen articles are always relevant irrespective of age and time. The information doesn't go outdated. Any evergreen content can be repurposed to adapt a new lease or serve a new target audience.
#2. Performing Excellently
Another requirement for repurposing an article is its performance. Any post that has been performing excellently over time in terms of traffic and engagement is likely to appeal to a new audience when repurposed to a new form.
Check your articles' performance, go through your Google Analytics metrics, and search out some of the most popular posts.
#3. It Has Growth Potential
Generally, some articles have the potential to perform great when given the right tweak. If you have such an article on your website, you can easily repurpose it and direct it to a new audience.
Any piece of content that meets one or two of the criteria mentioned above deserves repurposing.
How to Repurpose Content Like a Pro
Ordinarily, content repurposing is a simple strategy that's easy to implement. But most people don't know how it works. So, here's the best way to repurpose any content like a pro.
#1. Add New Elements
The addition of new elements to existing content is what differentiates repurposing an article from revamping it.
When repurposing a post, it's updated with new data. And the post will naturally be more relevant and appealing when you add more statistics from different sources. Also, ensure that the current state of things reflects in the article.
#2. Start a Newsletter
Another great way of repurposing your posts is to start sending them as newsletters. If all your blog posts are performing outstandingly on your website, you can turn them into a series of emails.
If you implement this strategy correctly, you will build an audience that will always be passionate about receiving your emails.
However, when sending your blog post as an email, you have to be creative with the subject lines. It can affect the success of your newsletter. A poorly written headline may not make your audience curious enough to read the email.
#3. Turn the Content into a Photo
If you have any high performing article or blog post, you can summarize it, and use it as a capture on your Instagram's photo. You will surprise the level of engagement you will get from your audience.
#4. Use Across Platforms
Another great way to repurpose a piece of content is to use it across platforms. You can use the same content differently.
For instance, you can turn your old blog posts into a webinar or YouTube videos. Similarly, you can turn to morph case studies into side decks. The most important thing is that the new form the content adapts is still appealing to both the existing audience and new ones.
What Types of Content Perform Best
Sometimes, it's challenging to come up with awesome content ideas. And it's even more challenging to decide how to implement those ideas.
Even if you rely on keyword research to have a direction on what to write about, you still need to decide the type of content you will be writing. So, here are 5 types of content that both B2B and B2C companies can use.
#1. How-To Posts
These are educational articles that set-up problems, proffer solutions, and show you the steps to get there. They are usually tutorial articles and are very lengthy. An example of this type of content is "How to Repurpose Content Like a Pro."
If you are too busy to create lengthy How-To Posts, here are some of the best content marketing companies that can help you with it.
#2. Listicles
Listicles are straightforward articles that don't require much explanation. They are not as lengthy as the How-To posts. Listicles are usually on a particular topic and offer bullet points on that topic.
Example of a listicle article is "11 SEO Mistakes That Could Be Affecting Your Ranking."
#3. What- Posts
What-posts are among the types of content companies use. These types of articles provide information about a particular topic. Most times, they compare two things.
An example of this article is "What's the difference between Technical SEO and Onpage SEO."
#4. Why-Posts
Why-posts give readers the reason or purpose for a particular thing and provide details thereof.
Example "why do Google algorithms always affect websites negatively"?
#5. Video Content
Video content is one of the most popular types of content. Most B2B and B2C companies use videos to offer visual discussion or explanation about a particular topic to their audience.
Sometimes, it’s a bit challenging to market your video content. Here are some of the best Youtube marketing companies that can make your video content viral within a short time.
In a recent study co-conducted by Fracti and Buzzfeed meant to analyze the type of content that performs better revealed that listicles and why-posts have the most reliable social traction with about 21000 shares per month.
The study further showed that what-posts is the riskiest and least reliable types of content. However, the performance of your content sometimes depends on the nature of your business.
B2B vs. B2C content
Here's another area content marketers should pay attention to. Ensure that the content you are creating aligns with the type of business you operate.
For instance, an average B2B audience wants content that will educate them. What they are looking for is proof that you are providing them top-notch content.
So, if you are writing a B2B content, you should focus more on eBooks, tutorials, webinars, etc.
B2C customers, on the other hand, just want to be entertained. Their buying decision is often influenced by emotion, and their buying process is short (no too many decision-makers in the process).
As a brand, it's important to understand your audience, and continuously deliver high-quality content that resonates with them.
