What Is Content Repurposing & How Does It Work?

In the past, content repurposing has gotten a bad rap for being “repetitive” or “plagiarizing yourself.” But these terms are harsh misrepresentations of a successful marketing strategy that in recent years, has shown to be both cost-effective and successful at driving quality traffic and leads.

Keep reading to learn about content repurposing, how it works, and new ways you can recycle your content to keep your audience interested and engaged for minimal expense.

The Definition of Content Repurposing

Content repurposing (or recycling) is the process of taking existing content and reworking it to be published in a new and different format. For example, taking a blog with a list of statistics and making an infographic that highlights the statistics would be considered content repurposing.

This refreshes old content, heightens its audience reach, and increases its overall lifespan without the higher cost of creating brand new content every time you want to publish something.

Why Repurpose Your Content

The cost of content can be high, so it’s always a good idea to plan ahead of time and find ways to maximize the value of each piece you publish. You don’t want to be on the back end trying to figure out what you can do after-the-fact to make a pricey article perform better.

Recycling high-quality videos, podcasts, blogs, and other kinds of content for your brand in different ways can help you establish a strong following and customer base without having to pay for original work each time.

The only caveat is that the content you repurpose should be unique enough not only for Google to avoid flagging it as duplicate content but also for users to be able to have a new experience even when engaging with the same base information.

For example, turning an infographic into a video doesn’t require any extra research or writing, but it creates a completely different piece of content that can be marketed on an entirely new platform with a unique audience.

How to Reuse Your Content

There are nearly endless ways you can reuse content to get the most “bang for your buck.” Here are just a few great ideas:

Repurposing Your Podcasts

Recording a podcast can give you multiple types of content, all just from one recording session:

The podcast audio
A transcript of the audio formatted into a blog
Social media sound bytes
Social media graphic quotes
YouTube Shorts from the webcam video of the interview
An eBook from a series of six podcasts done with a table of contents in mind
Turn podcasts into courses
Use podcasts in email marketing blasts

Recycling Your Written Content

Generally speaking, you can’t duplicate content on your website – you’ll get flagged by Google. But there are some creative ways you can get around this to maximize the value of your written copy, like:

Pulling statistics or facts from a blog and putting them into an infographic
Compiling blog posts into a downloadable eBook or book and then read that out loud as an audiobook
Refreshing old evergreen posts with new information
Recording videos that touch on important topics in the blog or reading a blog as is into a camera
Turning blog sections into Twitter threads
Posting blogs on LinkedIn
Turn your blog into a course

Reusing Your Videos

Videos can also be recycled to maximize the amount of usable content you can get from one recording session. These ideas are simple yet impactful:

Turn the transcript of the video into a blog post
Uploading stills of the recording session to social media
Compiling short clips into a recap or highlight reel
Making YouTube Shorts from longer videos
Make mini versions or just repost YouTube shorts on Instagram and other platforms
Turn helpful talking head content into bit and pics for YouTube and Facebook/Instagram ads.
Turn videos into courses
Use videos in email marketing blasts

McDougall Interactive Is Your Partner In Content Marketing Success

With content repurposing proving to be a smart and successful marketing tactic, now is the time to start creating this year’s brand strategy.

McDougall Interactive can help you put together a customized publishing schedule that positions you as a thought leader in your industry and highlights your business as the choice solution for users in your target audience.

Call today to book your strategy session at 877-623-4291 or click here to schedule a consultation online.