Insights

How to repurpose content for social media: Part One

Long gone are the days when you could get away with using social media to tell people what kind of sandwich you ate today.

Today social media runs on content, and not just any old content: content people want to consume. There’s plenty of competing content out there, so yours has to be the best it can be.

How do you do that? You repurpose, which is like repacking existing content in a way that people find interesting. It means taking content from one place and adapting it to use in another.

In part one of this guide we’ll look at why you should repurpose and where you can find suitable content. In part two we’ll explore how exactly you repurpose.

Why repurpose?

  • It helps you be everywhere, or at least appear to be everywhere. By repurposing you can distribute the same content in different forms on multiple social media platforms.
  • It appeals to people’s different learning styles. Some people love to read, others prefer to listen and plenty like visual content best.
  • It saves time, and you can save even more if you outsource the process.
  • It helps increase brand awareness and position your as a leader in your industry.
  • It creates longevity. Your content lives longer, which means the time you spend writing is better spent.
  • It’s good for SEO. It gives you additional SEO assets to attract search traffic.

Where can I find content to repurpose?

The first place to start looking for content worth repurposing is your blog archives.

  • Look for evergreen content that is still relevant and hasn’t aged. If you have repurposing in mind, you might find it even influences the content you post in the first place.
  • Review your most popular posts. Check your site analytics and see what posts have resonated with people. These posts are ripe for repurposing.
  • Look through your archives for articles you think you can improve. Maybe something has changed in the news since a post went live, or maybe you’ve learned something new.
  • If you’ve published any ebooks, you can divide that content up in a number of ways. Take a few of the book’s points and turn them into a blog post or a presentation.
  • Likewise if you have a presentation, you could turn it into a video or adapt part of it into a blog post. Look back at your presentations and see which ones (or parts of ones) are still relevant.
  • Browse any video you have for content that could be potentially turned into a podcast or adapted into a blog post.
  • Don’t forget to look at any relevant old media you might have. Maybe you have articles, interviews or brochures that can be adapted for the online world, it doesn’t really matter what format it is. The main thing is it contains information that your audience will find valuable.

In part two of how to repurpose content for social media, we will look at the best ways to repurpose your content.

iFactory is a digital marketing agency in Brisbane, Australia. Get in touch if you want to find out about how we can help you create your own digital strategy and digital marketing or even run your social media marketing for you.

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