How to Repurpose Old Content to Reach More Audiences & Expand Your Visibility

The topic of repurposing content is easily misunderstood. When we talk about repurposing existing content, we don’t mean simply copy and pasting it into a new article, or resharing a content piece on the same social media platforms. We’re talking about taking advantage of that goldmine of existing content that you already have and breathing new life into it to create a whole new piece of content that provides value to a new set of audiences. 

Repurposing content should be a part of any solid content strategy. It helps you make the most out of everything you have on hand, and really maximise your content-creating potential. In this article we’ll talk about: 

Why you should repurpose content?

1. Get more out of each piece of content: Why give each content piece just one use when it could have plenty? When you repurpose content, you’re creating one thing and using it in multiple ways, maximising the potential of each piece of content, 
2. Save time & money: Creating content doesn’t come for free. It takes time to make, and costs money if you’re hiring someone to create it for you. Repurposing content helps you save time and money, a well as a whole lot of effort. 
3. Reach new audiences: Not everyone loves to read blog articles, and not everyone is interested in watching videos. Repurposing content helps you reach all those audiences that may not have been interested in your content piece the first time around. 
4. Reinforce your brand’s messaging: There is a concept in marketing called the rule of 7. This rule states that a prospect needs to see your message an average of 7 times before they convert. Repurposing your content lets you hash out that same message in different ways, bringing each viewer closer to that rule of 7. 
5. It’s good for SEO: Publishing different content pieces on the same topic helps you to rank for specific keywords. If you’re repurposing content and then publishing it externally, then you might even get valuable links back to your website, helping to boost SEO. 

Biggest myths about repurposing content

There are many people who are afraid to repurpose content, for many reasons. These are the biggest myths associated with repurposing content. 

1. Google will penalise you for duplicate content: This is simply not true! When we talk about repurposing content, we’re not saying that you will republish the same piece of content twice. We are talking about remixing and putting a fresh spin on an existing piece of content. The result will be two entirely different content pieces that are far from being duplicates. For example, you could turn a blog post into an infographic or a video post into a blog post. 
2. You cannot repurpose other people’s content: One of the ways you can repurpose content is to put a fresh spin on existing content on other people’s websites. This is not ‘wrong’ or stealing by any means. Half of the internet is made up from content repurposed from other websites, with its own fresh spin and angle. You are more than welcome to provide your own fresh spin, analysis, or interpretation on existing content pieces online. If you’re unsure about it, feel free to ask for permission beforehand, and always make sure to offer credit back to the original source. You may even get a link back in return! 
3. Your audience will notice & get annoyed: This is all about how you do the repurposing. Again, we’re not suggesting you copy and paste content or republish content pieces you’ve already shared before. That would be pretty boring, and fair enough if your audience gets tired of it. What we’re saying is that you refresh content in new and existing ways so that it’s completely different and offers value in a new way. When done well, users won’t notice and they certainly won’t mind. 

How to repurpose existing content in new ways?

This is the part you’re really after, the juicy tips for repurposing content. This is the ultimate list of ideas for repurposing your existing content: 

Turn blog posts into ebooks 

Have you published an evergreen article or cornerstone content piece that’s valuable and lengthy? Or maybe you have a series of blog posts that cover the same topic in different ways/angles. Repackage those articles into an ebook on the subject. You can offer this for free, monetise it, or use it as an incentive to get audiences to sign up to your email newsletter. It’s all up to you. 

Turn internal data into case studies

Whether it’s reviews, photos, analytics, or actual wins you’ve made for your clients, take that data and turn it into a case study log post. People love case studies. It proves that your product/service gets results, it works as a form of social proof, and it helps you to build authority for your brand. Case studies tell a story that builds trust amongst your audiences and they’re an extremely valuable content marketing tool. Share those results you’ve earned and don’t keep them a secret. 

Turn a blog article into a podcast

Have a piece of content on your website that seems to be generating insane amounts of traffic? People are clearly interested in that topic and what you have to say. So turn it into a podcast episode! Whether you already have a podcast or not doesn’t really matter – this could be your first episode! You can even turn it into a Youtube podcast. 

To turn your blog article into a podcast, just rehash the same topic or discuss it with more detail. You can bring in an expert to talk about it with you or interview someone on the topic, and so on. If you don’t feel confident talking in a podcast, you can hire someone else to read a transcript that you’ve written. Fiver is great for this. 

Turn stats into images for social media

If you have a lot of data, blog posts that contain lots of stats, or any useful information of the like, turn those statistics into images that you can share on Instagram, LinkedIn, and other social networks to garner more attention. These stats could be as simple as: 

• XX people who receive a massage report better sleep that evening, 
• XX% of business owners believe content marketing works, 
• X of our customers would buy this product again, 
• XX% of boating accidents happen on a sunny day, and so on. 

Turn testimonials into social posts

This is a great marketing strategy as social proof helps to build more trust from your audiences and encourages them to convert. Use any testimonials you may have received from customers and turn them into social posts. This is also a great way to show appreciation for your customers – make sure to thank them for their kind words in your post. 

Turn blog posts into infographics

Infographics are a very shareable type of content and visually appealing. Turning an existing blog post into an infographic can help you reach audiences who aren’t interested in reading but enjoy following a visual story. If you’re not nifty with design, use a tool like Canva to help you bring that blog post to life visually. 

Turn customer questions into an FAQ page

And then turn those FAQs into social posts! If you find you’re getting lots of the same questions from customers, turn those questions into an FAQ page. This will help dispel concerns from existing potential customers on your website by giving them a quick answer, while also boosting SEO (SEO loves FAQs). When posted on social media, they can work as a form of social proof. 

Turn quotes into shareable images

Have some fabulous quotes scattered into some of your blog posts? Turn them into shareable images for Instagram or LinkedIn! Again, images are proving to be more and more popular and quickly overtaking text when it comes to social media. They’re also easily shareable and can help expand your visibility online. Providing a link back to the original blog post, interview, or video can also help increase traffic. 

Repost tweets on other social media platforms

Repurposing content you’ve published on different social media platforms helps to expand your visibility and reach a whole new set of audiences. Tweets are becoming increasingly popular as a form of shareable content on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. All you have to do is screenshot the tweet and turn it into an image. Voila, you’ve now reached a whole bunch of audiences that aren’t on Twitter. 

Create transcripts of video content

Whether it’s an interview, lecture, webinar, or any piece of video content, a transcript can help you reach a wider range of audiences. It’ll help your video show up on Google search and make it more accessible to those who are hard of hearing. At the same time, it’ll bring in interest from people who prefer to read information over watching a video. 

Get more out of your content

As you can see, there are so many ways you can repurpose content and make the most out of what you’re publishing online. Maximise your potential, save time, and reach new audiences by finding new and creative ways to repurpose content you’ve already created online. If you need some help finding new ways to use your existing content, get in touch with our team and let’s talk.