As a small business owner (or anyone involved in marketing), you definitely have a lot of work to do – and not enough time to get it done. You might also feel occasionally overwhelmed and blocked when it comes to creating fresh, unique content. Not to even mention the amount of platforms and mediums you’re encouraged to post on… and the ever-changing altitude of each of them.

With that in mind, we know you’re always searching for ways to make your job easier while continuing to produce high-quality content regularly. Fortunately, content repurposing is here to take some of the weight off your shoulders!

Think of it as the acceptable easy way out – you’re reworking your existing, high-quality content and presenting it in a different form on new channels, or updating the relevancy while keeping the juice.

The message of the content doesn’t change, but the form does.

Content repurposing, sometimes called content recycling, is re-using existing content and presenting it in a new format to expand its reach and lifespan. As you create new content, you can plan for a variety of different ways to share a new piece with content repurposing.

Think of just one blog post… how many social posts can that be made in to?! While you may still need to update graphics or find relevant images, you’ve already done the hardest part (next to actually remembering to post 😉). 

What else does repurposing content do?

The biggest benefit of repurposed content is that it will save you time and money. You already invest a ton of energy into crafting your content, so you might as well extend a social media post’s life by reusing it. This will allow you to spend less energy creating new content from scratch for every social network, and more time on making sure the original post hits the mark.

Repurposing content can bring more exposure to your posts. Not all of your supporters will be following you on each of your social media accounts, some may only follow you on one or two. Repurposed content can be used in multiple spaces, allowing you to connect with individuals on platforms they already frequent.

Finally, repurposing content can be good for SEO purposes when done correctly. If you have a blog post on your website that’s bringing in a ton of traffic to your site, you can then repurpose this information into an infographic for Instagram, or create a thread to share on Twitter, linking back to the original blog. This will allow you to share this information with a wider audience and is also a great way to drive organic traffic back to its source. When repurposing content that is already performing well, you can tweak it to include variations of the keywords, which will help you continue to rank for both your primary topic and other related topics.

The more content you create around a certain idea, the more brand authority you can create as well.

• Create a blog from a video
• Create a video from a blog
• Turn a long video into bite-sized videos for Reels
• Turn a presentation into short-form videos
• Turn a presentation in blog posts and social posts
• Turn available statistics into an infographic – repurpose based on placement (blog vs. social)
• Turn blog posts into bite-sized social posts (quotes, lists, big picture topic, content carousels)
• Use a podcast transcript to write blog posts and social posts
• Use a popular blog post as a podcast topic or for Reels
• Record your podcasts, to get both audio and video

We’ll be turning this lengthy blog post into MULTIPLE social posts, a newsletter, Instagram Reels, and probably more!

Cross-posting is another great tool to boost your social media strategy, but it works a bit differently than repurposing content. When you cross-post content, you’re essentially sharing the same content in multiple channels. While there can be some customization, with cross-posting the format of the original post is unchanged.

Cross-posting is really best for times when one uniform format works across all of your social media platforms. Maybe you want to announce a new product or share important news about your team members, cross-posting that message to all your socials is a quick and efficient way to make sure all of your followers – regardless of the platform – are seeing that information.

Repurposing content will typically require more work than cross-posting but can ultimately be a more effective strategy in the long run. If you’re ever unsure of which method to use, here are some times we recommend choosing to repurpose content over cross-posting:

• If you have the time/resources
• Are sharing an especially important update
• Want to have more variety in your social media content
• Are looking to grow your followers on a certain platform

When done properly, repurposing doesn’t take much time AND the rewards are worthwhile. 

1. Locate your best content:The first step is to review Google Analytics data and other insights (social media, email, etc.) to find your best-performing content. Adjust the date range to pinpoint your most successful blog posts, social media posts, website updates, newsletters and more. Compile a list of your best content at the one-month, six-month and one-year mark. Look at total page views, social media shares and comments to find the content that most resonates with your audience.
2. Tie the content to your audience: Most brands have various customers and prospects at different stages of the customer journey. They all have different needs, assumptions and pain points, which you can address with buyer personas. Tie each piece of successful content to one of your buyer personas. This focus helps you write less generic content and more relevant, specific content that urges someone to take action. The more specific your targeting, the better your repurposed content will resonate with your audience.
3. Choose a platform: Where are your customers when they decide to buy? Go where they are so they’ll see your content. For example, to target GenZ customers, add repurposed content to Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat. If you’re trying to hit your local community, turn to Facebook and Facebook Groups.
4. Map out a plan: Fluff up your old content based on your desired audience and platform. If you have a blog post, consider repurposing it as an infographic, video, blog roundup, social media post, PPC ad, e-book, podcast or email marketing campaign. Update it to add value and insight. Include an infographic or reader testimonies. Data and authoritative quotes will also boost your authority and the content’s value.

Repurposing your posts will also force you to customize your content for specific channels. To really thrive on social media, you need to learn what type of media works best for each specific site. While an article can easily be turned into a Twitter thread or text-only LinkedIn post, if you wanted to share the same information on Instagram or TikTok, it would be best if you repurposed this information into a video.

You invest a great deal of energy into content creation, so don’t let older efforts disappear into the ether. Get the most out of your content investment by repurposing it. 

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you write content. Instead, get more views, engagements and sales with content that works for you again and again.

And as always… Pathfinder is here to help!