How to create a content repurposing strategy for your business

• Read original article here

So you’ve heard about repurposing. Perhaps you’re considering it as an additional marketing strategy for your business. Or maybe you’ve dipped your toe in the repurposing waters already but want to learn how to be more effective at it. So how do you decide what content you should repurpose? The answer is… you need a content repurposing strategy.

If you already have a content marketing strategy (and if you don’t, why not?), you’re already halfway there. All you need to do is take yourself away from your desk for a few hours and ask yourself some questions that will help you work out how to move forward in the right way when it comes to repurposing your awesome content.

Ready to get that done?

Here are a few steps you might find helpful.

If you already have clear content marketing objectives, feel free to skip this step. Although, I’ll be honest. Reviewing your marketing objectives from time to time never hurts. Your business changes, you change, and (as we’ve seen this year more than ever before) the landscape around us continuously changes too.

So if you’re not sure what you want from your content marketing strategy, it’s a good idea to think about that before you start repurposing content.

Creating regular content is a great way to build authority, establish yourself as an expert in your industry or niche, stay ‘front of mind’ and generate engagement. But are you converting leads into paying customers and clients?

Having specific targets around conversion and sales will help you evaluate how well the content you’re putting out into the world works for your business. Content repurposing is no different.

So when you look at your objectives and find you’re not quite meeting your targets, perhaps it’s time to shake things up and try something different.

But you can only course-correct if you know where you’re going, so don’t miss this step!

Boring, I know. I bet you didn’t start your business to stare at stats and numbers (unless you’re an accountant, maybe?) But the point here is – knowing your objectives won’t do much if you have no idea how you’re performing against them.

So if you’ve set yourself some target (see point 1 above), great. Just don’t forget to check whether you’re reaching your objectives or not.

For example, if you publish regular content on your blog, do you know which articles are performing best? If you have a podcast or a YouTube channel, which episodes or videos had the most downloads or views?

Stats are important because they tell you what’s popular with your audience.

And what’s popular with your audience is what’s likely to be what works for you are a business (more on this in point 4 below). After all, more eyes on your content mean more people finding out about you. And that, in turn, means better chances of more people buying from you or telling all their friends and family about your business.

So every quarter (as a minimum), spend some time working out what content is hot with your audience. Because (spoiler alert), these are your top contenders for content repurposing.

If a piece of content is well-received in one format or platform, chances are it will also work well if you change the format (from podcast to blog post, for example), or the platform (say, from your website to LinkedIn).

After all, these pieces of content sparked an interest and struck a chord with your audience. If you made that content available in more platforms or format (see point 5 below) wouldn’t you reach even more people?

So by now, you know what your objectives and targets are, and you know what content is popular with your audience. There’s another side to the coin I’d like you to consider. And that’s content that matters to you as a business owner.

I call this ‘core content’, but I’ve seen it referred to as ‘content pillars’ as well. All this is, is content that’s around you, your business, your USP, your mission, vision, and core values.

Creating content around your mission, vision, and core values helps you attract more of the right types of customers and clients.

Because you don’t just want to work with anyone, right? You want to work with people who are right for your business. You want to work with customers or clients who will get amazing results and will give you stellar reviews and testimonials.

So if you have content that tells your audience what you’re all about, make sure you put this somewhere high up on your repurposing agenda.

Repurposing your core content gives you a better chance to help more people find that content. And the more people resonate with you and your message, the more likely it becomes they decide to buy from you.

Knowing what content is popular with your audience gives you a good idea of what works for your ideal customers or clients. But does this content work for you as a business? Does it help you achieve your objectives (as per point 1 above?). Are you increasing your leads and sales as a direct result of creating and sharing this content?

Hopefully, the answer to all these questions is a resounding yes.

But if it’s a no – or if you see room for improvement – it’s worth checking what content you need to share more of in order to sell more of your products or services.

So take a look at what you’re currently selling vs what you’re planning to sell in the upcoming weeks or months, and consider the following:

Now map your existing content against your products and services and decide what you already have ‘in the bank’ that will help you sell more. Once you’ve worked it out, include these pieces of content in your repurposing strategy.

The great news is that if you’ve already invested time or money in creating this content, you can easily hire someone to repurpose it. That way, you can focus on growing your business by doing the activities only you can do. And in case you’re wondering, I don’t recommend you repurpose your own content, and here’s why.

Now that you have a better idea of what existing content you want to repurpose, it’s time to work out what you’ll repurpose that content into.

Repurposing can take many forms. And when you start considering the different options and combinations, you’ll realise the possibilities are pretty much endless.

In the blog post 3 ways to repurpose your content to reach a bigger audience, I talk about content repurposing as a tool to turn your existing content into something different in order to:

Before you start repurposing, you should be clear on what platforms and mediums you want to be active on. Or, in other words, where do you want to share your content, and how?

Will you have a YouTube channel and a blog? Will you have a podcast and be active on LinkedIn? Or perhaps make your blog the main ‘home’ of your content and then use Instagram to reach a bigger audience?

There’s no right or wrong here. Just remember that you can’t be everywhere online. Or rather, you can. But it might come at a considerable expense of either time or money. Or both!

So before you start repurposing your content, decide:

So if you’ve followed the steps above, you’ve looked at your objectives and your existing content, and you’ve decided where and how you’ll share your content. This will have given you a good idea of what existing content you are ready to repurpose and also showed you whether you have any gaps in your content marketing strategy.

Once you’re ready to get repurposing, you simply:

The only thing that’s left to do is to take action. You’ve turned your content repurposing strategy into a plan. Now make it a reality by either scheduling time to repurpose the content yourself (not ideal but perhaps a necessity if you don’t have the budget just yet) or hire someone to repurpose the content for you.

As I mentioned earlier, things change all the time! Your objectives might change, your products or services might change, or the market might change.

So set clear checkpoints across the year when you’re going to review your content repurposing strategy. Will it be every quarter? Every month? Go through this process again and as much as you need during the year and course-correct where necessary, based on the data you have in front of you.

If you need help with your content repurposing strategy or would like to outsource your content repurposing, get in touch.

If you need help with your repurposing strategy, I offer one-off 90-minute teaching sessions on Zoom where I can support you in creating a strategy that will work for you.

And if you’re in need of done-for-you repurposing services, I turn video/audio content into blog posts or social media posts or can repurpose any of your existing content into posts that will help you get more engagement on social media. Email me at hello@sarabussandri.com or fill in the Contact form on my website, and I’ll get back to you.