Repurpose your content to maximise its potential
Creating high-performing content and doing it regularly is a challenge for business owners. According to the Content Marketing Institute, about 86% of B2C and 91% of B2B companies believe that content marketing is a key strategy to reach customers. We all know what an important part of the marketing strategy it is, but where do we find the time?
Each piece of content you create for you business is an investment. To make the most efficient use of the content you already have requires creativity and fresh thinking.
There are plenty of ways to re-use the information you have spent so much time on, researching and writing. Don’t fall for the “set and forget” policy and get more strategic with content, lengthen its life and maximise the potential. When you repurpose your content, you get more bang for your buck!
How to leverage your content in as many ways as possible
Repurpose your blog
A well-written blog is not only SEO gold, but it also gives you lots of nuggets for your social media and eDM. Long-form content can be broken up into different short-forms, such as infographics, short videos, and posts for social media.
Here’s an example of how we did this for one of our favourite clients, John Durkin from Abri Architects.
The client then sent a newsletter out, and another one a week later, and we created a range of post for Instagram around the topic. It’s an excellent way to tell the story and create a buzz. The goal for this particular topic was to generate leads. John wants to hear from Aucklanders who are looking for a solution to better utilise their land.
Repurpose your PR
For celebrated Kiwi chef Simon Gault, we wrote the content for his new website Gault’s cocktails –followed up with a press release which was picked up far and wide, from the New Zealand Herald to Urban List, and from Eye Magazine to The Breeze.
Lots of snippets from the website content and product descriptions have been repurposed on social media, and he’s using lots of video, too. Facebook and YouTube are his main channels, and his following as well as sales are growing fast. Read more about the way we approach PR here.
Create long-form out of short form content
An inspiring quote or tagline can lead to a story. If you post a motivational quote on social media, why not write a blog about how it resonates with you and your business? An example is this. Another idea is to combine 10 blogs on a topic into an e-book. I’ll be working on that myself over Christmas.
Here’s our Top Tips on how to make the most out of your content
- Start with a complete content audit
If you have a website or blog that has been around for a while, take a close look at how much content you already have, whether it is relevant, or if it can be repurposed. Categorise the content you have based on whether it needs to be removed, kept, or repurposed.
It’s important to focus on content that has the highest relevance to your viewers, and if there’s old stuff in your blog that isn’t relevant anymore, just delete it. Having content that’s evergreen can stay, but the deadwood needs to go.
2. Tailor your content for each individual channel
High-quality, tailored content will bring you more engagement, brand awareness and ultimately, more conversions. You can cross-post on different platforms, but we believe it’s not always the best thing to do. Social media platforms have different audiences and work in different ways, so your content strategy should reflect that. Posting for the sake of posting isn’t a good idea either, as people unfollow brands that post irrelevant or poor-quality content.
Instagram is all about visuals that are aesthetically pleasing. The best content you can prepare for this channel should include high-quality imagery and videos. You can add long-form captions that go along with an engaging photo.
Photos and Stories are a must, but depending on your business, you should investigate Reels too. They are one of the most engaging options that Instagram provides. You can use TikTok for short videos too. It’s growing fast!
Each platform comes with analytics tools, so explore those and dive into the data. Check the performance of different types of posts and see what works and what doesn’t. Investigate the demographics of your audiences, so you can tailor your content more specifically. Also, don’t forget to check out what your competitors are doing. Competitive analysis is a key element of every social media strategy.
3. Create visual content
Although we love words and they are important, video is the future of content marketing. I’m not comfortable in front of the camera at all, but I have done a few short videos for social media in the past year, and although I think they are cringe, they’ve had more engagement than any of my other posts.
Unless you want it slick and perfect, you don’t need expensive equipment or software to do it. You can create short, engaging videos like Q & A sessions or behind-the-scenes videos with your smartphone. Your audience will love it.
4. Schedule posting
Posting on Facebook and Instagram should be done on a regular and predictable basis. That’s why the scheduling tool in Facebook Business Manager is such a lifesaver! You can create a whole lot of posts in advance, and space them out over a period of time all in one go.
If you have a busy schedule, it’ll help you get organised and save you lots of time. We did this with a 90 Days of Content Package for EcoBeans and it took the hassle out of social media.
5. Measure its success
The only way to determine the success of your content marketing strategy by measuring it. Google Analytics is a free, intuitive, and powerful platform that can help you understand the performance of your website content. Some of the most important metrics that you need to keep an eye on include natural/organic traffic, conversion rate, and bounce rate.
Make good use of the Insights tools on Facebook and Instagram, too. You’ll learn so much about your audience, and that will help you create the content that’s right for them.
Final Words
Of course, we understand that creating content is a big task. As you have a full agenda already, you would probably prefer to focus on the day-to-day and running your business. That’s why it makes perfect sense to outsource your content creation.
The Sweet Orange team of writers and content creators would be more than happy to help you create and execute the right strategy. We love working with people from all walks of life, and we’re comfortable with almost all industries, markets, and audiences. Call us on 021 492 040 or email info@sweetorange.co.nz and let’s have a chat.
~ by Martine Pierhagen, founder of Sweet Orange Copywriting & PR