Can you repurpose content? Why yes you can and should!

Spending your marketing dollars on publishing content is important; however, it might be a luxury. It can be costly, time consuming and overwhelming to build a communication plan and execute. Repurposing content might be the rewarding piece to your marketing plan that you can accomplish without it breaking the bank.

Is it OK to repurpose content?

Content creators enjoy being in “creative mode”, as their passion is to deliver new content to their viewers and listeners. Not everyone has the opportunity to create new every time. This is where repurposing content comes in to play. You can save time and effort, while reaching audiences that aren’t on your leading distribution platform.

What does it mean to repurpose content?

Repurposing content is taking previously published work and presenting it in a new way. This can be accomplished by taking a webinar and converting it into a whitepaper, blog, or podcast. By giving life to your newly created marketing piece in multiple channels goes a long way.  It connects you to your members where they want to consume content.

When should you repurpose content?

Scaling is so important for small organizations with limited marketing resources. In an ideal world, you should not be reinventing the wheel every time you go to do a new campaign. Leveraging your marketing automation tools will help infuse dynamic content and create templates that you can then reuse.

A perfect time to repurpose content would be in your re-occurring member newsletter. This should include learning updates in a template that looks and feels consistent. With each occurrence, you will only have to switch out the copy which simplifies the process. Not starting from scratch creates an easier and streamlined approach of asking: What is our headline? And what do we want them to attend this month?

There are so many opportunities when the rewards from repurposing content can be used. Check out our spin on the what the members of Forbes Nonprofit Council shared as 15 clever ways to repurpose your content.

15 Ways to repurpose your content

1. Turn long content into short learning opportunities – Repackage existing content on social media as quick video clips, or short pieces of content that can bring in a fresh audience.
2. Repackage for each platform – Similar to our newsletter example above; think about converting your previously recorded learner content and share it on LinkedIn.
3. Change your format – Keep the messaging top of mind while continuing to grab your audience’s attention in fresh new ways. For example, if you are covering a new regulation, take the same information and distribute it in a nicely designed infographic, advertisement or video.
4. Reference aged content – Highlight how an older case study may have managed to help keep your organization agile and relevant throughout the years.
5. Update with timely information – Add new images and updating your old content with the latest information can re-engage your community and doesn’t require beginning from nothing.
6. Refreshing It With Quality Copywriting – Take the time when appropriate to use copywriting to evoke new feelings and keep your content fresh.
7. Build from your blog posts – Start with a 500-word blog post on your website and post on your social media pointing to your website. Afterwards, take five paragraphs from the blog and turn them into five new short social media posts linking to the same article.
8. Pivot! – Audience respond to different things. By changing your message based on your association’s data, you can attract new members with the same content. In addition, storytelling is a fantastic way to convey the same content.
9.  Be sure to tag on social media – If you are utilizing several touch points and connections to share information. “Tag” the right people, members or associations and events, when possible, on social media.
10.  Leverage the people you have – Ask others for their thoughts and insights on the article, blog post or content. Asking for additional feedback will provide new commentary and a fresh perspective on the subject with your members.
11.  Draw connections between current news stories – Attach prior content to a new story is one way to repurpose what was already written. Engage members full circle by referencing your content in your current presentation.
12.  Keep Content Relevant – Make sure content is up-to-date and then tie it in with the current timing, season, or news cycle.
13.  Switch the Key Term – Switch the focus from one key term to another but remain intentional in being faithful to your communication aim.
14.  Group Content – Members might need to be reminded of what they missed. By grouping similar content on websites and within emails, offers you greater usage of pre-existing content.
15.  Turn Learner Content Into a Visual – If you already publish reports regularly, repackage the information by using an image like an eye-catching infographic.

To utilize these 15 ways as best as you can, you should make sure you build some type of resource library. Sharing the assets within your organization and team will make it easier to keep a scalable cadence of communication. A centralized place where you can deposit resources, assets, templates, a brand guideline, image bank, etc. Some examples include OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Docs.

Now that you are ready to repurpose your content for your members be sure you learner management system is designed with content creation in mind.

Freestone offers more than just award-winning learning management software. We also offer expert content creation services. Our team’s skills, experience, and deep knowledge of learning technology make us your ideal online course development partner.