7 Easy Ideas for Repurposing Your Content for Social Media
Whether you are just starting a business or you’re an expert at social media marketing, there will be times you want to ‘shake up’ your brand’s engagement and interaction on different platforms.
Repurposing your content for social media is one of the quickest and smartest actions you can take.
In fact, some marketers believe repurposing your content is the ultimate way to scale your business. So, if you’re asking why you should repurpose, scaling up just might be the biggest benefit. Repurposing helps your business grow faster.
Content Repurposing Defined
Let’s backtrack for just a moment. Are you wondering what, exactly, is meant by “repurposing content”? Think of it as recycling. When you repurpose existing content, you re-use either all of it or parts of it in a different format.
For example, you could turn a podcast session into a blog post. Then, share a link to it on your social media platforms. In this article, you will see some other ideas and tips.
For now, let’s look at the benefits of sharing recycled content on social media.
Benefits of Repurposing Content for Social Media
- No Need to Start from Scratch. When you repurpose your content you don’t have to start from scratch thinking up new content or ideas for your next phase of status updates. You won’t have to write a new blog post, create an entirely new infographic, or write new material for your next webinar.
- It Saves Time and Money. It should go without saying, if you don’t have to create brand new material, you’re saving time and time is money.
- Increases Your Reach. Different formats of content allow you to connect with people who prefer to consume content differently. For example, some people prefer to listen while others learn visually. So, in the scenario of creating a blog post from a podcast, you reach both audio and visual audiences.
- Reach Audiences You Missed. Sometimes, people miss your content the first time around due to timing or how it was presented. Perhaps your blog post was too long but short snippets in a Twitter thread are is better for those readers. When repurposed in a new format, viewers see it and engage.
- Improves Your SEO. Hopefully, you created the original content around a keyword or phrase. Because, when you create several more pieces of content around the same keywords, search engines will be more likely to recommend your content.
7 Ideas for Repurposing Your Content for Social Media
Most forms of social media are considered micro-content. Micro-content is a vital part of our culture. As humans, we are under constant assault with non-stop content fighting for our attention.
It should be no surprise then that your audience takes only seconds to decide whether or not to engage. So, when you are on social media, micro-content can be the key to breathing new life into old content.
Here are seven easy ideas you can use to begin repurposing your existing content.
1. Turn Blog Posts Into Twitter Threads or a Series of Facebook Posts
You can take one blog post and create an entire series of posts around it. Just copy a few lines (key concepts) and schedule them in chronological order. If your blog post has images, you can add a visual.
Pro Tip: WordPress even has a plug-in that will create Twitter threads from your blog posts so you don’t have to spend time with copy/pasting.
2. Create an Infographic From Articles, Podcasts, Ebooks, or Webinars
Did you write an article or host a great webinar on a relevant topic? Pull the stats, key points, and facts. Then, create a colorful infographic and share it on your social media platforms. Bonus exposure: Don’t forget to share it as a story on both Instagram and Facebook.
Pro Tip: If you want to create your infographic quickly without hiring a graphic designer, check out Canva’s infographic templates.
3. Cut Video Clips From Previous Videos You’ve Made
Did you create a short video about a new service you introduced? Did you video an event you hosted? Post short clips from these to entice your audience to learn more about you.
If you’re curious about how to edit and create videos for Instagram, check out this list of the top tools.
4. Transcribe Videos and Podcasts and Turn Them Into Written Posts and Visuals
You can also turn an originally longer video into a series of short blog posts and even further break the blog posts into social media status updates. There are several services out there offering the ability to transcribe audio/visual recordings into text. Many of them offer a free trial.
Descript is an all-in-one transcription platform offering your first 3 hours for free.
5. Pull Expert Quotes From Both Written and Audio Content To Create a Series of Social Media Posts
Often, a meaningful quote from an expert in thought leadership or an influencer will be shared over and over by your audience. You can also dress up the quote by adding it to an image. Canva is a great place to create social media templates for short text quotes.
Don’t forget, if you’re in a time crunch, you can always run a Google search for quotes relevant to your business and create a quick post.
6. Share Content From Your Other Platforms
Did you share a post on Linkedin that you could tweak to make it work on Instagram or Facebook? Did you save a reel from one platform you could use on another?
Need a tool for downloading and saving your reels? Depending on your preference, you can pick one up from Google Play or the app store from Apple.
7. Repurpose Content From Zoom and Other Recorded Sessions
Do you provide online training, live coaching calls, or group or individual consultations? Often, the topics discussed during these sessions can be repurposed into helpful blog posts to share on social media.
Note: As a friendly reminder, remember to remove identifying information from the posts unless you have permission from the attendees of your recorded sessions.
Clearly, once you start thinking of all the ways to break down your other forms of content, the possibilities are unlimited.
There are a couple of good practices to keep in mind when you begin repurposing your old content for social media. Remember, people will engage with you when they can relate to what you are communicating. They disengage when content doesn’t apply to their needs. This goes without saying for all content marketing.
Stay Relevant and Evergreen
When you are repurposing and shortening content for social media, staying relevant can be even more important than on other types of platforms due to how fast content moves. So make sure your video snippets, your blog posts, your Tweet storms, etc. provide context.
Your audience will keep scrolling if they haven’t got a clue why they should pay attention.
Likewise, you want to make sure the content you are recycling is evergreen. In marketing, ‘evergreen content’ is content that is still true or current months or even years into the future.
So, for example, if you pull content from a blog post that talks about an event you want to promote – but mentions a launch date a year ago – that’s not evergreen. It might also be confusing.
So, before publishing your repurposed content, be sure to verify it is evergreen and relevant. Not only will this keep your content reliable but it also helps with search engine optimization going forward.
And, if you are serious about keeping your website’s content evergreen and SEO friendly, consider updating all older content to be evergreen. Making a few edits and tweaks to a blog post or specific page on your website can make a difference in the “freshness” of your content. You’ll also have an easier time repurposing updated content going forward.
Repurposing Content for Social Media Is a Great Way To Increase Your Engagement
Recycling your content indeed helps you scale your business faster. But, it also has the power to help people discover your business and what you offer.
As time goes by, your audience is growing, changing, developing new needs, and going through new phases of life just like you. New social media accounts are set up daily creating new people with new needs who will want to consume your content.
Your audience is evolving with you, so to speak. So, sharing previous content may spark someone’s attention this year who didn’t notice it last year.
Don’t be hesitant. Don’t wonder what people will think. It’s the perfect time to reinforce your message by repurposing your content.
Krissy is a copywriter and editor who specializes in marketing and sales content. She has over 10 years of professional writing experience and has written for a variety of industries from tech to healthcare.
