People spend nearly half their waking hours consuming digital content. On average, that’s almost eight hours a day, according to this study by Adobe.
In to be seen, heard, and stay top of mind you need to consistently create content that is both valuable and personalized. This doesn’t necessarily mean you must produce new material, but you do need to be strategic in how you repurpose your content.
Why You Should Repurpose Content
Repurposing, or reusing, your content is about getting the content you already have into more hands. Publishing on different channels and using different formats will allow you to:
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Limit creation time. Your primary focus will remain on your business, rather than creating new and engaging content. By repurposing content you already know is valuable, you will decrease the amount of time you spend creating new material.
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Reach more audiences. People do spend a lot of time consuming content, but they don’t all go to the same place to get it. While some people go directly to a company’s website, others turn to social media. People also learn in different ways: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles allow you to repurpose one piece of content in several ways. Repurposing content for different platforms and learning styles gets your information in front of more people.
Make the Most of Your Content
Every week, I sit down with my co-host and record an episode of The Real Word. Creating a 20-30 minute video for YouTube is in our schedule every single week. It doesn’t stop at one video, however.
Every week, the full video is cut into four shorter clips for Facebook and Instagram feeds, as well as one IGTV clip. These shorter videos get posted on our team’s social media accounts as well as our personal pages, reaching three separate audiences several times throughout the week. In addition, the full video is made into a podcast, for those who just want the audio, and portions of the video become blog posts for those who prefer the written word.
One twenty-minute video can produce ten to thirty pieces of content for you during the week if you commit to putting it in your calendar.
Simple Ways to Repurpose Content
The above example did not happen all at once. It began as one video per week that we shared on social media and uploaded to YouTube. As we remained consistent, we learned how to produce and upload more quickly and efficiently, and have been able to repurpose the video for several audiences.
Below are eight simple ways to repurpose content. Start with one or two, and add in more as you see fit:
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Cut out short clips from a full video. You can use these short clips on a variety of platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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Turn videos into audio podcasts. Audio is becoming more popular, as people consume more content while driving, working out, or doing household chores. Create an MP3 or MP4 file for audio only, and upload to SoundCloud or iTunes.
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Create a blog post off of a video or podcast. Use the same information in a video or podcast in blog post or article to reach more people.
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Create an ebook using old blog posts. You can combine several blog posts into an ebook or white paper to create an in-depth resource. The opposite can also be done: draw out several blog posts from one long article or guide.
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Use several platforms. If you publish a blog post on your website, you can also post it on Medium, LinkedIn, and even republish on another industry website as a guest blogger.
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Use your best content in a newsletter. Your newsletters do not to be full of brand new material. Highlight the best content in your weekly or monthly newsletter.
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Turn a radio show into a podcast. Radio is on the decline, but there is still an audience there. My radio show, CT Real Estate Radio, is recorded live and then uploaded as a podcast every week, reaching two separate audiences.
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Turn short podcast clips into Alexa skill or flash briefing. By creating an Amazon developer account, you can turn shorter podcasts into a flash briefing that people listen to daily or weekly.
Creating digital content is a powerful tool for every entrepreneur or business owner. With people consuming as much as they do, keep up the quality of your content, and spread it to as many people as possible.
How do you repurpose content?