As a marketer, you know the constant, looming pressure to create new content. You spend hours crafting a single blog post or video, only to see it get a few days of traffic (if any at all) before it fades into the background. It’s a demanding process that consumes time, resources, and energy.
This is where content repurposing comes in. Your content (if done right) is a goldmine of information; full of stats, insights, and key quotes. But to properly mine it, you need a clear-cut strategy on how to do it.
What Is Content Repurposing?
Repurposing content (also known as content recycling or content reuse) is the strategy of taking your existing, high-performing content and transforming it into new formats to reach a wider audience.
For example, let’s say you published a blog that was a step-by-step guide on how to beat a boss in a videogame. It got some organic traffic, but let’s extend its reach, too. To do so, you could create a video tutorial to supplement the blog content and spread it across social media platforms. That way, you not only further increase reach, but broaden your content to target an audience who may prefer to watch a video rather than read a blog.
If you’re wondering what content is best to repurpose across different channels and how to do it, we’ll provide you with some actionable strategies later on in the article.
Why Should I Repurpose Content?
Creating content from scratch daily can feel relentless, especially if you’re pouring hours into researching, writing, and editing content that is quickly buried by new pieces. Content repurposing addresses this by extending the shelf-life of that content by turning it into high-impact posts on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, X, and other platforms. Here’s why you should do it:
Boost Your ROI
You’ve invested the time, the research, and the creative energy; don’t let that effort go to waste. Repurposing is the ultimate way to maximize the ROI on every piece of content you create by squeezing every last drop of value out of your assets.
Save Time (& Sanity)
Constantly creating new content is time-consuming and sometimes daunting under tight deadlines. Instead of staring at a blank page and waiting for inspiration to strike, you’re starting with a finished product when you repurpose it. This frees up your team to focus on other big-picture projects.
Become an SEO Juggernaut
Look at every repurposed asset as a new chance to rank, as social media platforms like Instagram are starting to be indexed by Google. This means that that article you repurposed into an Instagram carousel also has an opportunity to show up in the SERP for a given keyword.
Also, by turning one topic into a blog post, a video, and a series of social media threads, you’re not just targeting one or two keywords and hoping you rank; you’re building topical authority, which can significantly boost your SEO efforts.
Widen Reach
Your audience doesn’t just live in one place. Maybe they prefer to scroll through a LinkedIn carousel on their morning commute, watch YouTube Shorts on their lunch break, or listen to a podcast while they’re at the gym.
Repurposing allows you to serve up your valuable information in the exact format your audience prefers at a given moment, leading to increased engagement and wider reach.
Is Repurposing Content Illegal?
Let’s clear this up: no, repurposing your own content is not illegal. It’s a foundational principle of smart marketing. You own the copyright to the content you create, so you have every right to reuse, reformat, and distribute it in any way you see fit.
However, repurposing content that you do not own is a violation of copyright law and is considered plagiarism. You should never take a blog post from another website and turn it into a video or an infographic without explicit permission from the original creator.
When we talk about repurposing, we’re talking about leveraging your content library. So, rest assured, you can repurpose your work to your heart’s content.
What Is an Example of Repurposed Content?
Imagine you’ve just published a comprehensive, 2,000-word blog post titled “The Ultimate Guide to SEO for Small Businesses”, an authoritative piece that took significant time and effort to create.
Here’s how you can transform it into a multitude of new assets:
- Social Media Posts: You can break down each section of the guide into bite-sized social posts. For a LinkedIn audience, turn key stats into an engaging carousel. For Instagram, create a series of infographics highlighting essential SEO tips. On X, you could launch a thread that summarizes each chapter.
- Video Content: A blog post is a perfect script for a video. You can use generative AI to turn the guide into a script for a YouTube video tutorial and create a long-form video with visual examples. Or, take the most critical takeaways and create a series of snappy YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels for quick tips.
- Audio Content: Read a cleaned-up version of the post for a podcast episode; you can also generate this script with AI. This allows your audience to consume the information on the go, during their commute or workout.
- Visual Content: Take the most compelling data points or a complex process from the post and create an infographic. This transforms dense information into an easily shareable and visually appealing asset that can be used across multiple platforms.
How to Build a Content Repurposing Workflow
Repurposing content should be done with intention. To get the most out of your efforts and avoid a chaotic mess of half-finished assets, you need a clear workflow. Here’s how you can build a system that turns your existing content into a continuous flow of fresh assets:
1. Auditing Your Content
You can’t repurpose what you don’t know you have. The first and most crucial step is to audit your existing content library, looking for content that has already proven its value.
Ask yourself:
- What are your top-performing posts? Use your analytics to identify articles, videos, or podcasts that have high traffic, strong engagement, or many engaged sessions. These are your proven winners in one format, meaning they have a high chance of being winners in another format.
- Which pieces are evergreen? Look for content that is not time-sensitive and will remain relevant for months or years. This type of content is a perfect candidate for repurposing, as it has a long shelf life.
- What content can be updated? Find pieces that are performing well but could benefit from a refresh with new data, examples, or a more modern perspective.
Once you’ve identified your top candidates, you can move on to the next step.
2. Developing a Structured Strategy
With your chosen content in hand, it’s time to create a roadmap for its second life.
- Define Your Goals: Before you start repurposing your content, ask what you want to achieve. Are you aiming for more social engagement? Higher website traffic from new sources? A better presence on video platforms? Your goals will dictate the formats you choose and the platforms you target.
- Choose Your Formats: Based on your goals and audience, decide which formats make the most sense. If you want more engagement on LinkedIn, focus on carousels and articles. If you want to reach a younger audience, turn your content into Instagram Reels or TikTok videos. Don’t try to do everything at once; pick one or two new formats to start.
- Create a Content Calendar: Just like with your initial content creation workflow, you need a plan for repurposed content. Schedule when and where each new asset will be published, which ensures your efforts are consistent and that your repurposed content doesn’t just sit on a Google doc.
3. Leveraging AI for Repurposing
The process of repurposing can be made more efficient with the help of AI. These platforms can automate the most time-consuming parts of the workflow, freeing you up to focus on strategy and creativity.
- Transcription: AI tools like Descript, Otter.ai, and Sonix can instantly transcribe audio or video content, turning a podcast or webinar into a text document that can be easily edited into a blog post.
- Summarization & Key Point Extraction: LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity can analyze long-form articles or videos and automatically pull out key takeaways, headings, and bullet points. This gives you a ready-made outline for a new, shorter-form asset.
- Content Generation: Once you have your key points, the LLMs previously mentioned can help draft different versions of the content. Need a social media caption for a LinkedIn post or a short script for a YouTube video? AI can provide a solid first draft that you can then polish and perfect.
However, you shouldn’t just churn out AI content and dump it online; a human should edit this content for H-E-A-A-T, otherwise Google might penalize you.
Which Platforms Should I Post Repurposed Content On?
Here’s a guide to which platforms are best for achieving different marketing goals with your repurposed content:
For Driving Website Traffic
- LinkedIn: An excellent platform for driving high-quality, professional traffic, especially for B2B brands. Repurpose your blog posts into a LinkedIn article, or break down a case study into a visually engaging carousel post with a link to the full report on your site.
- Reddit: A powerful, but tricky, platform. If you find a relevant “subreddit” (a community forum) that aligns with your content, you can repurpose your article into a discussion-based post. The key is to be helpful and authentic, not promotional. Directly linking to your site can be seen as spam, so it’s often better to share key insights and link to the source as a reference.
- Pinterest: Functions more like a visual search engine than a social network. Repurpose infographics, blog post images, or short videos (Idea Pins) with strong visual appeal and a clear link back to your blog or website. Pins have a long shelf life, so they can continue to drive traffic long after they’re published.
For Increasing Social Engagement
- Instagram & TikTok: These platforms are king for engagement, particularly with visual content. Turn key stats from an article into a series of highly shareable graphics. Repurpose a long-form video into a series of videos or Reels, focusing on a single, compelling point per short clip. These platforms thrive on authenticity and relatability, so keep the content punchy and visually dynamic.
- X: Perfect for repurposing quotes, quick facts, and thought-provoking questions. Turn the main points of a detailed report into an easy-to-read thread. This format encourages direct replies, shares, and a quick conversation around your content.
For Establishing Authority & Thought Leadership
- LinkedIn: The go-to platform for professional networking. Repurpose your in-depth blog posts and white papers into concise, actionable LinkedIn posts. Share your perspective on industry news, repurpose a webinar into a text-based summary, and use a series of posts to establish your expertise on a specific topic.
- YouTube: If you have an in-depth guide or report, turn it into a high-quality video. This helps position you as a credible source and builds trust with a new audience that prefers video over text.
For Reaching New Audiences (B2C & B2B)
- Facebook: With its massive and diverse user base, Facebook is ideal for reaching a broad audience. Repurpose your content into a variety of formats, from simple links with eye-catching images to full-length videos and live streams. Creating a private Facebook group to share repurposed content with a dedicated community can also be highly effective.
- YouTube & Instagram: These short-form video platforms are ideal for reaching new audiences who may not be searching for your long-form content. By creating quick, entertaining, or educational clips, you can attract new viewers and direct them to your other platforms for more in-depth content.
Conclusion
Instead of letting that blog post you poured energy and effort into remain static, turn it into a dynamic source of content for various audiences and platforms.
You can achieve this by identifying which of your existing content is already successful, setting clear goals, and utilizing AI to repurpose it into scripts, summaries, captions, and other forms of content.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with this endeavor, don’t worry, our team of expert strategists can help!
