How to repurpose content for brands

Content marketing today is almost unrecognisable to what it was 20 years ago. Previously you might have had a member or customer magazine, or you may have only focussed on traditional marketing.

Fast forward to 2020 and your content marketing strategy has many moving parts. You may have a healthy social media presence, a podcast, a website, a video series and a magazine. Thanks to 4.57 billion active internet users and 3.96 billion active social media users the possibilities have transformed and expanded exponentially.

Say hello to the future

Now when you produce content, it’s not about a simple article. A piece of content is no longer tied to the lifespan of the edition of a magazine or newspaper it was published in. Instead, with varying digital media platforms at our fingertips, content can be repurposed to suit countless media platforms. But the key to doing this right is thinking multi-channel right from your content marketing strategy through to your content calendar.

The benefits of repurposing content include:

• Reaching a wider audience
• Brand consistency across channels
• Production efficiencies 
• Using multiple ways to drive a message home

If you’re looking to up your repurposing game, here are some key dos and don’ts:

Do: think multichannel from the start 

Every platform is different. As a content creator you want to use best practice for every piece of content you produce, and this will vary depending on where your content will live. 

Don’t think about your content as just an article or video or social post. Think about what the broader theme of the content is and how that can translate across various platforms or align to your customer journey. 

This will automatically free you from thinking within the restraints of an article. You will look at the best channel for the content, and how other content can be created around it. 

You wouldn’t copy and paste a 1,000-word profile article into an Instagram story. So, for example, you’re interviewing a chef about why they love truffle season for a print title. How can this translate to other channels like a website, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube? If you’ve included the chef's favourite truffle recipe in the article, they could film themself making the recipe. You could then upload that to YouTube and embed it in a digital article. 

A perfect example of this is how the HCF Health Agenda team created a podcast series, Navigating Parenthood. This was accompanied by digital articles that were in line with the podcast’s theme.

Don’t: forget to link it all up

Repurposing also allows you to cross promote content across multiple channels, ensuring you’re getting as many eyeballs on it as possible. 

With the truffle article example above, you already have the digital article and YouTube recipe video uploaded. Now you want to promote it through social media. So, you create a poll asking people what their favourite truffle recipe is. While this is engaging, you want to ensure that it still serves its purpose by getting people to look at your content. You can do this by using the last slide as a promo, for example, “Swipe up to discover celebrity chef Mark’s favourite truffle recipe!

We help The Star Sydney to create and repurpose content for their channels. Content that is produced on their content hub, The Star Moments, is then promoted through their social media channels in a way that suits the channel. For example, they use Instagram stories and Facebook stories by teasing a story over a few slides to engage the viewer.

Do: get specific with platform function

You want to fully understand the media channel you are using before posting content to it. This will allow you to understand the type of content you’re able to produce specifically for that media platform. 

Instagram is no longer about posting a square image. The story function alone is a treasure chest of potential for content creation. You can host live videos, Q&As, polls, quizzes, the list goes on. If you were unaware of all these functions, you’d be missing out on great content-creating opportunities.

Don’t: rinse and repeat 

If you’re repurposing an article for a website or any media channel, you want to be thinking about the most effective way to use this channel. If you’re uploading an article that was written for print to a website, you need improve your SEO. You want content to be performing across all platforms and this can only be done when using best practice.

Do: streamline processes 

Repurposing content is efficient, but only if done correctly. Let’s take the example of the truffle story you’re writing for a print magazine. If you’re thinking multi-channel from the get-go, when interviewing the chef for your article you could also get video footage to post to social media. You’d be saving time and resources.

Take this fashion-forward Mercedes me article with its accompanying video below. Filming, interviewing and photographing the subject could all be done on the same day, ensuring that the process is streamlined and the precious time of content creators and the subject featured isn’t being wasted.  

Don’t: sacrifice brand for a multichannel approach

While thinking multi-channel is a must when repurposing content, you want to be using channels that are relevant and on-brand with your client or publication. If you’re working with a client that focuses on retirement villages and want to reach potential customers, then perhaps TikTok isn’t right for them.