Three R’s of Content Marketing

Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose — Three Rs of Content Marketing

Coming up with new, original ideas for content month after month can be challenging. You want your clients or your business to offer unique opinions or information that make that company and its leaders a go-to source. But with content regularly being churned out by multiple sources on similar topics, it can be difficult to stand out amongst competitors. However, there is a way to get around having to create brand new content topics consistently. That’s reusing, recycling, and repurposing content.

Reuse top performers

Not every piece of content you create is going to be a top performer. No matter how much time and effort you put into your writing, you will have some pieces that don’t take off and get the hits or shares you desire. To combat this, take a look at the content you’ve already published. 

Start by reviewing your Google Analytics content metrics to identify the most viewed pages on your site. You may discover that you’ve hit the content jackpot! A winning piece is something that doesn’t need many changes. But if you want to give your content a fresh update, there are a couple of tweaks you can make. 

• Change the headline. Maybe your headline can be updated with new keywords. Or if it’s a list, you could add a number in the title, like “7 Ways to Reuse Your Content” instead of “How to Reuse Your Content”. Articles with numbers in their headline perform better than those without. Why? Readers know before they even open your post that it’ll be organized and clear, so they’re more likely to click-through to your page and read your content.
• Share the post again. Is your piece of content evergreen or does it tie into a timely current event/topic? Get it circulating again by resharing it on your social channels. You could also include it in an email blast.
• Pitch it as a guest post. Find other blogs or online news outlets that specialize in your post’s overarching theme. Whether that be B2B news sites or a home decor blogger, there may be an editor out there who thinks your content is relative to their audience. Making those small tweaks, like changing the headline, can help you differentiate the post enough that you’re not sending out duplicate content. Getting your piece published on their site is a win-win! The site benefits because they’re providing readers with fresh content from a credible source on topics they want to read about. You win because your content is reaching more people who fit into your target audience and you’ll most likely receive a link back to your site, which helps boost your search rankings. 

Recycle content that is outdated but still useful. 

The content you created five years ago could still make waves today, especially statistics or survey-based articles. This type of content can benefit from a few simple changes.

•  Update any stats or information that is no longer relevant. Maybe you reported on trends from a specific year. Or you surveyed a group of people to gauge their thoughts on a particular topic. If people were interested in these results once, they might be curious to see where things stand today and what has changed in the data.
• Hyperlink to other content or service pages on your site. In the time since your original post, you may have created other pages with information that supports what you initially published. Find opportunities to link to those other pages within the post. Sometimes the word or phrase to hyperlink already exists; other times, you may need to add a sentence or two. 
• Include user-generated commentary. Whether it’s through a comment or a tweet, have people interacted with your post? If yes, include feedback that can elevate your article. For example, if you wrote an article about a new product or service offering and someone left a review or testimonial, insert that into the post.  

Repurpose content into new forms. 

Repurposing content works exceptionally well with long-form content. Not everyone has the attention span to read a 2,000-word post. Or they may only be interested in a small portion of your article. Use that to your advantage. 

• Create new versions of the content. If you have a piece of long-form content, it’s likely broken into different sections or parts. Take a section that can be reworked into something more easily digestible. For example, you could create a checklist or a Q&A.
•  Share parts of the content on social media. Depending on the platform, users are looking for different types of content. On LinkedIn, you could post an entire segment of your whitepaper or blog. On Twitter, you could pull out the subheaders or quotes and use them for tweets. Figure out how your audience is utilizing their social media and repurpose your content accordingly.
• Turn it into a visual asset. Graphics get more awareness, engagement, and shares than simple text. That’s why you should turn some of your content into an infographic or video. Not only are you giving people information the way they want to receive it, but you’re creating another asset for your marketing mix. 

 

Don’t waste time trying to rack your brain for new ideas, and don’t let good content go to waste. Sure, you’re going to have moments where the lightbulb goes off, and the content ideas easily flow. But when you’re stuck in a rut, utilizing the three R’s of content marketing will allow you to make the most of what you already have!