Repurposing Your Content: A Smart Small Business Marketing Strategy

Do you struggle with developing and publishing great content your audience will engage with? Do you need a better solution for a content marketing strategy?

Most small business owners I speak with tell me content marketing is their biggest struggle. Coming up with the ideas of what content to provide, researching the topic, creating the content, and promoting the content. They either throw a lot of crappy content out there and then wonder why no one engages, or they don’t do it at all. Neither is a good option. Fortunately, there is a solution.

Repurposing. Taking one great piece of content and repurposing it into other formats by changing the angle or switching up the format.

Benefits of Content Repurposing

You’re a busy small business owner. How will a content repurposing marketing strategy help you?

Expand one idea into several content pieces: You can take a popular blog post and repurpose it into a slideshow, a video, a free information guide, a white paper, a podcast… you get the idea. Repurposing allows you to leverage the work you do to create one piece of original content across additional mediums.

Substantially cuts content creation time: You’ve already done the heavy lifting by creating one great piece of content. Many elements within that content – like images, quotes, or text — can be applied to new works.

Serves multiple different audiences: Some people are visual learners, while others may prefer reading a document. Some people love to read in-depth research articles, while others prefer to quickly skim blog posts to gain information. Content repurposing allows you to appeal to multiple audiences with different content preferences. For example, if you’ve created great video content, your script can be used as the basis of text documents, such as blog posts or downloadable PDFs. Similarly, statistics, facts, and figures can be illustrated through data visualization and delivered as infographics or charts.

Cross-promotes content: Through repurposing efforts, you can cross-promote your great content pieces across multiple channels. For example, in a YouTube video description, you may link to a blog post, a slideshow, and an infographic about the same topic, which sends traffic to your website or other owned media properties. This targeted traffic reinforces branding and increases the likelihood of conversion.

Extends content’s longevity: With so much content being published every day, people are bound to miss your blog post or video once in awhile. However, through repurposing, your audience may come across your content through a different channel. Repurposing evergreen content expands the life cycle even further, as it can remain relevant for years to come.

The Content Repurposing Process

To put a content repurposing process in place, you need a plan that aligns all of your content efforts together.

Consider starting with these four steps:

1. Start by brainstorming an idea that multiple content pieces can be based off of. The goal is to have one great piece of content that can be purposed into other formats. For example, a store that sells sunglasses may start with a topic of Sunglasses Trends for 2017. Though broad, this topic can be the focal point of many content projects.
2. Once you have a general topic, think of how it can be altered and applied across multiple content types to appeal to numerous audiences. In the Sunglasses Trends example, a few content pieces you can create might include:
   * Blog posts on women’s/men’s sunglasses trends for 2017
   * An infographic illustrating different styles of sunglasses predicted to be popular in 2017
   * A video interviewing your expert employees about 2017 sunglasses trends
   * A slideshow featuring images and descriptions of the top sunglasses styles for 2017
   * An eBook on how to choose sunglasses for 2017 that fit your face and style
   And that’s just the beginning. With a wide-ranging topic like Sunglasses Trends for 2017, it is easy to see how one idea can lead to multiple content pieces. Each piece has a different point of view and is transformed to appeal to a specific audience, but the core idea remains the same.
3. Now that you’ve got a list of different takes on your core idea, start researching, keeping the first piece you want to create in mind. Start with whatever piece of content makes the most sense. If you create a slideshow, can you easily adapt it to create an infographic? Can a video script work as a blog post? The first piece of content you construct will take the most work up front, as it requires the greatest amount of time to put together. However, know that when you’ve finished, you can undoubtedly apply that piece into additional content for the future.
4. After you have created your first piece of content, repurpose it into other type of content to make new works. You may need to research more specific facets of your core idea as you go, but most of the grunt work should already be completed.

Types of Great Content

There are many different types of content you can use in repurposing, and it’s possible for one idea to be used across all media. Consider the following:

• Blog posts: Every content idea you have should be featured in a blog post, if not multiple posts. Most businesses have a blog, and with good reason —  small businesses with blogs generate 126 percent more leads. Blog posts are a great place to start when creating content, especially if you have an active blog with lots of audience participation. You may be able to garner feedback about your core idea from readers, and audience participation may spark additional inspiration on how to take that idea further.
• eBooks/Free guides: You can create eBooks and free guides by compiling all of the blog posts you’ve written about a certain topic and adding additional components, like a table of contents, images, more in-depth research, an index, etc. Often eBooks and free guides are more detailed than blog posts and are considered high-value pieces. When offering a high-value piece, you may be able to collect visitor information in exchange for access. For example, you may offer an eBook to people who sign up for your email newsletter, or make a free guide available for those who enter basic visitor contact information. I do this on my site where I offer a free marketing plan. Visitors have to opt-in and provide their contact information to receive it, thus making it a great lead generation tool.
• Video: Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to have a professional recording studio to produce a captivating video. Have you seen my videos? I just get in front of the camera and share my expertise and experiences. A cell phone or everyday portable digital camera can record compelling video to be used in your content repurposing projects. When thinking of video ideas, consider interviewing your employees or industry experts, or creating a skit based on a facet of your core concept. Keep in mind that you can also produce a video without recording anything live — through moving graphics and voice-over audio. If you’re new or uncomfortable with video content, start here.
• Infographics: Infographics are great ways to share data, processes, and visual content. They can be used to explain a topic in a step-by-step fashion, showcase data in an interesting way, or illustrate a story. When a topic lends itself to visual interpretation, creating an infographic is the way to go.
• Slideshows: Slideshows are not just for presentations anymore. Creating a slideshow can often challenge you to simplify an idea, as you don’t want to create a text-heavy slideshow. If someone wants to read a text document, they will seek out a blog post or free guide. Slideshows cater to visual learners, featuring images and short descriptions.

Maximize Your Content Marketing Efforts

In summary, content repurposing is the best way to make the most of your content creation efforts. One great piece of content can be repurposed into numerous content pieces, each catering to a different audience in a unique way. The process of repurposing content will save you time and money and extend your initial content marketing investment, making it a worthwhile strategy.

How have you been successful with content repurposing? Share your experience with me in the comments below.

NOTE: If you need help in creating/publishing content, and/or repurposing it, let me know. The Small Biz Marketing Specialist is here to help!

About Stacey Riska

Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.