Creating fresh, engaging content can be challenging and time-consuming in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. However, there’s a smart and efficient strategy that can alleviate this burden while maximizing the value of your existing content: content repurposing.
By repurposing, you can extend the lifespan of your content, reach new audiences, and enhance your overall communications strategy.
Here are five key benefits of content repurposing that every communications team should keep in mind.
1. Extend the Lifespan of Your Content
High-quality content often requires significant time and resources to produce. Content repurposing allows you to maximize your return on this investment by extending the lifespan of your content. For instance, a well-researched report can be transformed into a blog post, an infographic, a series of social media posts, a podcast episode, or even a webinar. This not only ensures that your content continues to provide value but also reinforces your message across different platforms and formats.
For example, in my book, “Engage with Impact”, I show how UNDP’s #DontChooseExtinction campaign repurposed its content in countless ways to create more than a year of activity across various channels.
2. Reach a Broader Audience
Different people consume content in different ways. Some prefer reading articles, others enjoy watching videos, while some like listening to podcasts. As campaign manager, I always make sure that content reaches all key stakeholders across channels. By repurposing content into various formats, I cater to these diverse preferences and reach a wider audience.
For example, turning a detailed whitepaper into a visually appealing video can attract viewers who might not have the time or inclination to read a lengthy document. Similarly, converting a popular blog post into a podcast episode can capture the attention of commuters or those who prefer audio content.
3. Reinforce Your Message
Repetition is a key element of effective communication. By repurposing content, you can reinforce your core message without sounding repetitive. Each format—whether it’s a video, a podcast, or a social media post—offers a unique way to present your message, making it more likely to resonate with your audience. This multi-channel approach ensures that your audience encounters your message multiple times, increasing the chances of retention and action. This will also boost your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) efforts since you’ll be creating multiple pieces of content around a single topic.
4. Save Time and Resources
Creating new content from scratch can be labour-intensive and costly. That’s why the COPE model—Create Once, Publish Everywhere—should be a central rule for all communications teams. You can maximise your reach and impact by creating a single piece of high-quality content and strategically repurposing it across multiple platforms without constantly generating new material. This approach should be part of your digital strategy: it will not only save time and resources but also ensure consistency in your messaging.
5. Adapt to Different Platforms
Each digital platform has its own strengths, weaknesses, and audience expectations. Content repurposing enables you to tailor your message to suit these different platforms. A lengthy blog post might be ideal for your website but too detailed for Instagram. By summarizing the key points into a carousel post or a series of stories, you can effectively engage with your audience while directing them to your website for more in-depth information.
You can use ChatGPT for efficient content repurposing of your existing content, such as converting a blog post into social media snippets, email newsletters, or even a podcast script. Moreover, ChatGPT can assist in brainstorming new angles and ideas for repurposing content, providing fresh perspectives that might not have been initially considered.
By leveraging AI, you can focus more on strategic planning and less on the repetitive tasks of content repurposing, helping to create more impactful and efficient communications campaigns.
Content repurposing is a powerful strategy that can enhance your communications efforts, increase your reach, and maximize the value of your content. Incorporating the COPE model and tools like ChatGPT into your workflow can further streamline the process, ensuring your hard work continues to yield benefits long after the initial creation.
In fact, content repurposing should be a central part of your communications planning, so that every long-form report, event or video project includes various different elements that add value to your message!
Find out more in my book, “Engage with Impact”, where you will find numerous repurposing checklists, as well as examples and case studies to help you adopt a repurposing mentality.
