How To Repurpose Content To Get More Engagement
by Ryan Pell
In the online world, content means and equates to currency. You can use content to "buy" influential relationships, subscriptions, social media shares and likes, traffic and customer loyalty.
Some go as far as saying that content is not only influencing but is changing and shaping the marketing world as we know it. Whether or not this is true, is yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure; content is and must be a priority in your marketing strategy.
But, what if you already have content that is simply just not working, basically if you already have content that is not doing any of the above mentioned things? Or what if you have content that is doing some of those things, but is so monotonous that Google is not giving it any credit (in terms of rankings)?
Don't be too discouraged, there are a number of ways you can repurpose your old content so that you can outstand content that will not be easily forgotten.
What does a content redesigning marketing strategy look like? The guide below not only covers the redesign strategy, but it also provides you with an inside glimpse of what you need to take into consideration if you’re considering a redesign strategy and what aspects need to be taken into account to present your content in a new light.
1. Modernize Content for Social Media
The one thing to remember is that content will not market itself! You can spend hours trying to find popular topics in order to make quality, interesting and useful content. You can optimize technical aspects and some creative aspects, but that still doesn’t mean it will bring customers to your front door.
Social media is the GO and almost everything (literally EVERYTHING) is linked to and on social media! Not surprisingly then that social media can be a key player in helping you to find the right audience for your content.
Users want to know information quickly and in a simplistic manner, for this reason, infographics are perfect! Infographics provide a simplistic and visual explanation in a quick and easy to read illustrative manner.
Users love pictures, and users love to share these pictures, so infographics are a must in the visual storytelling aspect of your redesign campaign.
If you have some old content that talks (written form) about how to make something, revamp this content to create a 'must' on the social media sharing schedule.
A great example of how you can upgrade your written text into a creative eye-catching piece of content is the infographic created by Revive Social. This infographic shows when is the best time to post on social media.
Another great example of how social media can do wonders for your business is sportswear giant NIKE. This company took a chance with a long-term marketing strategy that was presented as a web series about two young sisters who happen to be very competitive.
NIKE jumped on the socially active topic of how Millennials are supposed to be easily distracted, they tapped into the sophistication of this generation with a successful campaign that lasts over an hour across seven (7) episodes.
The online and even offline response has been gigantic to say the very least. What contributed to their success? It's very easy, the advertisement's target audience were Millennials who are the most frequent users of the internet and social media.
The advertisement also presented two main actors (the sisters) whom Millennials could easily identify and touched on a topic that Millennials can easily identify with.
2. Rejuvenating Content for Online Publishers
Online publishers such as LinkedIn Publisher or Medium are not so concerned about duplicate content as long as it’s interesting and informative.
These publishers are easily accessible and with only a few clicks, you'll be able to publish your content on an extremely popular platform, which is important if you want to have your content view quickly and by large groups of users and influencers.
The best advice is to hold of reaching out to these platforms until your original post has been indexed by Google. Make sure to remember to always (always!) cite your website as a Source below the content.
It will drive referral traffic as well as encourage others to share your content from your website instead of LinkedIN or Medium.
3. Upgrading Content for Email Marketing Strategies
Although email marketing strategy is not really a publishing strategy or nay a platform where you can re-post your content, it still has its individual value.
If you have an old piece of content and a large network of subscribers, this could be a chance to connect your piece to your targeted audience. If they subscribed they want to know more about you, right? Right!
You can simply send your entire piece of content to all of your subscribers with a single email or a short excerpt with a teaser that will make them want to click and find the entire article.
Uber nailed this marketing tactic in the best way possible. Uber in the most simplistic form sent out an email to all of their subscribers to sync their calendars with Uber services. The beauty of this is in its simplicity, efficiency and brand consistency.
Another great trick is to use GIF’s to attract readers to further read the entire email. A great example of this tactic is the one one that Postmates used to promote and represent their new product and/or funny Q&A emails.
4. Redecorate Content for Presentations
SlideShare is a handy platform where you can publish your old posts as original but not as text, rather publish in presentation format.
It’s an easy and fun way to engage your readers to look into your articles. You can simply use PowerPoint and make a series of slides that are engaging and useful.
Chris Brandt a marketing specialist at Flatfy, notes that making your content in presentation format is a great way to showcase content for the real estate niches, specifically, Chris advises “What you can also do is make seemingly a random combination of text, design and photos and make a presentation. Readers don’t need to necessarily share or save the entire presentation.
Each piece of content (slide) is possible to share individually so each slide can become a stand-alone piece of content which is really great if you have a series of content that nobody reads.”
5. Redesign Content for Video Marketing Strategies
Video marketing is probably the most popular type of online marketing today. Everybody’s on YouTube and there’s a good reason why you should consider redesigning your old content into a new video format.
It might seem strange, but consumers love reading information about the product they’re buying or have just bought, but more than reading, they love watching videos of people presenting products even more.
If you have an old piece of content that demonstrates something, that teaches something, that demonstrates something step by step or simply want a new and entertaining way to bring customers on board, making video's a focal point of your marketing campaign.
Videos bring previously written information 'to life' and are more 'foolproof' than written instructions and demonstrations ever could, people love it!
The most efficient way in which to do this is to find a suitable format for your content (interview, animation, sketch), create video snippets, edit it and share on YouTube.
You can also create Snapchat or Instagram stories to give a sneak peek into what’s happening with the brand and what they can expect shortly. It adds another value to the entire strategy and doubles the interest of your potential customers.
6. Recreate Content for Apps
Apps are a great way to use as a content marketing strategy as most customers use various apps on a daily basis, so this is a unique way to be in your customers’ lives at all time. You might think that you need to have specific content that is created just for the app, but that’s not true.
All types of content can be recreated for the purpose of the app. Recreating content and developing the app allows you to engage with customers in a more personalized way.
From animal grooming tips and activities to grocery shopping and parenting tips, the possibilities are endless. MindShift is a great example of how they turned their content on helping teens manage anxiety into an app.
Like the NIKE add, MindShift has tapped into the most vulnerable and susceptible target group of our society and has used up to date technology to address very serious issues in a fun, personalized and confidential style.
Conclusion:
Once you know which content can potentially bring more focus to your business, the only thing you need is to decide in what strategy and formatting would best suit your business style, and than your well on your way to redesigning your content.
Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter if there are already articles on a related topic, you're here to provide something unique, something other articles don’t have, something that will stand your article from the crowd and bring potential visitors and customers.