7 ways to repurpose your content
No one has time to crank out content for content’s sake. It’s time for us to work smarter not harder! How about repurposing that latest article or press release into a whole slew of content ideas? Why repurpose, you ask? Well, it’s simple. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel (or sentence) every time we sit down to write copy for our social media, blog post, email newsletter, etc. Repurposing helps you get the most bang for your content buck. At the same time, it keeps your messaging in line and consistent. If you have a press release bringing awareness to your latest product release or even introducing a new team member or maybe a press release announcing an event or fundraiser… repurposing this content can keep driving home the important talking points of this article so that you can beat the drum over and over and insert the message or announcement in your audience’s mind over and over again. So here’s how you do it:
1) Take your press release and turn it into a blog
This may seem like a no brainer, but often times it gets missed. However, it’s more than just a copy and paste job. A press release has a few formats that aren’t so appropriate for a blog post. First, there’s the “for immediate release” header that appears on a press release that you don’t need to have on your blog. You’ll need to add credit to the release writer (if it wasn’t you) for the blog and it’s in good form to link to the media outlet that ran the piece. Also, you may want to make the headline more jazzy and personal. Media style headlines can get choppy and to the point, but with a blog you can be more free and creative.
Work this scenario backwards and you can turn a blog into a press release. Be sure to let the media outlet know that this is for “immediate release.” and be sure to add contact information to the last part of your release, as in “for more information, call….” or “to learn more, visit (your website address)”
2) Pull the lead and turn it into a graphic/image
In the opening parts of your press release or blog article, you are going to introduce the plot of your piece. You might list your event details or announce your expansion or whatever might be the big news for your piece. This is called the “lead” in the media biz. You can easily grab that “lead” and use it in social media graphic/meme/image. Jump on over to canva.com and find a template that matches with your voice and brand. Put your quick announcement or news on the image and download it so that you can then post it on all your channels. In the copy you can be more expansive about what your news is all about, but a great image can stop the scroll and get people’s attention.
3) Highlight your main news
Whatever is the guts of your piece - your event details, open house dates, team member photo and position, etc. - use this in another graphic/meme/image. Again, hop over to canva.com, find a template, and add your bullet points, your dates, your announcement, etc. Once you get done in Canva, download your creation, post it to all your social media channels and use the post or copy part to talk more about what’s going on.
4) Sound your call to action
If don’t already know, a good blog has a call to action. That means at the end of the piece you are asking your reader to do something: “donate now” “get your tickets here” “Congratulate Sally” “Download our free e-guide.” All of these are call to actions. While your blog may talk about a lot of other points, you can create another great graphic/meme/image in Canva to highlight your call to action and share it on social. Your copy for that post will introduce the call to action and link up with your blog where they can read more.
5) Shorten your blog for your newsletter
If you’re sending a weekly or monthly email newsletter, your blog can be repurposed for your newsletter. This is more than a simple copy and paste job. The idea is to take more of the introduction to your blog and use it as an introduction in your email newsletter. You can then encourage your email newsletter subscribers to “read more” and link your blog to the shortened version in your newsletter. This will engage your subscribers to click on the link and move over to your website. This is called “conversion” and you want to always be working on up-ing your conversion rate.
6) Use your blog for an IG or Facebook story
You’ve done the work to come up with a concise idea for a blog. Why not take the same idea and the same news and do a quick social media story. Whether you choose to do it on Instagram or Facebook or both, you can mix it up with images, video, and even fun stickers and gifs to make your story interactive and engaging. All the while you are sharing your news, event details, etc. Never have social media stories been more popular! So embrace this fun medium and start telling your story.
7) Inspire a video
Along the lines of a social media story, your blog or press release is a great topic to bring to your audience in video format. There’s a few options for you: 1) pre-record your video and upload it to social media or 2) go live in your social media channels. Going live allows for you to be spontaneous and free. However, pre-recording your video means you can upload it to several social media channels, especially LinkedIn who is still trying to launch a live option. Having a recorded version means you could create a YouTube channel and upload it there and then embed that into your website and email newsletter. However, social media live videos are incredibly popular with users. There’s not a wrong answer here… just get recording or shooting some video. The more you do, the better you’ll be!
Looking for some more ideas on how to beef up your marketing and make it easier to manage? We LOVE to be a resource of information for you! Email us or give us a call and let’s chat. We’d be happy to offer some tips or even evaluate your website, newsletter or social media channels and give you some honest, professional feedback! Call 260-255-4694 or email christie@christiebrowning.com
