One of my very favorite ways to create new content is to take something I’ve already produced and repurpose it. Producing and creating great content can be a full-time job, and one that none of us have time for. But I have found that repurposing a piece of content I’ve already created can be fun, fast and rewarding. And it’s really quite easy to do; it simply requires altering content you have already created to make it fresh by switching it up slightly or by changing the format. What are some of the benefits of repurposing content?
- It saves time. You’ve already done the research!
- It broadens your reach. Some people prefer video, while others prefer to read a blog post.
- It triggers cross-promotion. In your blog post, you link to your corresponding video. In your video, you link to your corresponding blog post.
- It increases your SEO. You increase the ways you can be found and indexed when you create multiple pieces of content all on the same subject.
- It makes you an authority. The more content you create around a specific topic, the more consumers and Google see you as an authority on that topic.
- It extends the content’s life cycle. Google likes “fresh” content. Simply updating an older blog post makes Google see it as fresh again.
As you can see, there are some great benefits to repurposing content. Now I’d like to share with you some techniques for repurposing content. Let’s just pretend you are an agent who specializes in golf course properties, and you’ve devoted a page on your website to each of the six golf course communities in your area. So you already have six pages of content from your website. Here is how you might repurpose that content:
- Create a Pinterest board for golf course communities in your city, and pin each page from your website.
- If you don’t have a Flickr account, create one. Then grab all the images you used for the website pages, create a new Flickr “set” (album) for golf course communities, and upload all the images.
- Take all the images and create a video slideshow, using a platform like Animoto or OneTrue Media. Upload your video to YouTube.
- Write a “Best of list” blog post … The Best Golf Course Communities in Denver.
- Create a presentation, using PowerPoint, or your favorite presentation tool. Simply use the Web pages you’ve already created as a guide. You’ll want to use less text and more photos. You’ll also want to include lots of corresponding links back you your website pages.
- If you don’t already have one, create a SlideShare.net account. Upload your PowerPoint presentation. SlideShare is phenomenal for SEO!
- Take the six website pages and turn them into a booklet you can hand out at any open house you host in a golf course community.
- Take the six website pages and turn them into an e-book (a PDF of the above booklet). Now you can create a landing page to market your e-book and to gather registrations. I use Unbounce.com for landing page creation.
- Anytime you list a property in one of these golf course communities, use your website content to write a press release about the home and community. Add links to several pieces of your content. Then distribute. I use PRWeb.com to distribute press releases.
- Blog your heart out. Much of the content above can be shared in additional blog posts. Embed your video and SlideShare presentation into blog posts. Blog about your e-book. Do a photo blog post for each community.
- Tweet your heart out. Almost every piece of content listed here can be tweeted. Just mix up what you say so that you’re not sending out the exact same tweet each time.
- Share your content appropriately on a Facebook business page, or within a targeted Facebook group.
- Share your content within appropriate LinkedIn and Google Plus groups.
- Start freshening up your original website pages by adding some new photos or a video of the community. Just take it one page at a time.
- Be creative and come up with other fun things you could create. The sky’s the limit. Webinars, podcasts, interviews, infographics and more.
There you have it. I hope this sounds as fun to you as it does to me. Obviously, as the marketing director at Obeo, I love marketing. And I love taking content and repurposing it! For me, it’s always a fun challenge to figure out all the different ways I can reuse, repurpose and recycle. And the fabulous benefits I receive from repurposing content are the icing on my marketing cake!
Marci James is the director of marketing at Obeo, which provides interactive virtual tours, professional photography, virtual redecorating tools and custom real estate marketing solutions.
