By: Rachel Hill Ponko, Media Relations/Writer
Creating content is vital to marketing and public relations. It can also be immensely time-consuming and energy-zapping. Brainstorming topics, researching, writing, interviewing, fact-checking… it all takes valuable time and brain power.
At FireStarter, we lean into one strategy that can help us reduce the time we spend creating content while also increasing its impact. We repurpose content, also known as content recycling.
What Is Repurposed Content?
Repurposing content is likely something you do to some extent already. It involves taking an existing blog, podcast, video interview, infographic or other marketing material and adapting it to a new format. Taking elements of your existing content and presenting it in a new way is an effective strategy for broadening your reach while using your time most efficiently.
A Time Saver
The most obvious benefit of repurposing content is that it reduces the time you spend on any project. Instead of creating something from scratch, you have a head start on the inspiration and information needed to write a social post, design an infographic, create webinar content and more. As time is money, this one is a no-brainer.
Reach New Audiences
While you’re saving time by repurposing content, you’re also likely reaching new sections of your target audience. That’s because one person may prefer to consume content through a podcast while another gravitates toward a short blog or article. A member of the media who doesn’t subscribe to your blog may be interested in that same content reworked as a press release.
By repurposing content into different formats, you automatically cast a wider net.
Get Noticed by Search Engines
Another benefit of repurposing content is gaining new interest from search engines without exerting much effort. Remember, search engine crawlers are drawn to new content, so the more you update and publish, the more likely you are to be found and rise in rankings. Repurposing content also enables you to try out different keywords and topics, which can reinvigorate your quest to improve your search query relevance.
Case in Point
In 2023, our team uncovered an impressive stat. One of our healthcare clients had achieved a substantial year-over-year increase in patient volume. Although this statistic indicated a noteworthy achievement, it lacked the substance required to create an engaging press release.
Fortunately, we had published a blog post that featured a compelling patient success story a few months prior. By making some adjustments to the content of the blog, we were able to create a comprehensive press release with a timely and attention-grabbing lead. This press release not only attracted media coverage but also resulted in a new set of highly popular social media posts.
One Final Thought
While not endless, the possibilities for repurposing content are undoubtedly vast and effective. Experience tells us they can also fall through the cracks if not kept track of as new projects are assigned.
Whether you’re turning customer testimonials into social posts or breaking up webinars into a blog series, we can help you prioritize repurposed content to save you time and effort as an individual and help you accomplish so much more as a team.
Contact us today to learn how we can help provide your organization with the content it needs to reach your audiences where they’re at.