Every site needs content; even ecommerce sites, which are known for being thin on content. Without relevant content on your site, your visitors and search engines will have no idea what you’re all about.
There’s no doubt that content is necessary, but, when it comes to content creation and promotion in addition to basic pages on your site, things can get a little tricky. A blog is the easiest, most efficient way to consistently add fresh, relevant content to your site. However, for a lot of companies, it can be hard to get started and keep up the momentum.
But, once you have a blog started, all you really have to focus on is creating great content. One great piece of content can be repurposed and recycled into many different types of content. We are overrun with content and your audience is going to differ in the ways in which they prefer to consume content. Your best shot at efficiency for yourself and ensuring your entire audience has a chance to see your great content is to repurpose it into different formats and promote, promote, promote!
To get you started, here are 8 different ways you can repurpose/recycle just one great piece of content:
1. Webinar(s)
If your content solves a common problem for your target audience or is a really interesting topic for them (as it should be), then you have a strong foundation for a webinar or even a series of webinars about that topic. Webinars are a great tool for building brand authority, strengthening partnerships and relationships, and building new relationships.
2. Blog post or series
Your content topic could also lend itself to another blog post or a series of blog posts that delve deeper into various perspectives or angles of the main topic. Also, if the series is robust enough, you can then bundle the related posts into an eBook available for download (with the added benefit of lead generation, if you make it gated content).
3. Slides
Turn your content into a visual, fun experience by making a slide deck. A well-made slide deck can be posted to SlideShare and then easily shared on both LinkedIn and Twitter. LinkedIn owns SlideShare, so you can embed the SlideShare presentation into your LinkedIn posts. When done natively, you can also embed a SlideShare presentation into your tweets on Twitter. All of this means users can engage with your content quickly and easily.
4. Click-to-tweet quotes/stats
With click-to-tweet, you can make quotes and statistics stand out while making your posts more interactive and engaging. It’s simple, you write the message you want to be tweeted, generate the custom link, and then add it to your post and share accordingly. Not only does this make social engagement extremely easy for your users, but you’re able to track the activity on each link as well.
5. Infographic (or other graphic)
People like visual content – that’s why infographics, images, slidedecks, and videos get so much engagement. If you can make your content into an infographic, go for it! Infographics can be great for outreach and even earning link. But, maybe an infographic isn’t the best fit. What about a fun flow chart, Venn diagram, or other graphic instead? Check out HubSpot’s Do You Really Need That Exclamation Point? and Should I Gate This Content? for some excellent examples. The other great thing about graphics like this is that, when done well, they’re highly shareable.
6. Video
Video is one of the most engaging forms of content. We’re in love with video! With the right content, you can recycle it into short clips of important sections, a how-to series, a series of hilarious vines, and more. When well executed and properly optimized, your videos (if they’re on your YouTube channel) can become web properties that show up on their own in the SERPs (search engine results pages) and help increase your brand’s visibility. Just do your users a favor and turn off autoplay.
7. Images
Posts with images are shared more than posts without – this is true across all platforms. Something with an image is far more engaging and attention-catching than something without. That being said, you can create a series of images related to your content with relevant quotes, statistics, and even a CTA (call-to-action). If you want to go the gated content route, you can create a high quality stock photo bundle related to the topic and make it available for download, in exchange for some contact information, of course.
8. User-generated content
This one probably won’t work for all content ideas, but when it works, it’ll work well. User-generated content is a great way to add fresh content to your site without much effort on your part; your efforts will be setting it up and promoting it, while the content creation comes from your audience. You could create contests around your content topic, like who can make the best image, the funniest image, etc. If it’s something that can affect people more personally, you could ask them to share their stories. Sometimes it’s as simple as just making your audience a part of something together.
The possibilities for content creation are endless and accessible! The opportunities are out there – all you have to do is reach out and grab them. And, once you get started, you’ll generate ideas more quickly and easily, becoming the content your audience has been searching for. You’ll gain confidence, you’ll gain more content, and your audience will love it all.