By now the idea of repurposing content is not new. Smart content creators are always looking for a second and third use for any piece of writing they create. But can we dive even further into that process?
What if we thought in advance about the ways that the content’s lifecycle and the forms it could take in the future?
Imagine you’re working on a piece of content to help educate your reader about the benefits of a new mortgage product. Or a non-profit fundraiser. Or a graduate program you’re about to launch. Thinking about each topic, what platform would get the most return for your efforts in creating it?
For a topic like the mortgage, maybe it would be LinkedIn, where people think about their professional lives and hard-earned money.
For the non-profit, maybe it’s one where a picture would speak volumes, so an image-based piece with supporting words would be useful (hello Instagram).
Thinking about the graduate program, maybe you’re looking for a younger audience and to raise enthusiasm via video, so it goes on TikTok.
Whichever topic, there may be one platform that would have the highest return. Or one where you’re building an audience.
Choose your best bet and then plan your piece around it.
But at the same time, think about how you will tweak that same piece for the next platform and the next, in order again of which will get the most return.
For the mortgage product, it might be a blog post on the company website. And then an Instagram post with some visuals you have on hand.
In the case of the non-profit, maybe it’s Facebook. For the graduate program, maybe repurposing the video to Instagram.
Once you’ve tweaked the original content to each of the top three platforms, do less but still share the content on your other platforms, again depending on effort level.
For example, if you share the mortgage product on LinkedIn to meet the working adult, then Instagram to meet a younger crowd and include a visual, then Facebook, it’s not that much more effort to also post a tweet on X.
Balancing both effort and return can help make repurposing pay off even further.
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