How To Repurpose Content For Social Media

As a blogger, you already know you need to create fresh, relevant content.

What you don't know is how to keep up with the overwhelming demand of content creation.

But, what if you were able to extend the life of your current and past content?

Rather than posting an article and moving on, you could turn it into two, three or even four new forms of media.

That's what repurposing your blog content can do.

Cycling back through your content breathes new life into valuable information.

It takes what was old and makes it new again, offering it up to a whole new audience in an updated format.

Not only is it budget friendly, but also saves time while prolonging the shelf life of your online assets.

So, where do you begin?

Below are eleven creative ideas to help you brainstorm, compile and create a successful content repurposing strategy in no time.

How to Repurpose Blog Content

STEP 1: Take Stock

Your first step is to assess your current assets.

What content have you created in the past and how can you update, refresh or repurpose content for another use?

If you've been blogging for any more than a year, you have a stockpile of content at your fingertips. It's important to leverage that content in a whole new way.

STEP 2: Brainstorm Ideas

1. Spotlight an Event on Social Media

Did you recently attend an event or online conference and share takeaways on your blog? Take that conversation and dissect it.

Each highlight and insight from your article will break down into new, separate social media posts.

What would be helpful to your community and what would they find interesting?

Two easy ways to use this:

Give your community a deeper look behind the scenes of your business or industry.
Offer your thoughts on why this event was so important and why the information shared should matter to potential clients.

2. Provide a Video Tip Series

Take a popular blog post and break it down into multiple video tips.

For example, you wrote an article on the "Top 10 Ways to Use Video Marketing in Your Small Business." Take each tip and create short video tips around them.

Post these to YouTube, create a new blog article based on the video, and share to your social networks. Voila! Multiple pieces of content have been created out of one blog post.

The tip below is taken from one of my blog posts and will be used in an ongoing tips series.

3. Create a Podcast

If you have considered podcasting, but don't know what to talk about, grab a few points from your latest article and expand upon each bullet point.

Cull through your past blog articles and determine what topics could benefit from a deeper dive. Use a tool like BuzzSumo to identify your most shared posts.

Type in your domain and up will pop your most shared articles. Here are a few of mine to give you an idea of what that might look like.

4. Make a Pinterest Board with FAQ's

Dependent on your type of business, you probably get asked the same questions over and over. If you're smart, you've written a blog post answering many of them.

But if you haven't, sit down and write the top ten questions you're asked over and over. Now, answer those questions.

Once you've written the blog post it's time to turn one Q & A into a pin for Pinterest. Create a new Pinterest board and start a series dedicated to these tips.

Constant Contact is a company that consistently repurposes content. On their Pinterest board "Marketing Fun Facts," they share facts, stats and tips around their target markets top questions.

5. Utilize Twitter Cards

Have you used Twitter cards to promote your blog content? If you're not familiar with Twitter cards, let me explain.

With Twitter Cards, you can add a Call to Action to your tweets, all in a visually appealing package.

Use them for list sign ups, registrations or to promote your blog post.

Here's how:

Take quotes from your latest article and create a Twitter card with a Call to Action.
There are many versions of Twitter cards — Summary, Photo, Gallery — but in this case, you want to use a Summary Card with Large Image.
The one below is an example created for a previous article.

Want to get started? It's easy! Here's a step-by step via Twitter:

1. Choose a card type you want to implement.

2. Add the pertinent meta tags to your page.

3. Run your URL against the validator tool to be approved.

4. After approval, tweet the URL and see the Card appear below your tweet.

5. Use Twitter Card analytics to measure your results.

6. Design an Infographic

Want to capture the attention of your online audience? Incorporate Infographics!

Donna Moritz is an excellent example of repurposing at work. She writes a post and then turns that post into additional media.

Her Infographics become shared content across all of her social sites and yet another way for her fans, followers and blog subscribers to support her through social shares.

Plus, they're super eye-catching!

7. Tell a Bigger Story

Are you sharing customer stories? If not, you should be. It's a great way to explain how you solve customer problems, while sharing the successes of your clientele.

Highlight your clients (with their permission of course) in a blog post and then create testimonial graphics that can be shared on any of your social networks.

Testimonials are powerful. In fact, in a survey by Dimensional Research, 90 percent of respondents said online reviews had a positive impact on their buying decision.

Just think about how that might benefit your business.

8. Turn Blog Content Into a Slideshare

Take your blog post and turn it into a presentation and then post it on Slideshare. You can also give that content a one-two punch by writing a new blog article and reposting the content along with the embedded Slideshare.

Haiku Deck, which is now integrated into Slideshare, is one of my favorite ways to convert an article into a visually appealing slide deck. Incredibly intuitive, Haiku Deck will save you a significant amount of time and allow you to create stunning, image-rich slideshows that stand out.

Here's an example of how to make this work. This slide deck was repurposed from Peg Fitzpatrick's article, "How to Connect with Your Customers on Social Media."

Peg broke down each step into a PowerPoint and then uploaded and shared to Slideshare, putting her content in front of a whole new group of people.

9. Schedule a Webinar

Whether it is you on screen or a screencast of your latest PowerPoint, connecting with your audience through video is crucial.

Take your blog post and break it down into a free, educational webinar.

A free program to create and share your content is Screenr. Just click "record now" and within seconds you are recording anything you can see on your screen.

Another easy way to create a webinar is Google Hangouts. Create an event and broadcast your Hangout live with Hangouts on Air. Want to see how it's done?

Jeff Sieh and his "Manly Pinterest Tips" show proves that you can successfully integrate Hangouts and video into an overall marketing strategy.

10. Make a Roundup Post

This idea is easy to implement and takes very little time to put together.

Here is how it's done:

Create a new blog post that highlights previous articles that readers might have missed
Go back through your most recent articles and write short snippets around each post
Link to a select group of your top posts and watch them take on a whole new life

11. Online Course

Once you have been writing for a while it's easy to see the massive amount of content you've amassed. Take that content, consolidate it, and then share your knowledge in an online course.

As Coschedule says,

Online learning is a growing trend, and there are lot of sites popping up that will help you find a new home for the content you've worked so hard to create. Use a tool like Skillshare, an online learning community where the world's best experts teach real-world skills. Anyone can apply to become a teacher on Skillshare. All Skillshare classes have a minimum of 45 minutes of video content, broken into 4-9 minute videos.

STEP 3: Get Started

Now it's your turn!

No matter which option you choose, pick one and move forward within the next week.

Plan to add that new repurposed content to your blog or social networks and then track its success.

The important part to anything new is to just get out there and do it.

Tell me: What's your favorite way to repurpose blog content? The amount of unique ways you can refresh content is only limited to your imagination.

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Full disclosure: Links on this page may be affiliate links which means that if you decide to buy, I will earn a commission. 3 things you need to know: I only recommend products I use within my own business, am extremely happy with, and can confidently promote.