Everyone is talking about the value of content creation as a marketing tool, but not many companies have the resources (whether it is related to talent or bandwidth) to produce the volume of content that they need to boost online exposure. Some marketers fail to recognize that they probably already have access to loads of marketing content that can be recycled into fresh material or republished in a different format to extend its shelf life.
Re-Format, Re-Use, Re-Purpose
Don’t be afraid to re-utilize some of your previously published marketing content by offering it in a different medium or by adding a fresh perspective. One solid piece of compelling content can be re-formatted and re-purposed into multiple mediums and re-distributed across various audiences. For example, if you produce a thought leadership article on “Re-purposing Content” you could also tweak the copy to create a blog post or add more depth to the topic and turn it into a webinar with a snazzy infographic. That approach to re-purposing one original piece of content just generated four pieces of usable marketing material!
Take Inventory and Make a Calendar
The first thing that I recommend is to take an inventory of existing materials such as webinars, white papers, contributed articles, presentations, etc. Think about how you can re-purpose some of those pieces into other forms of marketing material. Develop a monthly editorial calendar and consider the different ways you can plug various types of content into the marketing mix. Try to have some diversity in terms of the type of content that you produce rather than just publishing articles on every single topic.
Think Outside the Box
Creativity is an essential component to making this approach to content recycling work, and you should consider thinking outside of the box. For example, a webinar could be transcribed and republished as an article and a presentation could be parceled out and published in a series of blogs. If you have a collection of articles on a core topic, you can combine them into an e-book. Leverage existing PowerPoint presentation slides, add a voiceover, and voila, you have a video. Turn articles into podcasts, transform blog posts into newsletter articles, modify a press release into a product presentation, or convert an informative article into an infographic. Be creative with what you already have in hand and prolong the life of the work that you have already produced.
Add Some Curated Content to the Mix
Another way to boost online presence is to take the curated content approach. If you aren’t already familiar with the term, “content curation” is the process of gathering and presenting digital content that is relevant to specific subject matter. Content curation is different from content marketing because when curated, content is not actually produced, but rather collected from other sources and re-published. The curated content approach is a good way to fill some of the holes in your editorial calendar since it allows an opportunity to stay engaged with your audience in a meaningful way.
So, if you have a small marketing budget, consider cancelling that classified ad for a dedicated professional writer and start sifting through some of the material from your archives. Surely you have a treasure trove of information to share that can be spruced up, made over, or re-purposed.
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