How to repurpose content

Repurposing content for different audiences and platforms is a cost-effective way to help your message go further and reach more people.

However, repurposing content takes more than just republishing the same copy across platforms. To do it effectively, you need to intelligently adapt content instead of just reusing it exactly as it was. Here are some points to consider when repurposing content.

The fundamentals of repurposing content

What does ‘repurposing content’ mean? Simply put, it means taking something that already exists, adapting it and putting it to a new use where it can achieve more than it did originally.

It offers an excellent opportunity to maximise impact. Just posting the same information again in the same channel at the right moment can be effective, but you’re still talking to the same audience in the same way. Full repurposing involves a change in format, channel or both, and this can open up new opportunities with new audiences that the original could not.

Here is an example: an article on your website is written in long-form copy and contains statistics, facts and research, presented as a long read. This copy could be edited to provide the basis for an Instagram story and a series of LinkedIn posts. This way, the same statistics, quotes and so on can reach new audiences and be shared more easily with people who may not have otherwise found them. Perhaps it could even be adapted as the basis for a podcast and reach another audience entirely? Think of your base article as just the beginning and consider how best to use elements of it across multiple platforms.

Why you should repurpose content

There are efficiency benefits to repurposing content in terms of money, time and effort. You have a strong foundation of research and thought that’s already been done, relationships that have already been built, assets already acquired and technical steps like image editing already taken care of. For a little extra work, you can get even more return on the same investment, and you can avoid having to start from scratch.

Furthermore, repurposing content also responds to differing audience format needs by meeting demand with supply. Some may prefer video or the spoken word, some may find short-form more convenient than long-form, some may favour Instagram as a platform over X and so on, while some may need specific platforms as we explain in our accessibility requirements article. Considering this, repurposing content helps you meet those needs with what you already have.

However, some judgement is needed; just because a given subject does well in LinkedIn’s professional atmosphere doesn’t automatically mean it will be just as well received in TikTok’s more light-hearted arena. Use a combination of intelligence, creativity and flexibility to ensure you adapt content effectively – and you can even turn to AI for help, as Elna Cain explains in her Wordtune article. You can also A/B test your content on each platform, measuring success through likes, clicks or shares, for instance, and then adapt your approach based on these learnings.

In short, repurposing content isn’t about retreading old ground. It’s about being smart and taking your content somewhere completely new.

Repurposing content: which format to choose?

There are almost limitless opportunities to repurpose content into different formats (check out HubSpot’s 12 favourites for inspiration). For example, taking an existing B2C article and converting it to B2B marketing material may be a worthwhile option and the exact reverse may be viable too. Similarly, a formal white paper may provide the foundation of a series of more relaxed articles, marketing material and blog entries. In all these cases, the activity can be very helpful for SEO.

And that’s just text-based options. Thanks to its inherent flexibility, social media offers a wide range of ways to repurpose content, and a little creativity and imagination can go a long way. Articles, blogs and white papers can be edited down and used as the basis for much shorter posts or threads, while photography, artwork and infographics can all catch the attention of those scrolling past on Instagram, X and Facebook.

Naturally, YouTube is the obvious home for long-form video solutions, while repurposing content for TikTok can be surprisingly straightforward. Editing down long-form video content; turning information, infographics and diagrams into animations; or a short piece to camera by a writer, interview subject or contributor are all viable options for catching attention and facilitating sharing.

User-generated content in particular lends itself well to repurposing. It often takes the form of the most readily created material (photos, videos, etc.) and automatically has a powerful impact in brand communities – which Dialogue explored in our Power of Brand Communities Report. By collating and curating the best (with permission from the original creators, of course), not only can gathering UGC be a great way to engage the community, but it also provides you with content to repurpose (in the form of photo galleries, for example).

Repurposing content – step-by-step

Begin by identifying content repurposing opportunities. It makes sense to repurpose your best performing content as it has proven to be interesting. To find out which content performs best use tools such as Google Analytics to discover average engagement time.

Focus on content that is evergreen (although seasonal content can undoubtedly be repurposed when the season rolls around again).

Next, choose the right format and platform. Again, data analysis will help you to determine which platform works best for you. Performance metrics will show you how people are engaging with your content across different social channels, or which emails have the best open rates. Look at the content that gets the most views – for instance, do videos or short articles work the best for you? Make more of what is doing well.

You should also optimise your content for each platform – for instance, use SEO techniques such as using relevant keywords to make sure a repurposed webinar works hard as a blog on your website.

When repurposing content for social media, use hashtags to increase visibility and change your language to talk to the audience – you can maintain your brand identity and still talk uniquely to different audiences.

Of course, this all takes time, so consider engaging a content agency that understands how to repurpose the content for each channel and its requirements to get maximum impact. Drawing on the specialist knowledge of an agency that knows each platform’s nuances will ultimately be worth the investment.

Repurposing content in practice

Let’s look at a practical example of repurposing content using material we create for the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.). Each year, Dialogue produces membership guides in print for riders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which seek to inspire the community with riding recommendations from across the region, as well as provide useful details on the various benefits, opportunities and testimonies encouraging readers to get the most out of their membership.

As a special, one-off publication, the rides previously run across several editions of the guides were collated and repurposed in a brand-new digital publication: Recommended Rides. While running the same route information, this project created a one-stop shop for travel inspiration, bringing rides that new members might have missed to their attention and providing a new, online, easily accessible and navigable outlet. Interactive maps at the beginning help readers to navigate by country and give wider context to the locations.

All it takes is a re-jig of the page designs, an image refresh and a whole new product is ready. The amount of time and effort required to repurpose the content once the initial feature has been created is minimal, so the return on investment is fantastic.

Why repurposing content matters

Repurposing content is about taking a fresh look at what you’ve already got and expanding on it so you can reach a whole new audience.

Ideally, you should build the option for repurposing content into your work in advance rather than try to retrofit later, so plan with multiple purposes in mind from the beginning – it will make things faster, easier and more coherent. However, it can still be done after the fact and it can help evergreen content go much, much further than it ever did before.

If you would like more advice on how your content can work harder for you, contact Dialogue today.

Resources

You can even turn to AI for help, as Elna Cain explains – Wordtune

There are almost limitless opportunities to repurpose content (check out HubSpot’s 12 favourites for inspiration) – HubSpot