Pap, my husband’s father, loved to hike near his home located close to Lake Michigan. Years ago, he discovered discarded small butter dishes in a wooded area near his home.
While going through old boxes, my husband recently found those dishes. He figured out a new purpose for them. We needed to give medicine to just one cat, and these small plates allowed us to control portions.
In the business world, repurposing content also results in benefits for busy marketing departments. Don’t start from scratch.
You’ve got treasures of all sorts buried in your files. Take some time to review what’s there. You may discover an excellent base for your next blog post or thought piece.
Update it, add a twist and PRESTO — you have a new article that’s ready to post.
Where do you find this content? Check out these sources.
1. Revisit Award Submittals
Review your past industry award submittals. Typically, firms go all out when they seek an award to gain recognition. They assemble quality photos and create a well-written narrative, which typically includes an executive summary highlighting key project benefits.
What’s happened since that project was completed? Are there new metrics to add? For example, do you have current data concerning energy savings or wastewater treatment? How has the pandemic affected the project?
2. Optimize Web Copy
When’s the last time you updated your web copy? You may benefit from a copy refresh. Google likes new content written with good search engine optimization to help it get found in the marketplace.
How’s the public searching for your product or service? Conduct research to find out. Then use relevant keywords and related phrases to edit your existing copy. Your updates may encourage more visits to your website.
As part of this process, review your previous blog posts. Can you give them new life by updating them? Rewrite the headline and edit some content. You may need to update your wording, add a quote or more relevant comparisons. But you’ll probably spend a lot less time than starting from scratch.
3. Maximize Case Study Elements
Client-centered case studies offer a treasure trove of content that you can use in multiple ways. These success stories, developed by a company, focus on their happy clients. Client representatives share how a company helped them solve their problems.
Once a firm has a completed case study, marketing staff can repurpose the content. Quotes can become testimonials in proposals or client presentations. Use photos or graphics in the same way.
Turn the narrative into a Q & A blog post or video script. Use critical metrics in social media posts. Highlight a significant fact and add it to your email signature.
Consider opportunities for using each element of the case study or the entire document to promote a strategic service or product.
4. Engage Your Stakeholders with Before & After Photos
Who can resist good before & after photos? It’s a bit of a game to see what has changed, whether it’s a public facility or staff at work.
The challenge may be finding decent historic photos. You never know what you’ll discover in old files. You may use these photos for internal purposes or turn them into compelling
social media posts.
Perhaps you’ll find photos of staff at work using outdated equipment. Compare that shot with your personnel working at home. Or your search may reveal the grand opening of a school or City Hall from years ago. What does that facility look like now?
By posting historical photos, you’re showing a firm’s longevity.
5. Highlight Today’s Corporate Giving
Many firms believe in giving back to their communities. The pandemic changed how we participate in many activities, although we’re slowly returning to more in-person events.
How are you supporting nonprofits or community organizations? Perhaps you’re continuing to volunteer at food banks or cleaning up parks, but just in a different way. Show the evolution of your corporate responsibility through photos.
Save Time by Repurposing Content
Explorer enjoys his meal served on a repurposed butter plate.
Are you a busy marketer or business owner who’s trying to generate a constant flow of content? It’s a tough job. Give yourself a bit of time to go on a treasure hunt through your files. You may discover some excellent copy that just needs minor revisions.
It always seems like a victory when you can repurpose items or content. My husband and I never expected to be using butter dishes to feed our cats, but the new system is working. I believe my father-in-law would be pleased that we’ve found a new use for his old dishes.
Have you found success repurposing content?
