Content Marketing Made Simple: How To Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle Your Content

You’ve put in the sweat equity to create content for your book, get it written, and go through the publishing process. You’ve probably got a website, social media accounts, and potentially a business attached to this venture. Or maybe, you’re getting a jumpstart on building your brand while still writing your book.

 Either way, you know it’s up to you to spread the word about who you are, and what your book is about. Where do you start? This is where you’ll get a different answer from anyone you ask. Whether your book is traditionally published, self-published, or an ebook for your clients … a content marketing strategy is a necessary part of your business plan. 

What is content marketing anyway? It is attracting, informing, and building an audience by creating high-value content while promoting your brand.

 Even the definition is a mouthful. If you’ve done any sort of research on marketing and promotion, then you’ve heard some variation on this messaging. It can be frustrating to figure out how to build your brand, while still salvaging the majority of your time to build your business.

Have you ever been told that you should: 

• Be on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and/or Pinterest?
• Start a YouTube Channel?
• Record live video for Facebook or Instagram Stories? 
• Start a podcast? 
• Commit to a weekly or bi-weekly blog post? 
• Send out a regular email newsletter? 

This list can become overwhelming. This is why it’s so important to develop an overall content strategy that works for your objectives. Begin this process by answering the following questions: 

1. What is the unique value, service, or message I offer my audience?
2. Who is my customer? What problems can I help them solve? Where do they like to hang out online?
3. What type of content platform am I most comfortable using? Is it videos, podcasts, or written communication?
4. What would I like to accomplish with my content marketing strategy? Speaking engagements? New Customers? Recognized authority? Brand awareness? Email list-building?
5. What kind of time or schedule can I commit to with my content marketing? Consistency is key, so be realistic with this answer. 

Now, here comes the fun part …

How To Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle Your Content

The key to an effective and manageable content marketing plan lies within these three words: Reuse, Repurpose and Recycle (the 3R’s). Any other method, and you will need a team in place, or an affinity for content creation 24/7.

Let’s jump right in, and see one example of how a single idea can generate 10 pieces of content. This is your 3R’s in action.

1.Record A Video

Go onto your Facebook group or business page and record a 10-15 minute live video. Plan out your talking points in advance, so you can deliver high-value content.

2. Share Your Video 

Don’t keep your video a secret. Share it with every relevant page and group you have on Facebook. 

3. Get It Transcribed

Not everyone will see your video, so get it transcribed to be used in a blog post. 

4. Create An Infographic

People love visual information. Create a graphic to be used on Pinterest. Have the description link back to your blog post. This is a great tool to drive traffic to your website. 

5. Get It Edited

Send your video off to an editing service to clean it up, and add captions, so you can post a professional-looking video to YouTube. Ask for some one-minute clips of the main points in your video to be used in other places. This service is inexpensive to get done and really makes your video look polished. 

6. Post Your 1-Minute Clips

Remember those short clips you had created? Post them on Instagram or stitch them together for Insta-Stories. Use them on Facebook or your website. 

7. Get Quoted

Pull out your favorite sentences and main points from your transcripts and create quote graphics. You can post these on all of your social media accounts.

8. Share It With Your Network

Use the “write an article” feature in LinkedIn to copy and paste your blog post. 

9. Utilize The Audio

Have the audio separated from your video, and turn your audio into a podcast. People can listen to your amazing content while they’re on the go.

10. Schedule It!

Load all of these various pieces of content into a social media scheduling tool to be used again at a later date.

 Ta-da … One piece of content repurposed and reused many different ways. The secret sauce of this plan is when you add recycling to the mix. This happens within your scheduling software.

 For example: go through the process outlined above 8 to 10 times for your most important content. This is your evergreen content — the content that stays relevant long past the day you first post it. This should be your best stuff. Now you have over 2 months of content that you can schedule to run. Place it in your scheduling tool and put it on repeat. Each piece of content should run several times a year.

You will still want to add new content to your website and social media accounts, but not to the extent of your evergreen posts. Over time, you will accumulate a large library of content you can use to create brand awareness. 

A more condensed scenario for you make look like this: 

• Record a video.
• Transcribe it into a blog post for your website and LinkedIn. 
• Have the video edited into multiple 1-minute clips for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
• Put all of this micro-content into your scheduling software.

Same concept … different plan. Create the process that works best for you and your audience.

Here are some tools and services you can use to simplify and offload some of these tasks 

• Content 10x: They will do the repurposing for you.
• Fiverr: Hire some help to create content.
• SmarterQueue: Schedule your content.
• Canva: Create beautiful images.
• UnSplash: Amazing free images.
• Trint: Super-affordable transcription service.
• Storeo: App to create stitch stories together for Instagram.

Remember, writing a book or starting a business is only the first step in raising brand awareness … letting the world know the value you offer is the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th step.

I know it seems like a lot to learn, but once you establish a process for marketing your content it will get much easier. You’ll be ahead of the pack and the awareness of your brand will accelerate.