A Mini Self-Case Study
I’m all about integration and, as a small business owner, making the most of assets that dip into my not-so-bottomless well of time, energy or money. I thought I’d share a little bit of my thinking processes when it comes to repurposing content, in hopes of inspiring you to do the same.
The impact can be considerable.
With my book launch coming up WAY too fast and not enough time in the day to put marketing plans in place the way I’d like to, I’ve decided to revisit how I repurpose content.
I don’t do it enough, and I know it’s far less time consuming to adapt what I already have than it is to create new. Time is essential, and every effort needs to count.
It’s easier, too! Less brain power required. LOL
Like seeds blown from a dandelion, repurposed content grows reach and brings fresh life to your ideas while extending the impact of content you’ve already paid to create. Dollars, time…. there’s always a cost, even if it isn’t directly connected to your wallet.
Here’s are some specific tactics that I’m currently working on to improve in this area.
- I already embed the full transcript of each chat on my website as a stand-alone page, nested under sections for each year. (Can you believe #PRprochat is three years old?) The embed code is pulled from the Storify story created immediately after each chat, to create a historical archive of valuable content and ideas each chat generates. I’m thinking of ways to continue to repurpose the chat, so…
- I’m using each transcript of a past Twitter chat to create a “Best Tweets of” upload to SlideShare, showcasing questions from each chat, and the best 5-6 tweets responding to each question. Hopefully, it will be a great way to grow visibility of the chat while providing a fast read on the topic of that particular chat. It’s also great for SEO, thanks to the transcript Slideshare automatically creates for an upload.
- Once uploaded to SlideShare, the new “best of” deck will be embedded into a blog post, emailed to my subscribers and shared on social media. I do this to promote each new piece of content.
- Each chat that includes a special guest will be notified of the new SlideShare, and invited to embed/share with their audience. Who doesn’t love social signals and sharing?
- Each “best of” summary will also be condensed into an infographic for Pinterest, linking back to the original transcript. Hello again, SEO!
- My favorite “best of” tweets will also be turned into individual images for Twitter and LinkedIn, building visibility for the chat “brand” and linking to the full chat transcript. Eventual goal: selling sponsorship as a new revenue stream.
For all of these pieces of content or micro-content, the goal will be to leverage what I already have to create something new and useful. For the SlideShare, I might even add a snippet of copy on each slide that elaborates on the idea showcased in the tweet, but the goal will be to keep each slide to a single snack-sized idea. It’s easier to digest, and takes advantage of SlideShare’s new ability to clip and share a single slide.
Next, I’m picking through older blog posts and tweets to collect short quotes or tips to use in individual images for social media. These can also be embedded in new blog posts to elaborate on the quote, or collected into mini e-books or infographics. I already do a small number of quote images using my own tweets and other relevant quotes that I like, but not would like to boost the frequency.
Twitter allows you to request an export file of all past tweets you’ve sent, so I’ve done that and imported it into an Excel spreadsheet for faster review.
How can you do this? Just log in to Twitter, go to your profile and click “Your Twitter Data” on the left navigation. When on that page, scroll down to the bottom under “Other Data” and click “Twitter Archive.”
Separately from my chat-related efforts, I’m creating a thirty-day campaign of Above The Noise images, using short quotes pulled from Chapter One of my book.
- Starting the day of launch, January 27th, one quote will be posted on LinkedIn each day to build book visibility and interest. These will also be collected into an eBook in February, emailed out to my subscribers.
- Each quote will be re-used in a blog post that expands on the idea in the quote, and linked back to my Amazon page for the book or my website.
- To keep the book promotion from being too heavy, these posts will be included in a mix of topics NOT related to the book. They will also be used as images in guest blog posts. Each guest post opportunity has been carefully selected to fit my target audience for the book and fitting into my overall PR strategy for the launch.
All of these new projects focus on repurposing to grow reach of my message in a way that fits my strategy, resources and available assets. My goal, as always, is to create content that integrates all aspects of digital PR: traditional PR, content marketing, social media and SEO.
Integration is the secret to rising above the noise.
Let me know what you think, or what tactics you personally use to repurpose by leaving a comment where I share this post on Facebook or LinkedIn. It’s incredibly helpful to hear other people’s perspective!
How can you repurpose and integrate YOUR own efforts? Maybe these great infographics will inspire you.
Cook Once, Eat All Week: How To Repurpose, Repackage And Redistribute Your Content [INFOGRAPHIC]
So go repurpose already!
It’s important.
(Originally published Jan. 12, 2016; last updated Sept. 20, 2019)