So, you have a blog. And social media. And an email newsletter. They all demonstrate your expertise, authority and trustworthiness to your audience (and to the Googles). They are part of your overall marketing strategy, and they’re helping you turn tire-kickers into cash-spenders.
And creating all that content is killing you.
Sound familiar?
You’re not alone. Many small businesses are on the same content-creation treadmill; feeding the social media beast alone can seem like a Herculean task. It regularly pulls you and your team away from supporting your existing customers, back-office administration, and the million other things that you’d rather be filling your day with.
What if there was a better way?
There is!
The biggest mistake most small businesses make when they go all-in on a content marketing strategy is constantly developing new material.
But… don’t you need new stuff all the time?
Not really.
Rather than developing 100 unique pieces of content, wouldn’t it make more sense to create 25 pieces that you can reuse and repurpose?
Let’s start with social media. Yes, it may seem like we’re on social all the time, but… we’re not actually consuming content 24/7 365. Your audience sleeps, works, goes to school, binges Netflix, whatever, and during those moments, they are missing whatever you’re posting. Most are not going back through your feed regularly to see what they’ve missed.
And if they do… what’s the risk of them seeing slight duplication in content?
There is none (unless your business is selling in-the-moment services and information: you can’t recycle last week’s weather, news or stock prices!), so you can safely reuse each piece of content a few times without your social followers abandoning you!
Okay, let’s say you’ve got an awesome video tour of your business. There are a lot of ways you can use it to support content:
Thus, the same video can be used (or slightly repurposed – sliced down, turned into a gif, used as a teaser) multiple times. Check out additional approaches to social content here.
It can also appear on your website (helping your site stay fresh), as part of a blog on the way your team works, in your next newsletter or sales email, or any other way you can think of!
That’s a LOT of uses for one 45-90 second video! And it can show up on social now AND again in 3-6 months. Even if a small fraction of your audience remembers seeing it multiple times, they aren’t going to abandon you!
Let’s say you sell an amazing eye-candy product. You arrange for professional photography to really make it look sexy. Now what?
Now, you maximize the mileage you get from that photography:
The point is, that every single piece of long-form content you write, photo you take, and video you shoot can be reused in many different ways. It’s a heck of a lot easier (and faster!) to reuse something that already exists than it is to continually create something new.
This repurposing approach doesn’t stop you from occasionally using one-time, in-the-moment content. Take a picture of the team stuffing their faces on doughnut day without fear! Grab video of the team volunteering together. Write emergency content that will never be reused. Those things are valuable and useful and add a lot of value as storytelling content.
But don’t be afraid to lean a little more heavily on existing content, finding ways to bring it back to life, and reintroducing your audience to it over time.
You’ll make your content marketing life a lot easier, and your audience won’t hold it against you!
Bonus: your new followers won’t know that it’s recycled – they’re seeing it for the first time, and learning all the reasons why you’re a great business!
We can help you craft that amazing, reusable content in a variety of formats. Interested in getting that content monkey off your back? Give us a call at 1-888-322-6250.
Struggling to balance Donut Day posts with your client stories, product descriptions, and other sales-focused social content? We’ve got you covered. Download our ultimate guide to making social holidays work for you.
We deliver exceptional marketing results by filling funnels, delivering qualified customers, and promoting brands. We are proud to be bold, modern and competitive.
500 - 4th Avenue SW, Suite 2500
Calgary, Alberta T2P 2V6
Gary has forgotten more about technology than most of us will ever know. He’s worked in dozens of industries in a wide variety of roles and solves difficult problems recreationally. By the time you’ve formulated your question, Gary already has an answer, which would be annoying except he’s so darned nice about it.
When you put Adrian behind a keyboard, magic happens. On stage, that means he’s making music. At work, he’s bringing website designs to life. Adrian is probably the quietest member of the Unrivald Digital team, but when he speaks, we all listen because we know he’s got something important to say.
Shaheen is the guy you want in your corner when you’ve got a complex problem to solve in the next 15 minutes. He’s part MacGyver, part Tony Stark and part while still being the nicest guy in the room, hands down. His soft-spoken, down-to-earth vibe and ability to deliver makes him a client favourite.
Whether leading a meeting, riding his motorcycle, or running in the Banff Jasper Relay (for which he was Race Director for many years), Blair connects with the world around him. He inspires his team to work hard while never forgetting the value of the relationships he builds with clients.
