Head of content & integrated marketing, Microsoft | B2B content marketer of the year finalist, Content Marketing Institute
Repurposed content can feel like a meal made out of leftovers. ❌ Try this instead. I see a lot of discourse on repurposing content as a way to do more with less. But in my experience (10+ years at Salesforce, plus agency- and publisher-side roles), I’ve seen that content resonates most when it’s *purpose-built* for your target message, channels, and audience. 🩵 Purpose-built. Purposeful. Not just repurposed. 🍽️ Watch the video where I explain more of my POV. Here’s what I suggest instead: Refine your goals. If your goal from repurposed content is… 👥 Making your brand appear on every channel. 📤 Publishing more often. 🛠️ Creating a big number of pieces of content from one piece. Then I invite you to reframe your content goal around this: 🍝 How can you create a few pieces of highly impactful content that each feel like delicious entrees, instead of more leftovers? THAT is what your audience will organically gravitate towards. In the hands of a talented content strategist, upcycled content can still be purpose-built. 🚨 But if the original piece of content was mediocre, any excerpts or clips will be, too. And every time your audience sees another mediocre piece of content from you, they tune out your brand a little bit more. I don’t like to see content marketers exhausted, trying to create more things for more channels. That struggle seems to be fueling a lot of the repurposing talk in modern content motions. Tell me if you agree or disagree, and take a moment to watch the video where I explain further! What repurposed content does or doesn’t work in your marketing strategy?
Divisha Gupta
7mo
This, girl ⬆️. In the pursuit of relentless repurposing and reserving, it’s easy to forget that content - just like a meal - can start to feel stale, boring, tasteless, and at worst, might cause salmonella (or whatever the marketing version of “adverse reaction to bad content” is 😃) I ❤️ the idea of reimagining this and turning main courses into delicious entrees. Who in your view does this well today?
Ashley Faus
7mo
"Purpose-built. Purposeful. Not just repurposed." LOVE this 👏👏👏 I've been reframing this as "modular content" (vs. "snackable", which kiiiiindaaa makes me rant-y 😅). Modular content recognizes that the substance of the content should be matched with the format and the channels. And not all formats work for all channels. You can mix 'n' match 'em, it's not just about making shorter assets from longer assets. A couple examples: Panels from a conference don't really work for shorter video snippets to share on social media. The answers are usually too meandering and/or require too much context from the rest of the conversation to create good soundbites for social media. BUT they're great for a write-up of key take-aways, trends, and insights! The Q&A from live sessions often goes into the ether, but those actually make great little snippets precisely because it's a single topic with a succinct response. You can turn those into carousels, Community posts of "top 10 questions about [topic]", and individual video clips for social media. So many options to make modular content that's got the right substance, right format, AND right channel 🙌
Emma Wolno
7mo
I think when a lot of people think “repurposing” they simply think cutting up podcast clips or something (where you can tell it’s obviously repurposed). But repurposing is so much more than that. Done right, you probably won’t even have any idea that the content is repurposed. Stories, themes and valuable tips can transfer across different channels. It just requires a bit of tweaking so that it feels native for each platform.
Edward Wood
7mo
I completely agree with you in principle, but have plenty of experiences in which repurposing content at startups has enabled us to test, validate and then scale channels efficiently. Once it begins to scale (with everything that connotes; a channel owner, more resources, a strategy, feedback from the audience, some internal visibility, some goals... ) then more platform-specific content can be produced. Definitely not the only way, but that's how we first scaled Socials at Babbel and CareerFoundry.
Erica Schneider
7mo
I like the word regenerating. Repurpose is wrong in nature. I’m not taking one thing and cutting it up for other channels. I’m taking one idea and regenerating it wherever I need to, over and over again, to build authority and generate demand.
Emily Amos
7mo
Great post. To me, content repurposing feels like an afterthought. Instead, I like to think of it as atomizing content - strategically planning what the core content will be as well as all the other supporting assets that come from it so that they are "purpose-built" as you say.
Eric Bensley
7mo
But what if it’s Pizza 🍕?!
Amanda Z.
7mo
YES! This is why you need to create content that serves as ingredients and then cut (pun slightly intended) and edit them into content that works for the channels you have in mind. You can rarely make a leftover meal into something new, but you absolutely can turn the same 5 ingredients into multiple, very different dishes.
Michele Linn
7mo
Excellent post and comments! Like many others, I feel like term repurposing content falls flat because it can mean too many things. Here's a framework I've been toying with called the 5 Rs of Repurposing Research. Of course it starts with creating something worth repurposing -- and then it explores how to go beyond reuse. (Reflect if my favorite R for LinkedIn.) https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michelelinn_contentmarketing-thoughtleadership-repurposing-activity-7137437339894616065-HdTl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop BTW, I love your idea of being purpose-built. I've used the lens of meaningful, but this feels even more useful.
Content leader & consultant → exploring AI, trust/authority, content ops, and content mileage
7moI like Erica’s spin, but in general I think this analogy is off. Because the actual dilemma content leaders are facing and responding to looks more like “finish the leftovers from the meal you paid for last night, or go out and buy a new meal, instead.” And just like the marketers, most people will eat the leftovers in their fridge if given that choice. I still think we can build on that, though. Because you’re right that repurposed content shouldn’t TASTE like bland leftovers. So instead of throwing that brisket from last night in the microwave and serving it up… heat it on the range, chop it up over salad, whip up a quick red wine vinegrette to tie it all together. But in content terms. Or at least throw a fried egg on it for breakfast 👨🏻🍳 always a classic and closer to what a lot of content leaders can actually manage. Still makes a difference!