How To Repurpose Your Content and Use It ‘Til It Tatters

I’m not a once-and-done outfit girl. When I buy a new piece of clothing, I.wear.it.out. I’m picky about what I buy because I know it’ll be in the rotation until it tatters. I get multiple wears out “that same white button-down” (yep, it’s the one in the picture. I bought it in ’07) by varying how and where I wear it. If you’re a would-be fashionista with limited time and money like me, you probably know this drill well. 


As small business owners, we’ve got some time and money barriers to posting brand new content all.the.time. Right? You need to be able to repurpose your content as well as you repurposed last season’s off-the-shoulder, hot-pink shift dress.



Content doesn’t have to be new to be noticed. Here are a few tips for wearing it out, while you keep it fresh!

Don’t cross post, but do post on multiple platforms.

It’s really tempting to cross post across social media platforms because it saves time and keeps your accounts active, but it’s not the best way to get mileage out of your content. You’re going to have some audience crossover, platforms are noticing and taking action to limit it, and your content may not render the same across platforms. However, a few tweaks to your core message, and you can post multiple places. Change the image and edit your caption to fit each platform. Below is an example of how you could announce you’re running a special across platforms: 

 

  1. Instagram: Twirl into 2020 with your content calendar D.O.N.E. Q4 is the perfect time to plan your content for next year, and I’m going to make it easier (read: cheaper) for you to start today! Head to the blog for savings on multiple content strategy packages!
  2. Facebook: Savings alert! Watch the video to learn how you can save 25 percent on content planning for 2020. 
  3. LinkedIn: Working on a tight budget and tight deadline in Q4? I can help you wrap up your 2020 content planning on time and on budget! Visit the blog for big savings on content strategy services. 
  4. Twitter: Content planning doesn’t have to be hard or expensive! Head to the blog for big savings on Q4 content strategy services. 
Comment in a video.

Videos are an awesome way to connect with your audience and create content quickly. And all you need is your phone and something to say. Choose a topic you’ve already covered, and pick a section to discuss in the video. Add some commentary to your point, and you have new content to share! The best performing videos are 30 – 90 seconds, so you don’t need much new content, maybe a sentence or two. If you cover five concepts in one blog post, that’s five videos from your one post. 

Repackage and reuse.

This post is about repurposing content, and I’ve compared it to re-wearing clothes (because relatable, right?). I could take the same information in this blog post and reframe it. For example, a new intro could be: 

 My first job in marketing was for a small tech company with a marketing budget of less than $250k a year. We were competing against multi-million dollar companies with huge budgets and content teams. As a team of one, I couldn’t possibly compete with their content output. By pure necessity, I learned how to Gumby-style stretch one piece of content. I also learned a very important truth: Repurposed content gains just as much traction as new content. With little creativity, you can use one piece of content all year long…

Switch out the title and images, reword your sub-headers, and you’ve got a new blog post from the same information. Put some space in between it and your original, at least 90 days. 

Get a second opinion.

Ask a colleague or a customer their opinion on a subject you’ve already covered. Post their response on your social media platforms (remember to tailor it to each platform), link it back to the same post. Social content done! You can also do this in email sequences and newsletters. 

 

Make it personal.

For email or DM content, ask your recipient if they’ve read your previously promoted content, and then pick out a section that is relevant to them. Make it personal, such as, “I thought of you as I was writing this” or “You do this so well. I would love to get your thoughts.” You can group your customers and create multiple messages to really customize it. Nothing new to share, just a new way to share it. 

 

Creating quality content is not easy or fast, but restyle it wisely, and you can use it until it tatters. Go look in your files. I bet you’ll have some so-last-season content that you can reuse today!


Pen & Purpose

ChatGPT: Copywriting Comrade or Competition

ChatGPT for Copywriters: Comrade or Competition?

By Emily Lewis • 20 Sep, 2023
Two years ago, I tried the marketing and copywriting AI tool Jasper (at the time branded as Jarvis). I concluded it and similar AI tools weren't worth my time or investment because the output was generic, repetitive and sometimes nonsensical. Then in November 2022, ChatGPT launched and quickly went viral on social media as users shared examples of the impressive ways they were using it. For content creation and copywriting, it was more advanced than any other AI tool I’d seen and free! The AI Copywriting Revolution 🚀 Fast forward to today, AI ( thanks to ChatGPT ) has evolved. It's now the hottest trend in town, with many media outlets predicting AI-tools will revolutionize business practices across every major industry. So, what's behind this meteoric rise in popularity? Let's break it down: Efficiency & Speed: AI tools like GPT-4 have turbocharged the writing process. A first draft that once took a writer 1-2 hours can now be done in minutes. Consistency: AI tools maintain a consistent tone and style regardless of who is inputting the information. Scalability: Not only do AI-tools enable you to create content in a fraction of the time you could do it manually, they allow you to outsource creating it to anyone that can input information. At least in theory. Top AI Tools for Business & Marketing 🛠️ While I don’t believe copywriting AI tools are a good replacement for a human writer of any skill level, they have drastically improved since 2021, and today’s AI tools are absolutely worth investing in. When coupled with a human, these are my favorite AI writing tools: GPT-4: I used it to generate this post. While I did a lot of editing, it gave me a first draft, which likely would’ve taken me close to an hour to write without assistance. Feed it a prompt, and it'll churn out a draft in minutes. The better and more detailed your input, the better output it delivers. And you can give your tool feedback to keep editing the draft. Grammarly: The free version spots grammatical errors and helps you enhance readability. Grammarly Premium does everything the free version does, plus checks for plagiarism, offers recommendations based on over 400+ writing styles, and has an AI writing assistant (although not as sophisticated as GPT-4). SurferSEO: Using AI to analyze top-performing content in your industry, SurferSEO helps you craft SEO-optimized copy based on keyword searches and queries. There are hundreds of AI tools available and dozens specifically for copywriting. Pick a few that work for you. Trying to use too many tools can easily derail your efficiency and productivity. AI needs you to function, not the other way around. Maximizing the AI Advantage 🚀 Now that you have your favorite AI tools in hand, how do you squeeze every last drop of potential from them? Here's the playbook: Customize, Don't Compromise: Don’t expect perfection. AI is not a mind-reader. It’s an interpreter of the knowledge and experiences you give it. It also pulls from other sources around the web to complete your request. The content you publish becomes your digital portfolio, so don't let AI tools diminish the quality of it. Quality Control: Always have a human check the output and edit as needed. I've never published an AI-generated piece that didn’t require edits. Feedback Loop: Get feedback from your marketing tools, audience, customers, or team on AI-generated content. If they report a decrease in quality, relevance or effectiveness, try changing your input or editing processes. What AI Can't Replace 🧠 AI can’t replace you. Because while it can put words on paper for you, it lacks: Creativity: The AI may paint by numbers, but the canvas is still your domain. Innovative ideas, storytelling, wisdom, and expertise gained from experience are firmly in your human court. Empathy: AI doesn't have a heart. It can't truly understand your audience's emotions and respond with the compassion and empathy that only a human can provide. Strategy: Crafting a content strategy that aligns with your business goals requires human finesse. AI can execute, but the roadmap is your creation. There's no question that AI has drastically impacted the marketing and copywriting industries. But like any other technology, it doesn’t function on its own. AI can’t replace a skilled human writer, but it can improve their productivity and efficiency in unprecedented ways. The new era of copywriting and content marketing is not driven by AI, it’s driven by humans leveraging the power of AI.

D-I-Y SEO Tips For Small Business Owners

By emily • 08 Sep, 2021
What's new with SEO and how can you DIY your way to better page rankings as a small business owner?

10 Traits of the Unicorn Email Newsletter

By emily • 28 Jun, 2021
  Raise your hand if you want another email newsletter! Nope? Me neither.  We'd sooner expect to see a unicorn in our inboxes than an email newsletter we actually want to read.  But unlike unicorns, they do exist! I've managed to collect a few over time. Here’s what makes them so good (and rare).  1. [...] The post 10 Traits of the Unicorn Email Newsletter appeared first on Pen & Purpose.
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