Are you consistent with your content? Or, do you struggle to keep up?
If you’re in a habit of falling off track when it comes to creating and publishing regular, consistent, content don’t be too hard on yourself. It can happen to us all.
In particular, there can be really challenging times in the year, like during the summer months and over the festive and new year periods. At these times so much is going on outside of the business (for you and your team) that your usual content creation regime is pretty much impossible.
When you’re trying to stay consistent with your content but don’t have the time (or energy) to keep creating new content, repurposing is your answer.
I’m going to walk you through three easy ways that you can stay consistent with your content schedule during these tricky times. All via the power of repurposing!
Most of the time, I would advise people to batch their content creation as much as possible. So, if you’re the host of a weekly podcast show, for example, I’d recommend recording a batch of episodes so that you can get ahead.
But I understand that it’s not always possible to batch content so far in advance. And, even when you do manage to stack up a few episodes or blog posts in your content arsenal, you may not be getting the most from each piece of content that you create.
So, if you want to save time with content creation and stay consistent with your content schedule, here’s my top three tips!
1. Bring back your best content
Did you know that Netflix recently tripled the amount they pay to licence Friends to $100 million? This is because people LOVE access to familiar content.
So, never feel bad or lazy for sharing your best content again.
Remember that blog post or video you created that got a lot of views and engagement? You know, the piece of content that made you feel like a celebrity within your industry for a while? Well, it’s time for a comeback!
You probably have a few podcast episodes, blog posts or YouTube videos, etc. that your audience loved when they first saw, heard or read it.
This is the type of content that added a lot of value and stood out when you checked its performance on Google Analytics/podcast analytics/video analytics.
Just because it’s already “out there” in the world, doesn’t mean it’s time in the spotlight has to come to an end.
Key reasons ‘comeback’ content is good idea:
If people got a lot of value from your content when you first published it, showing it to your audience again can help create an entirely new wave of value.
Even if some of your audience have already seen/heard/read it before, showing it again can act as a great reminder. And if anyone in your audience missed it the first time, you can give them a chance to see it.
How do you know what content to bring back?
You can start by looking at your well-received content. The “cool kids” of your back catalogue are likely to make a successful comeback. After all, if they were popular once before, they have a better chance of rising to fame again!
Another great way to choose the best content to bring back is to base it on active trends in your industry. If you’ve created a piece of content on a particular topic that’s really relevant right now, bringing it to the forefront again is a great idea.
I recommend adding something new to it to make it even more relevant, or to provide context that you are sharing content you have shared before.
For example, if you want to repurpose a podcast episode, record a new intro to let people know why you’re re-posting a previous episode.
For instance “This week’s show is actually me sharing my favourite show from last year…I’m sharing it again because…”. You could also remind people where they can find the original episode. And, then share some other content that they could consume on the topic.
2. Make a compilation of your best content
Building on my first tip, my next suggestion to help you stay consistent with your content is to repurpose the ‘best of’ your content into an epic compilation.
This is when you go through your archives and pick out a few pieces that you want to combine into a compilation. For example, if you have a podcast, you could choose a running theme or topic and pull out tips or points from previous episodes to combine into a full-length episode.
We’ve all seen this before with our favourite TV shows. Like those episodes of Friends where they start off reminiscing about Thanksgiving and then the whole show is just flash-backs of previous Thanksgiving episodes. The producer decided not to make a new episode (apart from the start and end) and to put together old footage to create a new show instead. That!
Creating a “best of” compilation is a great way to repurpose your content and gives your audience all that knowledge in one episode. It saves them having to go back and listen to multiple episodes to gain the same insights.
Another way you could approach your compilation episode is to share all of the amazing advice from your guests over the past year or so on a particular topic.
Again, you might want to top it off with a new intro recording to let people know what you’re doing and what they can expect from the episode.
You could even create a compilation video each month, acting as a monthly round-up episode to share with your audience. One of the best ways to do this is by keeping the compilation episode specific to a certain topic. Choose a topic that provides real value and helps people solve a specific problem or issue.
If you have a team, they can help you create the compilation episode so that you’re not spending too much time on it.
Are you dependent on having guests on your podcast (or video series)? Then as opposed to solo shows, you can create a fun guest highlight reel for an episode. This is a great way to take yourself away from being dependent on guest schedules, which is good news if you’re super busy!
3. Don’t forget to repurpose your repurposed content!
If you’ve based new content such as podcast episodes or video shows on previous content (following my tips in 1. and 2. above), don’t forget that if you repurposed your original content, all of those assets can be used again right now!
From your original content you may already have engaging graphics to share on social media. Or a few short video clips or audiograms to act as promotional teasers. Re-use these.
You don’t have to put a lot of work into these additional pieces either. If you previously wrote a blog post about a podcast episode that you are putting out again, you can simply take what you wrote and change it around a bit. Then you can re-publish it as a new post with a new angle on the topic.
Repurposing/re-using content that you’ve already repurposed is a great way to fuel your promotion and marketing campaign. And it can help you to reach a much broader audience.
Bonus tip!
Since I’m feeling generous, here’s another tip to help get you through those busy periods where creating new content all the time just isn’t a realistic option.
This one involves getting yourself a stand-in. Now, I’m not talking about hiring a doppelgänger to help you avoid the paparazzi. I’m talking about having somebody on your team helping you out with content production.
For instance, they could write the post or even host the podcast episode or video on your behalf. It’s a great way to help free up your time when you’re busy and it also helps to showcase who is in your team. That way, your audience gets to know your team better and the team member has the chance to develop their skills too!
Or, ask someone you know, for example, if you have a friend who also hosts a podcast/video show you could you ask them to stand in for you one week, and you’ll do the same for them. This provides variety to your audience…if managed well (and you’re going to have to trust your temporary host!)
I think it’s a good idea to record an intro to let viewers/listeners know who’s going to be hosting the show that week and why.
Conclusion
If you are worried about losing your consistency when it comes to your content then don’t give up.
Repurposing has your back!
Think creatively and think whether there are ways that you can put out new content and keep up with your schedule. Remember leveraging repurposing can really save you time.
Thanks for reading!
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Originally published at https://www.content10x.com.
