How to Repurpose Content

Welcome back to the 2nd edition of PROse! Sorry for getting this out a day late - I’m currently packing and moving out of my apartment and it’s taking up more of my time than I wish.

That said, an important newsletter update: starting next week, PROse will ship Thursday at 8am CT going forward.

It’ll be the perfect companion to your morning coffee (or if you’re like me, your first of 2 morning coffees 🫠)

Anyway, let’s get into this week’s edition.

There’s a lot of talk on Marketing Twitter and LinkedIn about repurposing content. Every local content marketing influencer is advocating for more repurposing and less content creation. I agree with them, to some extent. The issue is many brands don’t do it well.

I’ve found that most “repurpose everything” evangelists fall into one of two camps:

Camp 1 - Makes mostly cosmetic tweaks to existing content and publish on every active platform

Camp 2 - Simply promotes existing content with a short description, doesn’t matter if it’s a video, infographic, or article

Camp 1 is doing something closer to repurposing content while Camp 2 is just promoting content. I guess you could say that’s better than nothing, but the result is likely still the same (i.e. nothing happens).

The misstep by both camps is not understanding consumer interest and attention. People don’t mind repurposed content but they want it in exciting new ways. We’re all consuming so much content that we get easily fatigued and bored when we see the same thing over and over again, even if it’s in slightly new skin.

The better way is not just creating a new skin for our content, but creating something net new altogether from an existing base. Think about next gen iPhone releases or car model reboots. Same concept, maybe even same parts but reimagined in a different way.

I don’t think anyone is better at this than Gary Vaynerchuk. I know he’s a fiery name in some circles of our industry but his work speaks for itself. He is one of the most prolific content creators and creative strategists on the internet - up there with Mr. Beast.

Even if you disagree with everything I just said about him (if you do, reply with why), there’s a lot to be learned from his content creation strategy.

A few years ago, Gary and his team started publishing “Gary Vaynerchuk Original Films”. It is the perfect case study for how to repurpose content.

This piece features one of GV’s core motivational narratives - hustle & patience. But it’s not just the topic that grabs attention - it’s also the production. This film is essentially a hodgepodge of b-roll from a bunch of older videos Team GV’s already produced.

Gary has an advantage most creators don’t have: looooots of context (old videos). Pretty much all of his old content centered around a few themes, which means there’s always a clip he can recall. It also means that he can consistently creating net new content pieces, without having to film something brand new.

And his audience will be just as entertained, and he'd probably grow no slower than he already is.

What’s the lesson? Well there are a few…

1. Find your narrative

It’s really hard to build an engaged audience without core narratives that help people understand what you care/speak about. It’s also really hard to repurpose content when each piece is disconnected from the last.

Usually when that happens, it’s the product of an unclear or non-existent narrative.

What does your brand stand for? What is your POV on the market or industry you exist in? What could be different?

The answer to those questions becomes your narrative. Those are the things you should be talking about. Before you ramp up or try to scale your content production further, make sure you have a clear narrative & set of messages that you want to put out in the world.

2. Catalog your content

Operations is one of the most important, yet underrated/underserved, functions of any team. This is very true for content teams. One of the many important things proper content operations allows you to do is keep a catalog of the topics you’ve created content around, along with the sections that really hit and can stand out on their own.

It’s much easier to repurpose content when you don’t have to go scavenging through everything you’ve ever created to find something relevant for a new piece.

3. Pay attention to what resonates

I’m not a big believer or fan of repurposing everything. I get the business case of wanting distribution and more eyeballs - but I think caring for the audience first allows us to really care for the business in the long run. Wanting to repurpose every piece of content is mostly a selfish endeavor that looks after business interests first.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Business impact is the most important metric for content teams. But if your audience stops getting what they want, you’ll never have a significant business impact.

My point in saying all that is to say this: pay attention to what messages are resonating with your audience and repurpose that.

One of the reasons Gary’s original films get 1m+ views is because the messages he shares really resonates with his core audience and people like them. If he tried to create an original film around an esoteric topic that doesn’t really matter to them (like his garage selling hobby), it wouldn’t have as much impact.

4. Put it all together to create something net new

Another huge key to GV's success with his original films is that he created a net new asset. This helped his audience digest his message in a new way and kept them engaged.

Sure, you could turn your blog article into an infographic, but that’s not all that exciting. And chances are, it doesn’t lead anyone to go deeper in your other content.

A more exciting idea might be to turn those articles into a book, where your audience feels like they’re getting something brand new (and there should be some new concepts/content included) but it doesn’t require you to start from scratch.

Okay that’s all I have.

When you think about repurposing content, think about ways you use what you have to make something new and exciting. Something that helps build affinity for your brand.

Before you go, if you liked this email - share it with someone who wants to level up their content strategy.

I’d also love to hear from you. How are you liking this letter so far? Anything you want to see me cover next or anything you disagree with? Let me know! I really appreciate ALL feedback :)

See you next week at 8am CT sharp!