finding the value in repurposing content

There is so much value in repurposing content, and I’m not just talking about from a monetary perspective of having multiple variations of your content. That’s the easiest way to find value in repurposing, but you can take it one step further and focus on the value that having variations of your content brings to your audience.

I’ve talked before about how people learn and consume information in various ways, and how repurposing can help with that. Here’s a quick example from our own household: I love to read, and would rather read a sales letter all day long that watch a video. My son would much rather watch videos to learn, and every time he needs to figure out how to do something, the first place he heads is YouTube.

There are four main learning styles you should be taking into account, because you will no doubt have people from each group in your audience:

  • Audio
  • Visual
  • Verbal
  • Kinesthetic

The value in repurposing content really shines when you can find a way to say the same thing in many different ways, across these very different learning styles. There’s a benefit to your audience in the way that you give each person what they need to consume to your content in the way that works best for them. There’s also a benefit to you in that it makes it much easier to publish more content with less effort.

And more content is definitely needed these days. It used to be the norm in advertising and marketing that your audience needed to see something at least 7 times before they noticed it or did something about it. I was listening to a marketing podcast on the weekend (I forget which one now), but they were talking about Instagram and saying that with everyone’s shorter attention spans these days that you need to get in front of someone 14-21 times before they may take action!

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a pretty darn good incentive for repurposing any piece of content I create in as many different ways as possible.

And while you might feel like a broken record saying the same thing over and over again, there are several reasons why repurposing content makes sense.

Here are three reasons why there is value in repurposing content:

Reason #1 – Your audience doesn’t always see information the instant you release it.

They may be focused on other things going on in their lives, or they’re just not ready for what you have to say at that moment.

I can attest to this in my own life – especially the not being ready to listen part! Take AI for example. I didn’t want anything to do with it when everyone first started raving about Midjourney and ChatGPT. It took me pretty much until I was on a zoom call a couple of weeks ago to see how it could work for me and my business, and now I’m ready to consume as much information as I can find on the topic!

Reason #2 – People don’t always open emails every day.

If a person is busy or they think the information doesn’t apply to them, they’re not going to choose your email out of the hundreds they get each day. But, if you offer up the information again in a different format on a different day, it might be just the thing they need.

This can be especially true if you send daily emails. Not everything you send is going to apply to everyone one your list every day. That’s where segmenting your list comes in, but that, as they say, is a story for another day.

Reason #3 – Distraction is real.

It’s true that people are often very distracted these days. There is so much pulling at everyone’s attention that they can’t always stop and consume your content. When you released your original content, they may have been focused on something else, and either unwilling or unable to pay attention to your stuff.

Again, offering up your information on a different day and in a different format might be just the thing they need in that moment.

So, how do you repurpose your content in different ways?

The easiest way to do this is by using different mediums. For example:

  • Blogging – appeals to the readers in your audience
  • Video – appeals to the visual learners
  • Podcasting – appeals to the audio and the verbal learners
  • Products  – appeal to the kinesthetic learners, especially if they’re in a format they can print off and hold in their hands!

Each of these options can be used to share the same information through different experiences. The more often and more variety you use, the more likely your content will make your audience want to engage and the more value it will provide.

Someone who is a master at this is my colleague Justin Popovic at Tools for Motivation*. In his DFY Course packages, he provides the same information presented in several different ways so that you can create the most touches out of a single content pack. Here’s an example.

In this package, Everyday Excellence*, each module of the course comes with:

  1. A Word document that contains the guide for the module (turn this into the PDF for the readers in your audience)

2. A slide deck and video (the slides with audio track) that you can either use or edit for video content (for your visual learners)

3. A separate audio track for your auditory and verbal learners

4. And an action guide (think workbook) and quiz for your more hands-on learners.

So, you can see at a glance how it is possible to repurpose one guide into each of the different learning styles to appeal to different segments of your audience.

That should be enough to get you seeing the value in repurposing content. And when you start from DFY content, it’s easy to extract the facts and put them in your own voice if you choose to. (Some people do, some don’t… I always advocate for changing it up and giving it your voice, but that’s another story for another day.)

Final Thoughts

There is definitely value in repurposing content so that your customers and audience can consume it in as many formats as possible. Repeating yourself is almost necessary these days with so much information out there. It’s doubtful that your entire audience is going to see your content on the first pass, so you definitely want to be promoting it multiple times. And when you repurpose and repromote it, you’re giving yourself more chances to engage your audience, and your audience more chances to engage with you!

*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.

About the Author

Ruth is self-styled creative soulpreneur who loves that she gets to play with words and pictures for a living. She started her first email newsletter in 1997 and has never looked back. Between creating printables and courses, she publishes a daily newsletter, loves to golf and walk on the beach and is teaching herself how to do hand-lettering and doodle art.

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