Businesses in the UK face major challenges as the nation sets out on the road to economic recovery from the impact of the pandemic. But help is closer to home than you may think.

Telling your old clients you are back and attracting new ones will be a priority and, more than ever before, your website, content marketing and social media activity will have a crucial role to play.

By bringing together your platform presence and your own confidence in the value of your content, you have a route forward and that route is called repurposing.

Let’s start with what repurposing is not. It is not reissuing old marketing communications and articles to the same audience.

Rather, it is about changing the format of the content and reassessing the target audience in a methodic and qualitative way.

Done well, it can save you time, money and other resources but still prove highly effective in driving visitors to your website for example as it will help raise your online profile and boost SEO.

Here’s an eight-step process to get your repurposing activity under way and give your business the kickstart it may need.

1. Spot a trend: To help you start, look around at your commercial or business sector or society in general for issues or topics that relate to your business and are gaining traction or simply coming back round. If you had something to say last time, maybe that is the case again this time. But say it in a different way and to a different audience.




2. Decide what content to repurpose: To help make a decision, study the metrics on your website to see what level of engagement there was from customers for particular topics or pages and consider how you might re-energise that particular content if that is what you decide.




3. Make a plan: Having done the research, you may think you have a lot of content which is sitting there doing nothing. However, keep it manageable and then move on to developing a communications plan, a range of performance indicators and a schedule.




4. Communicate the plan: In your enthusiasm to start, some aspects of the project can be forgotten. Make sure you tell your team or your department and other internal stakeholders so they know the what, who, when and why of the project and the expected outcomes. That way, you give yourself the best chance to address uncertainty and gain internal support.




5. Review the subject content to be repurposed: Ask yourself if there is more you can say this time around or whether there are some elements that need to be updated. Consider how you used the content last time and add to it; great quotes, eye-catching images, key facts or perhaps a narrative that could be retold in a different way such as a mini-graphic or a slideshare.




6. Choose the formats for repurposing: The range of formats is immense. Infographics convey complex information in a unique and, if done properly, memorable way; key facts and stats will inform and intrigue the audience (canva.com is a great tool for making your own images); a major narrative thread works on an emotional and entertaining level as a slideshare, video or podcast. In fact, there is a free online tool to suit every requirement; from gifs to vids, from fact sheets to e-books.




7. Prepare for feedback: Launch the content but do not imagine your work is done. You may start getting feedback and questions from the target audience and if your reputation is to be managed, they will need a swift response.




8. Seek support: If stakeholders have been properly prepped, your sales and back office teams will know their work has only just begun and no-one can take their foot off the gas. You will need to review the effectiveness of the repurposing so you do it better next time. Were targets met? what worked? what did not work?

Repurposing is, in truth, not rocket science. The point being you are taking what you already have and understand and using in a different way to a different audience. That said, when it is not done properly, it shows.

Bringing in the experts is no bad thing. They have flair and imagination and the ability to help you achieve what you want to achieve.

If you would like to discuss repurposing your content, feel free to give us a call on 01606 276 176, we’d be happy to offer you our advice. http://www.nwc.design/