9 Ways to Recycle Your Blog Posts Into Other Content Formats

Will Blunt
Will Blunt

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Today, marketers are feeling the pressure to pump out more and more content to get noticed -- plus it's got to be readable, engaging, and shareable. But maintaining a steady stream of quality blog posts can be time-consuming. 

The answer to this challenge isn’t to write more frequent, lower quality blog posts. Quite the opposite. You need to dedicate more time to researching and write the best and most engaging content you can.Download 195+ visual marketing design templates to use for social media posts,  infographics, and more. 

The key is to optimize your time after you hit publish. Squeeze every last drip out of the work you have done by repurposing your blog content in different forms. More high quality content spread across a diverse set of platforms will attract a bigger audience to your website, and increase your chance of converting them into customers.

Here are some ways to repurpose your well-researched blog posts to capture a more engaged audience for your business. I’ve included some nice tips for bootstrapping so you don’t have any excuses!

1) Email Newsletters

Email newsletters are a great way to stay in touch with your avid blog readers. Traditionally, businesses have used this platform to distribute company-centric news or ask email subscribers to buy something. The inbound methodology encourages you to flip this outdated tactic on its head.

Instead of asking your readers for something, you need to continue adding value at every opportunity. Next time you send an email to your subscriber list, capture their attention by being stupidly generous. A great way to add value to your subscribers is to repurpose your blog content as an email. Not everyone will have the time to visit your blog every time you post. But if you show up in their inbox with a short snippet from your most recent blog post and an easy-to-find link, it increases the traffic back to that post.

Bonus Tip

Create evergreen content. Content that is evergreen is timeless -- it is as relevant today as it will be in 6 or even 12 months. This means that you can send that evergreen content out to your subscribers 6 or 12 months after it was published, extending the life of that post.

Example

Someone who does this extremely well is Ian Cleary from Razor Social. Below you will see a screenshot of an email I received from Ian recently. He very simply presents a link to his latest blog post, in amongst a very short preview of what the post will help you achieve. He uses short sentences, one very specific call to action, and every word is trying to help the reader, not promote his business. Brilliant, yet outrageously simple!

email_newsletters

2) Social Media Posts

According to a survey by Social Media Examiner, 92% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business.

Writing a well-researched blog post gives you an enormous amount of content at your fingertips. Within this content is undoubtedly lots of engaging quotes, questions and statements. You could be using these when you share your blog on social media.

Too often people share the same heading of their blog on every social network, over and over again. This tactic becomes boring for your audience, and they will eventually filter your posts out albeit subconsciously. Not only does it reduce engagement, but it alienates those that don’t resonate with your original blog title.

By re-purposing the full capacity of your blog content on social media, and not just the headline, you generate a stream of diverse content that your audience can easily re-share.

Bonus Tip

Here are a couple of tools you could use to easily repurpose blog content on social media:

  1. Social Inbox: If you use HubSpot, you can use Social Inbox to schedule out tweets promoting your blog posts in bulk. Here's how.
  2. Buffer: If you don't use HubSpot, schedule a set of posts using Buffer for the week or two following a new blog post,  Buffer allows you to distribute content easily across a number of social networks.
  3. ClickToTweet: ClickToTweet helps you create a unique link that will allow your readers to share content within your blog post. Here is a post on how to generate click-to-tweet links for your content. 
  4. Revive Old Post WordPress Plugin: If you use WordPress for your blog, you can establish regular sharing of old posts to chosen social networks. And it’s all automated and super easy to set up! 

3) Blog Post Syndications

There is an ongoing debate about the validity of blog syndication. Essentially, blog syndication is a way of featuring your blog content on a high traffic website after already posting it to your own.

Google have openly frowned upon duplicate content and guest blogging for backlinks. However if you do it in the right manner, blog syndication can still increase your online visibility with the right people. Especially if you are just starting out and don’t attract a lot of traffic organically.

When syndicating your blog make sure it is with a reputable site that attracts your ideal audience. And ask the site owner or editor to include a canonical tag with your blog article so search engines such as Google recognise the post on your site as the original.

Example

Jeff Bullas is a well known marketer who syndicates some of his blog content using the LinkedIn publishing platform. His most successful LinkedIn post was originally published on his own blog: "Why You Should Forget Facebook."

4) SlideShare Presentations

SlideShare is like the YouTube of presentations. It’s a channel that a lot of marketers are missing out on, and one with a lot of engaged viewers. By re-purposing a blog post into a SlideShare presentation you are tapping into a new audience. SlideShare’s can also be embedded onto other blog sites, much like a YouTube video, making it easy for people to share your content.

Bonus Tip

Creating a SlideShare is much simpler than many people would think. If you have ever created a presentation using PowerPoint then you are well equipped for the world of SlideShare. SlideShare allows you to easily upload a presentation from PowerPoint or as a PDF.

A recent partnership between Haiku Deck and SlideShare has empowered users to create ready-to-go presentations online. If you’re not great with PowerPoint then this is an alternative. However, there are some limitations with this technology if you want to have complete control over the creative process.

Example

HubSpot have over 31,000 subscribers on their SlideShare channel, check them out for some great ideas and killer presentations.

5) Videos

Video is not as hard to create as it once was, and more people are craving it than ever. Use video to boost your visibility, interview experts, or teach your audience how to do something. Here are a few examples of the type of blog posts you could turn into videos:

  • How-to posts
  • Expert interviews
  • Checklists
  • Step-by-Step processes

Bonus Tip

You don’t have to break the bank to create quality video content. The camera on the iPhone produces decent quality video. For those of us without a production background, you won’t notice the minor differences between this and a more expensive digital camera. Couple this with a GorillaPod and an easy-to-use video editing program such as iMovie, and you’ll be creating highly engaging video content before you know it!

Example

If you are looking for some inspiration when it comes to regular, high quality video content here are a couple of my favorites;

6) Ebooks

In the past, ebooks were an online revenue generator for many businesses and bloggers alike. People would pay for a collection of downloadable resources in booklet form. Inbound marketing has changed that expectation. Now customers expect this style of content for free or for the comparatively insignificant "cost" of an email address.

No longer are ebooks a likely stream of revenue for online businesses. Instead they are an effective way to grow your email list and nurture your readers into customers. Therefore your ability to create an ebook quickly and economically is paramount. Try and write a string of blog posts on the same topic and then collate them into an ebook with the addition of an introduction and conclusion.

Bonus Tip

Once again if you’re not a graphic designer and want to save money on hiring one, think about using PowerPoint to create your next ebook. The HubSpot Marketing Library have some nicely designed ebooks you may like to get some creative inspiration from. 

Example

This ebook by Robbie Richards 17 Explosive Content Promotion Strategies is a great example of extremely helpful content developed on a budget. 

7) Templates and Checklists

Have you ever read a blog post that you found helpful, but never implemented its suggestions? I certainly have. By turning a blog post into a template or checklist (in PDF form) your readers are more likely to take action on your advice.

They now have the ability to download and print your suggestions in a tangible format. If you sprinkle that download with your unique branding and a design edge, you may become a permanent feature on your reader’s desk. Much like an ebook, templates and checklists are fairly easy to make, and help you significantly grow your email list by including an email opt-in for readers to download them.

Bonus Tip

For those with a taste for creating things you may like to use Adobe illustrator for developing your PDF templates and checklists. Alternatively you can find some fairly priced designers on a site such as Elance.

Example

I turned a blog post I wrote called "Your Ultimate Blog Checklist" into a downloadable PDF. It kick-started my subscriber growth and helped build my credibility. All I did was strip back the post into actionable statements and developed a visually appealing PDF using Adobe Illustrator, my business logo, and some creative juices! You can download the checklist here if you’re interested.

8) Podcasts

Podcasts are all the rage at the moment. Everyone seems to be flipping their blog into a blog/podcast hybrid, or building their online influence on the back of podcasting alone.

But don’t just do it because everyone else is.

If you decide podcasting is for you, but are struggling for what to talk about, try and use your blog topics as a leverage point. You may like to dive deeper on some of your more successful posts in a podcast, and your audience will value the additional information.

Bonus Tip

Odiogo is a podcasting tool that has become very popular with marketers around the world. Essentially it turns your blog posts into ready-made podcasts using text-to-speech technology. (I can’t recommend Odiogo yet because I haven’t used it, but apparently it doesn’t sound too robotic.)

Example

Entrepreneur on Fire is a podcast hosted by John Lee Dumas. In his first two years of operation he generated over $2 million in revenue! Maybe this podcast fad isn’t such a bad fad after all.

9) Webinars

Webinars can be an effective way to lock in an engaged audience for a set period of time. Also, they don’t carry the challenges of a face-to-face events such as cost and geography. So if you regularly mention influential people in the copy of your blog posts (and they are now a part of your network), it may be worthwhile to collaborate on a webinar with them.

Bonus Tip

Google+ Hangouts allow you to run a video conference or webinar with a number of people within your circles at a specified date and time. When it comes to bootstrapping a webinar, this may be a platform you would like to trial. Be careful though -- there are mixed reviews on its stability when hosting a large group.

Conclusion

Diversifying your content strategy across a number of platforms is an excellent way to gain exposure to a new audience. But the great thing is you don’t have to bankrupt your business to do it. An added bonus of a diversified content portfolio is that you increase your chance of attracting valuable backlinks to your site.

So next time you write a well-researched blog post, milk it for everything it is worth. Use some of the suggestions in this blog post to save you money and grow your presence online. But be careful not to spread yourself too thin -- it is better to nail two or three of these types of content rather than merely having a presence across all of them.

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Topics: Blogging

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