Using Your Content

Attract customers by making use of content. Businesses take advantage of content marketing in different ways; some have tried through trial and error, on how to disseminate content to broaden their customer reach. 

No matter what you’re doing now with your content marketing approach, it’s always good, especially as we begin the year, to assess and to figure out other places you utilize your content and which one is best for your business and fits your brand, culture, and communication style. Then you can invest time in it in a way that generates leads, increases sales, and retains customers.

A lot of businesses use social media as a means to stay connected with consumers. They maintain websites and blogs where they can share content related to their business. It is a way to maximize the power of the digital world. If you are using the latest approach in content marketing, it is important to keep putting new content on your site. But there will come a time when you will have a hard time thinking about what content to create.

Coming up with new content ideas is not always easy. There will be times when you will experience writer’s block. One way to alleviate this is by repurposing previous content. Find some of your previous and successful posts and refresh them, build new content around that idea.

Here are some ways you can repurpose your content:

Format – re-purposing is more than just spinning content. Take an idea and present that in another valuable way that will help your audience. You can start by changing the format and feel free to add new information. Doing this will keep your audience interested and possibility of attracting new followers. Make use of tools to help you change the format - maybe add a video, slideshow, or podcast; or turn instructive videos into articles with tips & tricks. Be creative and make it somewhat entertaining for your audience.  If you already have a lot of content, you can create a landing page and archive your successful posts, best How-Tos, Guides, etc.

Update articles – look into some of your successful article posts. Choose content with new innovations available regarding that subject; add that valuable information as a way to update your audience. Do a little research to give you more ideas on the latest on that subject. In example, you can get content with updated statistics. You can even do a comparison with the previous statistics and latest information.  Show your audience some of the changes that happened during the course of the year.

Timing of release – content management requires the use of schedules. Regardless of the type of schedule you follow - weekly or daily - having a calendar for when to post your articles will save you valuable time. Having a calendar will also let you plan ahead and think of new ideas to share on your site. A great time to release repurposed articles is when you have an upcoming event that can be related to the article. Your article might contain information that your audience could find helpful for the coming event.

Using your content saves you time and energy; it cuts down the time you spend doing research for new content. If you repurpose your content in a manner that your audience will not even notice that you are refreshing old information, then you stay in a win-win situation. You have a happy audience, and you meet your marketing goals.

Author:
Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog and CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com – a word of mouth marketing firm.   She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of #brandchat - a weekly Twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.