Reduce, reuse, recycle. We hear these words a lot this day every year. And while they’re a great way to help the environment, I think these words are also excellent advice when it comes to your content marketing strategy.
Over 57% of content marketers report that producing enough new content was one of their biggest challenges. So, why not take a cue from Earth Day and apply the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle to your content efforts to save you time and resources?
Reduce
Of course, you need to regularly post new, unique content. But, sometimes, less can be more. The goal of all of our content should be to reach and engage with as many readers as possible. However, if you’re not getting as many clicks, shares or other actions as you’d like, consider whether you’re sacrificing quality content for quantity.
SEO is a different game now compared to what it used to be. Search engines are looking for quality content that is getting engagement rather than a lot of low-quality content that is stuffed with keywords.
So, focus on creating high quality posts and then take the time to make sure that content gets in front of readers whether it’s through social or however else you connect with your audience. Little tweaks can go a long way toward making your pieces work effectively on each social channel: add a few carefully-chosen hashtags when you tweet or select an eye-catching photo for Facebook.
Reuse
Reusing content is a fantastic way to fill in gaps in your content calendar without costing you a lot more time. Let’s say you created a well-researched, detailed piece of content – such as a white paper. It’s a great piece for people who want a lot of information. But there are a bunch of other items you could create based on all the research and stats you compiled that may appeal to an even wider audience:
- Take each section of the paper and craft a blog post around that topic.
- Use research from the white paper to create a webinar.
- Take some of the interesting stats and create visual mirco-content for your social channels
- Produce a video featuring key insights from your research and analysis.
- Create an infographic with some of the key insights you found.
Recycle
There’s nothing better than hitting the content ball out of the park – your piece got a lot of clicks and great engagement. Luckily, that doesn’t have to be the end of the story. When you hit a roadblock (and we all do at some point) or need to fill a gap in your calendar, it’s okay to dust off some of your old gems and re-share it.
Even better, you can also take old posts, give them an update and repost them. You don’t want duplicate content floating around out there but it’s likely that the content your audience really liked before, will be popular again if you freshen it up. Bonuses can include:
- A fresh take on old material
- Better SEO: being able to optimize for the same keyword more than once
- The opportunity to share updated info on the same topic
- Showing readers you’re on the ball and informed in your field
Keep a list of some of your most popular posts and make notes about how to revamp them for a different social and/or digital channel in the future. This can be especially useful when you find yourself facing a bad case of ‘blank page syndrome’ – you’ll have something in the bank to draw from.
Work Smarter
So, being resourceful and efficient is important not only for the environment but also for your content marketing. Applying the reduce, reuse, recycle philosophy to your content marketing efforts will help you keep your content effective, calendar filled and time (a bit) more open.
Know a creative way to repurpose your content? Drop me a comment!
Hope you have a very happy Earth Day!