are you repurposing your content? here's why you should be

If you're not repurposing your content... you are absolutely not alone. But I'm here to tell you why you should be!

If you're creating brand new content every day, week, or month, you're overextending yourself when you don't need to!

Turns out, there is a large majority of people that either don't understand why it's important or simply forget to do it -- I fall into the latter.

Hey. I'm not perfect and you aren't either! It's cool. We can be imperfect together.

Without further ado, here are 4 reasons why you should be repurposing your content.

1. New followers likely haven't seen your old content

That one IGTV you did 2 months ago? Yeah, your new follower didn't scroll back enough to see it.

Which means they missed the content and the value that your post brought to others.

This means this is an opportunity to reshare ...

Another aspect of this is that a lot of the value you provide online needs to be shared 3, 4, or even 10 times over for it to sink in for some people.

I know for myself, it's true that only after I've heard the same message 3 or 4 times -- either from the same person or from different people -- does it sink in or become something I can put into action.

It's also true that good marketing is repetitive. So, onwards and upwards, friend. You're not being annoying... you're really great at marketing ;)

2. People may only follow you on one platform

This means they're missing all your content on other social media platforms, your blog, your newsletter, your Facebook group, etc.

Don't assume everyone is seeing everything you create.

Boo-hoo, I know.

It's a tough pill to swallow, but it's also necessary to understand because once you understand this, you can get smart about repurposing old blogs into fresh Instagram captions or one-off mini trainings into fully-fledged IGTVs.

3. It helps you work smarter, not harder

No need to reinvent the wheel.

This is something that keeps coming up in business for me and so I feel it needs to be said.

The WAY you do things doesn't have to be novel. The HOW and the WHY behind it are what differentiates us from the rest.

My friend that talked about repurposing content... she's not the first person to come up with that idea.

But, HOW she talked about it and her WHY for sharing it is what makes it different than the 800 million other people talking about the same thing.

So don't beat yourself up trying to come up with insanely novel or unheard-of content. You totally can, but you'll get tired quickly IMO.

Work smarter, not harder.

4. Burnout is A REAL THING

You can't spend all your time creating content… you have to work at some point.

But work too much?

HELLO BURNOUT, MY OLD FRIEND.

This is where repurposed content comes in.

No need to come up with 7 new pieces of content this week when you can reuse old content for half and then share other information for the other half.

As freelancers and business owners, we need to do less with more. Adopt that mindset early on and you won't find yourself 10 years down the road feeling like your work is unsustainable long-term.

Create a way for yourself and your community to win because when you burn out, everyone loses.

**The caveat to this entire blog is simple: repurpose does NOT mean simply resharing the same exact message over and over. It means REPURPOSING the content for the platform and for the audience of that platform.

"Rather than 'the same message repeated many times,' think of effective frequency illusion strategies as 'the same message, conveyed through a broad range of content and channels.'"

Jonathan Crowl for Skyword

For example, the mini-training on engagement rates I do for Instagram Stories could become a blog post about engagement on social media or even the caption for a post about how to know what your community wants from you.

Or a blog I wrote on a specific topic could become one of my tips for my next IGTV. I could even expand on a tip from an Instagram post in my newsletter.

The possibilities are truly endless! It comes down to your creativity and how you feel your community would best consume the information you're providing.

And remember...

You're not annoying, you're really great at marketing ;)