Today we’re talking about one of my favorite ways to deliver what my audience wants – repurposing content!

There’s a myth floating around out there that you can create a piece of content and slap it on your blog, and people will find it and you’ll make loads of money. That may have been somewhat true in the early days, but now with such an abundance of content you really need to stand out from the crowd to get the necessary eyeballs on yours. One of the best ways to do that is by repurposing content into different formats.

While your audience has a lot in common, people like to consume content in different ways. Different learning styles mean that content in one version is not going to work for anyone except those who prefer that style. For example, if you only product text content you’re going to leave out those who prefer audio or video formats. And if you only product videos, you’re going to lose all the readers.  

If you’re not sure which formats go with which learning styles here’s a quick summary:

• Visual learning – video, graphics
• Auditory learning – audio only, podcasts, some video
• Reading/Writing – text based, blog posts, ebooks, etc.
• Kinesthetic – hands on learning, how-to content, ways to have them work along with you like live sessions.

So, how do you take all this into account when you set out to create content for your audience?

Repurposing!

Here are 4 tips for repurposing content into various learning styles:

Tip #1 – Start the Content in the Obvious Format

Each piece of content that you create needs to first be created in the format that makes the most sense for the type of information. For example, some information automatically presents itself better with videos, such as cooking demos or physical product demonstrations.

Other things such as checklists or tips might be better formatted into a text document that can be turned into a printable.

Tip #2 – Transfer the Content into Other Formats

Once you’ve fully created the content in the easiest format that helps the customer learn and understand the material, such as video demos, you can then repurpose the content into other mediums. For example, for the readers in your audience, you can turn a video demo into a blog post with still images for each step of the process. You can strip the audio out and create a separate file for people who prefer to listen. You can add timestamps to give your kinesthetic learners a way to easily stop and start the video so they can do a step, and then watch the next, and so on.

Tip #3 – Check Your Stats for Each Format

Once you publish the material in more than one format, take the time to check the metrics periodically because you may discover surprising information. You may discover that your audience prefers the second way you created the content over the first so-called obvious way.

Tip #4 – Create Content Your Audience Actually Wants

Outside of format, it’s important that your content is persuasive and entices your audience to take the actions you want them to take through their buying journey. It’s vital that their learning preferences be taken into account, but just as vital that you are paying attention to what they want as well as how they want it delivered.

The truth is, the more formats you can put your content in, the better for you and for your audience. Each time you develop a piece of content, decide in advance the different formats you’ll produce it in to ensure all members of your audience that are interested in the material can understand it.

Final Thoughts

So far, we’ve focused on repurposing content for your audience’s viewpoint. But, it’s also a win for you too. The more ways you can find to use your existing content, the less time you’ll need to be spending on creating new content.

Related Resource: For more on different learning styles, see this Wikipedia entry

Related Resource: 6 Ways to Leverage Your Content Through Repurposing

*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.