How to Repurpose, Refresh and Reuse Content

Content is still king. It doesn’t matter if you spend time on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or anything in between; you are consuming content in different forms.

Frankly, the whole Internet is a big content and commerce machine. So discovering content that makes you laugh or cry begets seeking even more content that makes you laugh or cry.

Or, consume content to learn something new that will help you build up your skill arsenal. You may even be tempted to purchase goods and services featured within those pieces of content because you’re convinced your quality of life will improve as a result. Will it really, though?

Sometimes I think about how the more content we consume, the more “stuff” we consume (or buy) as a result.

For example, let’s say you read a listicle of the best books of the year – now you may have the urge to “buy” these books. Or maybe you watched some content on how to play the guitar, and now you’re itching to “buy” a guitar.

This is also true on the B2B marketing side. You often read about platforms or solutions, and if the content is convincing enough, you may sign up for a free trial or even a paid subscription.

That’s precisely why we create content to educate people – we want to get them excited so that they want to try out our goods and services.

However, it takes time to create great content. We want to work smarter, not harder, so it’s essential to consider how we can repurpose, reuse, and refresh existing content whenever possible.

For B2B marketing, it’s crucial to answer five questions before repurposing, reusing, and refreshing your content:

1. What is your communication objective? → These are the key messages you want to communicate and specific calls-to-action that you want readers to do.
2. What topics should be used to engage your audience? –> Your buyer personas will help you nail down enticing and effective editorial topics to focus on.
3. Who is your audience? –> Knowing your audience inside and out will help you close deals, so you’ll want to create detailed buyer personas.
4. What content should you create that would be interesting to consume? –> You can map out specific editorial content based on the topics you’ve deemed fit for your audience.
5. What channels can you use to harvest content to repurpose, reuse, and refresh? → Consider your existing audio, video, or text resources across various platforms.

In B2B companies, we target customers likely to buy our products and services. So when more and more customers are aware of our products and services, you’ll get other segments of customers (I call them adjacent or secondary personas) who are interested in your products and services, too.

As a marketer, you will need to determine if you need to create specific content that caters to these adjacent or secondary personas.

Having a persona will ground you on what you want to say about your products and services.

Once you know your personas, understanding their challenges and how your products and services can address those needs will help you develop your editorial strategy.

Matching the audience’s challenges with your products and services is a foundation of a messaging framework. Check out my messaging framework templates to help you determine what to say and how to say it about your products and services.

Have a list of topics you want to explore as you work out how best to show your audience how you can help them.

Repurposing, refreshing, and reusing content starts with determining the channels you plan to use.

For example, I wrote aforementioned long blog post on how to create a messaging framework with specific templates.

I created an easily digestible four-part series of messaging frameworks to repurpose the same content instead of just cranking out one lengthy video.

What is Messaging Framework

How to Create Product-Specific Messaging Framework

How to Create A Thought Leadership Messaging Template

How to Create A High-Volume Product Messaging Framework

Since I have a podcast, I used the same content to create four new episodes.

The Process of Creating a Messaging Framework

Messaging Framework for High-Volume Products

Messaging Framework: Thought Leadership Template

Messaging Framework: Product-Specific Template

And I created a webinar and one-hour speaking session for marketing conferences.

How to Create a Messaging Framework that Resonates

Another way to reuse your content is to focus on upcoming holidays or end-of-year/start-of-year round-ups.

You can use one blog post and expand it to cover other different formats of content, or you can stick with the same format but expand it to incorporate timely news or events.

A great example is my podcast round-up. I selected snippets from the four episodes I mentioned above and highlighted key points from each guest to create one big holiday special episode!

For blog posts, you can do the same as well. For instance, I created a general sales enablement blog and then used the foundations to write a post targeting B2B marketers in the manufacturing segment.

There are many ways to repurpose, refresh, and reuse your existing content with an innovative take.

It’s like a rom-com movie – the core plot formula typically stays the same, but when you sprinkle in different genres or settings paired with fresh challenges, it becomes a whole new story.

One more option to repurpose, refresh, and reuse your content

You can pick and choose different pieces you’ve created. Then, chop it up, and combine to create something new.

Example: you can take the clips from your CEO’s product launch speech as a jumping-off point. Then, add customer testimonials and product demos. Now, you have a brand new feeling and a well-rounded narrative to share.

Again, there are many ways to break down or consolidate your content. You need to think it through and create what you think will speak to your audience.

Don’t forget to update your openings, closings, and other details regarding repurposed, refreshed, and reused content.

While the core narrative is often the same in repurposed, refreshed, and reused content, making things feel new and interesting is important.

That often means creating updated opening and closing remarks, as well as sprucing up everything in between.

Blogs: I explain right from the get-go what the messaging framework is, as well as how readers will benefit from taking the time to check out the post.

Videos: I say the same thing, but it’s much shorter. I need to explain the benefits that people will get within the first 90 seconds. The opening needs to be short and sweet.

Podcast episodes: It depends. Since people like to listen while they multitask, you can make the opening long or short, depending on the flow of your story.

Interested in starting a podcast of your own? Here’s a recent breakdown of essential tools by Neal Schaffer to help you get going.

For webinars and sessions, you need to make the flow of your presentation very clear early on to set the stage.

When it comes to crafting closing statements for any of the above, there’s always a CTA (call to action) about contacting me, using my DIY templates to get started, etc.

I also almost always encourage people to reach out if/when they have questions, making it clear that I’m here to answer their questions.

Examples of content I periodically repurpose, reuse, and refresh:

I have two blog posts that I refresh at the beginning of each year. Those are the best marketing conferences, as well as the best sales conferences.

When I update them, I plug in the appropriate year and make sure my new lists are accurate. I include recent conferences if there are any of interest, remove conferences that aren’t occurring, and double-check all of the links, dates, and other crucial details are valid.

Because these posts involve specific dates, they’re not themselves “evergreen,” but often, conferences and their descriptions remain unchanged. Being able to pull those evergreen bits of information makes life much easier. So the refreshing process is a total breeze.

I also like to refresh podcast episodes by re-recording my intro and outro to reflect the current landscape, leaving the actual main conversation intact, and uploading them.

It’s a great way to get more mileage out of interesting discussions without having to delete and reupload anything.

Similarly, you don’t want to lose any views on YouTube by deleting and reuploading videos. Instead, create a new video. Reuse footage you already have and adding fresh clips to account for new developments or trends if needed.

Remember – repurposing, refreshing, and reusing content is excellent, but it does require time and budget.

Make sure you’re going in with clear intentions. That you have a realistic understanding of the budget and resources needed to breathe new life into your existing content.

Don’t just repurpose, refresh, and reuse for the sake of churning out more content.

As usual, quality over quantity still applies here.

In summary…

I’d suggest getting the ball rolling by evaluating your current content cache.

Start with upcoming promotions and audience needs in mind.

You can start with one or two flagship content items or by logically pulling pieces of information from various content pieces and creating a new, hybridized version.

If you have the budget, resources, and equipment needed to pursue more complex content output, such as video or podcast episodes, that’s great.

If you don’t, that’s okay, too.

I’d recommend starting with blog posts, social media threads, or other formats that require less gear.

Have fun repurposing, refreshing, and/or reusing your content, and let me know how it goes.

Reach out if you want to discuss strategy and more; don’t be a stranger!