Content Repurposing: How Top Creators Do It

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Most creators think the way creating content works is by posting one new, original idea every day.

That’s wrong, and it only leads to burnout.

Here's what top creators do instead: say the same thing, but in 1,000 different ways.

Creating new content every day it's just the way we think it's supposed to be, but the truth is, there's a better way.

One that every successful creator follows without exception:

Content Repurposing.

Content Repurposing (or content recycling) consists in re-using your old content and adapting it to new formats so you expand its reach.

In today's article, we'll dive deep into why it matters, how some top creators do it, and how you can too.

Why should you repurpose your content?

Content repurposing has many advantages, but these are the main ones:

#1 - You save time

Can you imagine how exhausting it would be to write/film a new original piece of content daily? If you have tried, you know how tough it can be.

Instead of stressing about creating brand-new content all the time, you can take your old stuff and give it a fun makeover. Sprinkle in some new information, change up the format, and boom! Your content stays relevant and interesting for way longer.

And in half the time it would take you if you were creating it from scratch.

#2 - You reach a wider audience

Repurposing content within the same platform is a great way for your new audience members to discover it. They have yet to see your content, so there's no harm!

And when you repurpose across different platforms, you're saving yourself from the exhausting task of creating fresh content from scratch. Instead, you're just tweaking what you already have to fit a different format.

#3 - You establish Authority

Repeating the same core ideas all the time is the best way to build authority. By focusing on one concept, you become known for that specific thing.

So, please don't shy away from repeating your key ideas because it's the most effective path to building authority and credibility.

If you need help figuring out where to start with your core ideas, start by finding your Red Pill first.

Hopefully, you now see the importance of repurposing. Now, let's get down to the nitty-gritty of the HOW.

The Content Repurposing Formula

I first learned about repurposing content from Garyvee's Content Pyramid:

The thesis suggests you should begin with a long-form "pillar" post. Next, chop it up into smaller pieces for each social media platform.

Since then, I’ve seen this system replicated by many other creators, but with a tweak.

Instead of taking the pillar content and directly repurposing that into micro content for other platforms, creators today:

Create one long-form pillar piece of content (usually a newsletter issue or a blog post)

Repurpose into their MAIN platform

Then take the content from that main platform and repurpose that to the secondary platforms👇

In this way, a single piece of content can easily become multiple pieces. Let's look at a few examples to understand it better.

How creators repurpose their content (with examples)

A great example of someone who does this well is Jay Clouse from Creator Science. His main channel is Twitter, but he also uses LinkedIn and Instagram to repurpose his content. Here's what we found:

He gets started from a Pillar piece of content, in this case, his blog 👇

Then, that piece of content gets to his main platform (Twitter) in the shape of a thread👇

And then that thread gets repurposed into a LinkedIn and Instagram Carousel 👇

He does not repurpose directly from the blog to LinkedIn or Instagram. Instead, he does it from the thread.

Translating that for the other platforms is easier since the main repurposing (chopping down the blog article) has already been done.

That’s also 3 long pieces of social content in minutes. And from here, he could even tear down that article into multiple single tweets that would make for multiple LinkedIn and Instagram posts.

Not bad!

Same platform repurposing: the secret sauce

The above is the textbook application of the content repurposing formula, but once you understand repurposing, there are many more possibilities.

You can still repurpose content ON the same platform if you don't want a multi-platform presence (which is smart, especially if you are starting out).

This is the lowest effort, highest impact form of content repurposing. All it takes is copy-pasting your old posts again 👇

Same tweet, 3 months apart. Total of almost 3M views combined.

Justin Welsh is very public about why he does this. He has a very simple system where he uploads his best tweets onto a spreadsheet.

Then, he does the following 👇

Veeeeery smart Mr Welsh.

Another way to do this is to use your past tweets as the building blocks for a new one. Create a new piece of content by taking a core idea from one that worked previously.

If you want to learn how to steal these ideas ethically, check our guide on it.

It’s easier than it sounds!

How often should you repurpose your content?

As you have seen, there are two ways of content repurposing: cross-platform and on the same platform.

For cross-platform content, most creators post it at the same time on different platforms. There’s always some audience overlap between these platforms, but I have yet to hear any backlash for creators that do so.

For same platform repurposing, you would be wise to space out your repurposed content by a few weeks. At least 1 month is advisable, but if possible, your goal should be to space it out by 3, 6, or even 12 months.

The big question is: won’t people notice?

Social media content has a short lifespan.

Your content won't be seen by most of your audience anyway. Those who do, won’t likely remember it. And all your new followers haven’t even seen it yet!

So there’s no reason not to repurpose your content

As Justin Welsh says: “Nobody remembers your content like you remember your content.”