8 ways to create MORE content from the SAME input
Around the globe, marketing managers and business owners share an ever-demanding problem: how to create sufficient high-quality content.
We all know the importance of content marketing to nurture your audience and bring in new leads. But for many, the reality is a constant struggle and daily frustration…
- You’re continually trying to generate ideas
- Getting input from colleagues is hard (they’re too busy)
- You don’t have enough time to create content yourself
- Or you lack the skills in-house
- And your budget is finite
Whether you sell technology or tractors, the problem persists, exhausting your enthusiasm and elongating your workload.
I know where you’re at. Having talked to endless businesses in countless sectors, it’s the same whether you’re a small business or large organisation.
You feel like you’re feeding a beast! There are only so many hours in the day and ideas on the spreadsheet. Not to mention a limit to your kitty.
What if you’re missing a trick?
What if one piece of content could create more for you, without much additional effort?
Some call it repurposing. I want to show you what this looks like in practice because it’s far more helpful than a marketing phrase.
So, here are seven practical ways you can achieve more great content from much the same input.
I’ve seen clients do some of these incredibly well. Others are waiting to be exploited. Even if just one idea helps you right now, you’ll gain more incredible content to use.
So, which could you do?
#1 Transform your customer stories into videos
I create endless customer stories for clients. Typically 1,200-word documents, they cover lots of ground and showcase your value through your customer’s story.
So, you get a 1,200-word document. But how about a video too?
Once your customer has approved their story, many feel positive about creating a brief video to summarise it. Not word-for-word, but it doesn’t take much to ask them to chat around the main points on screen for a few minutes.
This gives you a double whammy from your valuable customer liaison.
#2 Create 3 posts from one customer story
Staying with that priceless customer story, don’t just post about it in one hit and be done. More than likely, it covers many insightful points that matter to your audience.
Pick out three areas (incorporating a customer comment if you can) and draft three posts for your preferred social media platform.
All at once, one story stretches further again.
Want more ideas to get eyes on your customer stories? Read this article.
#3 Do you run webinars or podcasts? Make them articles
So, you interview ‘experts’ or customers for your webinar or podcast. That’s fodder for compelling articles too.
Grab the transcription and see what you can pull together.
If not an article, how about a series of social media posts? Or a nurturing email that provides snippets from the webinar?
You’ve put the work in to create the webinar. Now let the webinar help you build content elsewhere.
#4 Create a Q&A article from a (recorded) sales call
All prospective customers want one thing – their questions answered. So why not record your best salesperson doing just this on a call or in a presentation, then use it to inspire your content?
Take all those questions and create a Q&A. If the answer matters to one prospect, it matters to hundreds – maybe thousands.
#5 Use those questions in your emails too
Why stop at an article? If you nurture prospects by email (and you should) develop a series of emails that answer each question in turn. How valuable would that would be to your prospects?
#6 Or create a series of Q&A videos
Imagine having a short video answering each question. A friendly person answering your burning query. I’m sure you’ve got an enthusiastic videographer in your team – they don’t have to be overly polished.
Now highlight those videos everywhere – on your website, on social media, via email. It’s a warm and approachable way to use in-demand content.
#7 Talking to an expert? Record it for an article
In most businesses, valuable conversations happen daily. Make sure you record the ones that count to shape them into an advice article for your audience.
Is a colleague running a group Teams to update you on industry trends? Record it.
Is your development team presenting a new product to sales? Record it.
Once you have this content, you can easily create articles (and posts) from it.
#8 One article becomes 3 posts
Just like customer stories, knowledge articles can become more than the sum of their parts. 5 ways to shorten your sales funnel using Jackpot Software becomes five separate social media posts.
Review the finished article then identify different points you can briefly highlight in other ways. Your future posts are right there.
Think about using different post formats too. You could write copy, record brief videos, or create a simple slide deck to post. Even all three.
All from one article.
Rinse and repeat
There’s one more important take away on this topic. High-quality content has a long shelf life. This means you can use it in your content plan more than once.
- Use that valuable Q&A many times (even if you choose to update it)
- Keep using your customer stories. They stay true for years to come
- Pull out popular social media posts six months on and publish them again
- Highlight your best performing nurturing emails for future use
- Use advice articles to help your audience wherever you can
Not everyone sees your content first time around. Plus, new people continually join your audience.
So, I encourage you to delve into the archives. What have you already created that you can create more content from with minimum effort? And when you do create something new, squeeze the living daylight out of it!
Still stuck? I'm here to help.