The Dos and Don'ts of Repurposing Video Content

Change Content Medium To Broaden Its Reach

One of the best things you can do when repurposing content is to change its medium. It is almost impossible for content to stay stale when it switches media. Short clips derived from a long video might have a recycled feel, especially for those in your audience who have consumed the long-form piece. But if the video is turned into a blog post, its content feels fresh.

Make sure to include content medium transformation in your repurposing strategy. Blog posts, graphics, audio visualizers, and video clips are all content media to consider for this strategy, regardless of your pillar content.

Aim For Different Attention Spans

It is pretty lucrative to create only one type of content. You can get pretty comfortable making long-form podcast episodes or broadcasting drawn-out streams. Or you can get used to creating short clips only. In either instance, you might miss out on a large part of your potential audience. A smart content creator is like a smart business.

Volkswagen Group sells Lamborghini, Audi, and Volkswagen. It is a smart business that has brands at every price point. A smart content creator must have content for all types of consumers. At a minimum, you should have both long-form content and short-form content for dedicated and casual consumers alike.

Align Your Content Distribution With Your Repurposing Strategy

One of the most common mistakes in content repurposing is repurposing content for the sake of repurposing content. Thoughtful repurposing yields better results. Just like you should have the medium in mind when creating content, you should have repurposing potential in mind when producing your pillar pieces.

Pillar content is the main body of work that you can derive spoken content from. You should understand all the possible content types your main piece can be repurposed into and should optimize it accordingly. For instance, if you're a comedian with a 5-minute set, you should foresee that it can be used to create five one-minute-long clips. With that in mind, you can write at least five one-liners that can generate quick laughs without a drawn-out setup.

Have A Plan For Your Pillar Content

While being intentional about the repurposing potential of your content is helpful, you can take it a step further and actually map out your pillar content. By putting the content strategy on paper, you can tweak it to maximize its repurposing potential.

Check out our articles on ways to repurpose content for helpful ideas on reusing content to create fresh pieces. Planning your pillar content also entails scheduling content creation and shelving pieces in advance so that the distribution aspect remains uninterrupted.

Be Audience-Oriented When Repurposing Content

When you map out or plan your content, you should focus on what the audience wants. Remember that the same people might want two different things on two different platforms. People who want a 30-minute conversation on their podcast player want a 30-second clip on their TikTok feeds. So, you must plan your content with the platform's audience in mind.

This is most important for your pillar content. Gary Vee suggests going on a platform and spending a long time simply consuming the content on it. This can help you understand what works on the app and what the audience is looking for.

Isolate The Evergreen Content

Regardless of genre, you will face the problem of dated content. Remember to pinpoint and isolate pockets of evergreen content in your long-form content. For instance, you can highlight parts of your blog posts that do not rely on external references and current events.

By updating the examples in your posts, you can create new articles. Similarly, you can create clips that don't have dated references and can post them much later without making your content seem stale. Old references and examples that aren't in vogue can make your repurposed content feel stale.

Make Your Content Recognizable

According to Gary Vee, the 2022 to 2032 period entails the "tiktokification of the internet." What he means is that discovery algorithms rule content distribution, and creator following isn't as important. Because most people discover content from their algorithmic feeds, they can simply consume your content from the discovery page without ever following you.

To get people to follow, your content must stand out. Don't make the mistake of making your content look like all other content. Instead, use unique fonts and even your logo to produce a visual language that is instantly recognizable.

Contextualize Your Content

While you edit the subtitle font size and headline text, make sure to be mindful of the context in which it will be viewed. For starts, you must differentiate between vertical video, landscape frame, and square orientations. Next, you should also understand caption clarity, sound-off, and other factors.

For instance, Instagram captions are more prominent than TikTok captions. People browse stories with sound off but view reels with sound on. Knowing these details can help you optimize individual content pieces for their respective platforms.

Add A Variety Of Content Types In Your Distribution Stream

You should not saturate your feed with one type of content to preserve its value. If people appreciate your quote cards, you should hold off the temptation to post nothing but quote cards. By including a variety of content types in your media mix, you can capture a broader audience and minimize content fatigue.

Know Where To Distribute

The final thing to do when repurposing content is to distribute the repurposed pieces through the appropriate channels. Ask yourself which platforms your potential audience is on and what kind of content they are looking for. When you know where to distribute your content, you don't face algorithmic penalties that are often associated with unsuitable content.

Your text content can be shot down by Instagram, while your audio visualizers might be struck down by Youtube. Knowing which content piece goes where can help you maximize your reach. Look at our post on content distribution channels to discover potential media distribution opportunities.

Don't Overlook What People Want

It is pretty tempting to start creating content that you want to create. For many creators, it is the only authentic way to create content. However, creating whatever you like without any regard for people's tastes can lead you to an audience of one: you.

Keeping in mind what people want is as crucial when repurposing content as it is when creating it. Don't create short clips from a video just because you can. Create clips that people would actually want to see.

Don't Let Fresh Posts Overlap

With content multipliers like ContentFries, it is pretty easy to create 15 clips from a single video with less than five button clicks. Don't start creating clips that overlap with content you posted not too long ago. Posting a long video and a short clip from it in succession can lead to low engagement and a higher skip rate. Repurposed pieces should either be posted much later or on a different platform, page, or channel.

Avoid Recycling Content

Repurposing content is not the same as recycling it. If you post the same video, audio, article, or post after a while, you alienate people who have already consumed it. Recycling content is discouraged by platforms and people alike. So, avoid repurposing content so broadly that your repurposed pieces are indistinguishable from your main pieces.

Don't Fall Into The Quantity-Quality Dichotomy

Creators often believe that quantity and quality are mutually exclusive. Some create less content but focus on quality, while others create disposable content but enough volume to capture a large audience. You don't have to subscribe to either mindset when you start repurposing content. You can focus on quality when creating a pillar piece and then derive quantity from it with the right repurposing methods.

Don't Ignore Audience Feedback

Audience feedback is crucial in setting apart content multiplication from effective content repurposing. Measure the engagement rate, baseline activity per piece of content, and any positive or negative changes in any feedback metrics. Ignoring audience feedback can shrink your audience because of the engagement-rewarding nature of most social media algorithms.

Don't Create Without The Medium In Mind

This "don't" is an inverse of the best practice of contextualizing your repurposed content. In the ContentFries editor, context is considered by default. But if you're using a different editor to repurpose your content, you need to get intentional about the medium on which you intend to publish it. Creating content without having a platform in mind can lead to ill-fitting content and low engagement.

Don't Repurpose Content For The Sake Of Repurposing Content

Content repurposing is fun and interesting. It is rewarding to see one piece of your content turn into a hundred pieces. But you should not give in to the tendency to create for the sake of creating. You should repurpose content to add value. With an audience-centric approach to content repurposing, you can create a strong community around your content.

Don't Use The Same Fonts And Titles As Everyone Else

If your content looks like everyone else's content, it is unlikely to grab anyone's attention. If you use Instagram's native auto-caption feature or repurpose an audio file as a youtube video without using unique cover art, your content will get lost in the void of the infinite feeds of your audience.

When was the last time you followed someone after looking at a piece of content on your discovery feed? It is when people notice something unique that they put in the effort to follow a creator. With recognizable fonts, you can improve the odds of getting followers from your posts' algorithmic reach.

Don't Assume Engagement. Create Engagement

"If you build it, they will come" is a popular line in Field of Dreams. When it comes to social media, it is true, but with a caveat. "If you build it properly, they will come."

There is no doubt that with enough high-quality content, your social media following can grow thanks to algorithmic suggestions. But if you assume that people will engage with your content for any reason other than it being engaging, you will be disappointed.

Don't Aim For Perfection

Aiming for perfection is the final mistake most content creators make. While perfection is great, the paralysis it induces is not. If you aim for perfection, you might obsess over the smallest details when repurposing your content. And if your content doesn't stick, you might be disappointed. Aim for "good enough", and you'll be much happier and a lot more successful in the long run.