Do you ever have a day where content creation just doesn’t happen? As professional content creators, this predicament is bound to happen from time to time. Some days it’s no big deal, but after a while, something needs to be done.

At FRA, we feel strongly about repurposing content. Rather than creating stand-alone social media posts, we focus on large pieces of content such as a podcast or video. These large content pieces can then be broken down into smaller pieces of content. One stellar piece can direct a week’s worth of content (or two!) - taking the weight off our team for fresh ideas right after an intense project. The practice of repurposing content fosters recall, rest, and reach.

Repurposing content should be commonplace for anyone who considers themselves a content creator. Stretching out consistent messaging about a significant accomplishment directs the conversation towards your company’s assets. The goal here is recall, or “the act of retrieving information or events from the past while lacking a specific cue to help in retrieving the information.”¹ Chances are slim that people will be talking about “that one Instagram graphic” from your company for very long, but they will talk about the podcast recording they saw promoted several different ways across several different media channels. Why? Multiple exposures make memory retrieval and recall more effective.² Besides, that project you spent weeks on deserves more attention than a single post! Devoting several small pieces of content to supporting larger projects will allow your larger projects to get the attention they deserve.

Repurposing content gives you the space to rest; to unplug and be away from the world of creating from time to time. Instead of spending hours making five stand-alone posts with great photos and creative captions, you could make five posts in fifteen minutes - all driving your audience towards a larger piece of content that clearly conveys your message.

And finally, repurposing content helps maximize your reach. We all hate navigating the ever-changing world of algorithms. Just when you think you’ve mastered the Facebook algorithm, it changes again! Repurposing content ensures that most of your audience will be exposed to the most impactful pieces you create. Whether you post twice a day or twice a week, audience members will have several opportunities to view smaller content driving them towards a bigger goal: “Follow this link, “Listen to our new podcast,” etc. Without seeing smaller pieces repurposed towards the bigger product, many audience members would miss your best content altogether.

In the world of content, less truly is more. Repurposing content is a strategy designed for fewer tasks and more impact. Choose to highlight content that is meaningful and strong on its own, and use smaller content pieces to drive the audience's attention where it counts.

¹ https://www.britannica.com/topic/recall-memory
² https://teaching.berkeley.edu/resources/learn/memory-and-recall