The art of repurposing content to get more from every piece

Georgia Oakley’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, like all major films, was a significant creative and logistical undertaking: It involved gaffers, tailors, script editors and marketing teams, collaborating on a piece of work that would be watched by audiences across the world. 

The producers did have one key advantage: Jane Austen’s book has been cherished for more than 200 years, and adapted several times for screen, stage and radio. Each version involved a large amount of graft to tailor the story to its medium, but importantly, its creators did not have to start with a completely blank slate.  

There’s never been a time with more different forms of media: there are a range of social media sites, each with their own audiences and formats; newsletters, blogs and op-eds; podcasts and broadcast opportunities. To engage with all of them might seem daunting. It becomes less so when you consider ways to repurpose the content you already have. 

This involves neither a process of restarting from scratch, nor of shoehorning what you already have into another platform with no changes. Instead, done properly, it’s a form of adaptation – involving both sense and sensibility. 

• Repurposing content means adapting a piece for a new format and audience, not starting from scratch or pasting it onto another platform without changes 
• The benefits of repurposing content are many: gaining the best value from the work you have already done, a presence on platforms you could not otherwise sustain, and a stronger SEO strategy 
• The most efficient time to plan to repurpose content is before the first piece is made, though you could also return to highly-performing work from the past 
• Common routes include converting a blog into social post, video to audio and podcast to blog, each of which needs keen-eyed editing for its new medium  
• Obtain written versions of your video and audio content – it could become, for example, LinkedIn articles or earned media. This will make it make it likely to be picked up in AI searches 

The success of your marketing is dependent on the quality of the content that supports it. Pieces that are well conceived and sharply written drive up your SEO performance (and therefore website traffic), communicate your ideas with clarity and improve the perception of your brand. 

One challenge, when you have taken pains to develop this content, is how to distribute it. A 1,000-word op-ed cannot be filmed verbatim and posted on TikTok; nor can the transcript of an hour-long roundtable be posted on LinkedIn, with any great success. The key is knowing which ideas can be translated to which media, and how to do so artfully, in a way that resonates with each platform’s audience.  

Maximum impact, maximum value  

Adapting a successful piece of content for multiple platforms is a way to use your team’s resources efficiently, rather than beginning with a blank slate each time 

Take your content to new audiences  

The time and resources saved by repurposing content can allow you to maintain a presence on platforms that you may not otherwise have been able to manage, allowing your campaign to reach a different audience 

Strengthen your SEO and GEO strategy 

Many organisations write strong copy for their press releases, magazine op-eds and newsletters. Sitting within a targeted SEO strategy, this content can be adapted to become a draw for your website, driving up your presence in search engines’ rankings. Sitting on third party websites is the key for improving LLM visibility, increasing your chances of being found through AI search. 
 

Start repurposing content as soon as you have one piece that has performed well, or one that took real effort to produce. A single strong op-ed, webinar or research report is enough to work from. 

Foresight is the best strategy, and the most efficient time to plan for it is before the original is made. If you know that a roundtable will become a blog and a short video, for example, you can make sure to brief the speakers and obtain a high-quality recording on the day. 

 Repurposing after the fact can still work, though it is naturally a slower process. Reviewing your older pieces may be worthwhile. If you have content that addresses a particular question your clients have kept asking, it might have the potential to find a new life in another format.

Blog to social post 

A 1,000-word blog will make several distinct points – perhaps three or four. Many of these will be able to stand on their own as a LinkedIn post, a carousel or a short video; provided that the copy is edited for that platform, not directly pasted from the original. Those who interact with these shorter excerpts can be directed back to the blog itself. 

Video to audio 

With a little production magic, a recorded panel or interview can be edited into a podcast episode. The distinguishing work will be the quality of the editing. This could mean adding an introduction for those who weren’t in the room and cutting small gaps in conversation.   

Podcast to blog 

A blog is more than a big block of text, so a simple transcript of a podcast won’t generally make for engaging reading. Instead, you can pull the strongest argument from the conversation and restructure it around the question that a reader would type into a search engine. With your speakers' approval, you can use their best lines as quotes. As LLMs become ever more important, written versions of your audio content may give you greater prominence in AI searches. 

Feature to LinkedIn article 

Long-form content, such as a case study or whitepaper, can be reworked for a LinkedIn article. Take one strong point and reframe it for a professional key takeaway. Users on LinkedIn respond well to insights, so lead with the conclusion, and back it up with data. You don’t need only to repurpose the content either, you can link back to the original source and drive additional traffic to your website. This can help your brand build authority in your sector and in search – whilst also allowing LLMs to find your content more easily.

How can I repurpose content? 

Choose a well-constructed piece, or one that has already performed well. Then strip it back to its core ideas, before considering how to adapt each one to the format and audience of the platform you are targeting. 

Is repurposing content bad for SEO?

No. Search engines penalise duplicated pages, not ideas expressed in new formats. When you adapt content and target different search terms, you may can actually strengthen your rankings. 

Which content is best to repurpose? 

Pieces built on original insight will survive the adaptation process. This might be original research, expert opinion and case studies, or thoughtful pieces that stay relevant beyond a single news cycle. 

How many times can one piece be repurposed? 

As many as the material, and your audience, will support. A substantial whitepaper might yield more than a dozen assets, while a short news item could provide one or two. 

Does repurposed content help with AI search? 

Yes. LinkedIn articles and earned media coverage are among the sources large language models draw on, so publishing your ideas there makes them more likely to be cited. 

Turning a single piece into a suite of content is an important marketing ability to have, and it works best when one team handles it from the beginning. As a full-service agency, Cartwright’s specialists can take a single piece of content and turn it into crafted LinkedIn articles, earned media, paid and organic social and more. That comprehensive approach makes the difference in reaching your audience and the AI tools they now use.  

Get in touch with Cartwright to talk about how to get the best out of your messaging – and we’ll write the rest, for whichever medium will drive your brand’s authority and engagement.