There’s a lot of talk about repurposing content. But truth be told, not all content is easy to repurpose. The juicier the post, the more you’re able to squeeze it into new forms. So what makes a repurposable blog post?

A simple standard? It’s usually on the longer side and consists of multiple sections. And each of those sections contain standalone messages and hooks.

When you’re starting with a highly repurposable piece of content, the repurposing potential is endless, including:

• Microblogs for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn for each section
• Emails for each section
• Pins for each section
• Blog posts for each section (if the original source wasn’t a blog to begin with)
• YouTube videos for each section (if the original source wasn’t a YT video to begin with)
• Podcast episodes for each section (if the original source wasn’t a podcast episode to begin with)
• Short social videos for each section for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Pinterest
• Content Upgrade freebies for each section
• A Webinar or video training
• Discussion questions for each section
• Quotes or audiograms for each section
• A carousel for each section

To wow you with a little math, assuming 3 standalone sections, we’re talking 31-34 different pieces of content from a single source.

So are you ready to come to the repurposable side of the internet? Here’s the 3 key ingredients to a repurposable piece of content.

A Repurposable Outline

The first element of a highly repurposable piece of content comes before you actually create it. It starts with your outline. Generally (although there have been some exceptions with people who are really good at winging it on live videos), the best repurposable content I’ve created and received from clients to work with have been created with an intentional outline where each section is carefully thought through.

I have a few recommendations on how to create your outline:

#1 – Get Purpose-Driven

Start by getting clear on the purpose of the piece of content for yourself (the brand/business) and the content consumer (reader/watcher/listener).

Ask yourself: What is the purpose of this piece of content for me? What do I want people to do after consuming it? What is my call-to-action (CTA)?

Then ask yourself: What is the purpose of this piece of content for my audience? What will they gain from reading, watching or listening to it? What are their biggest takeaways? What are their goals for watching it?

#2 – Get Inquisitive

Once you have purpose on point, ask yourself: What are the questions this piece of content has to answer in order to deliver on those purposes? Ideally you want anywhere between 3-7 questions that could all be standalone sections in your content piece.

These questions might be in the form of different things to think about when approaching this topic (take this blog post, for example, which has 4 sections: The Power of Repurposable Content, A Repurposable Outline, A Repurposable Section, Repurposable No Matter What Format). Or they could be steps of an overall process.

#3 – Get Responsive

Once you’ve got the questions, it’s time to get the answers. For each question, write down at least 5 answer bullet points, plus jot down how the section (aka the question) relates to the overall topic and how the section (aka the question) could be read, watched or listened to as a solo piece of content (without the context from the rest of the post).

A Repurposable Section

The next component of a highly repurposable piece of content is to make sure that each section is optimized to repurpose.

The key thing is to make sure each piece: (1) delivers enough value on it’s own; and (2) can stand on its own and be understood without the context from the other sections around it.

Sometimes you might need to do a little rejigging to detangle it from the other sections, which is okay but just something to be aware of.

Here’s a little 3-part checklist to make each section repurposable:

☐ Create a hook for each section (what’s the thing that’s going to grab the attention of your audience when they read, watch or listen to it)

☐ Identify what pieces can be repurposed from the section into new pieces of content (number and types)

☐ Decide what needs to be added or removed to make this section stand on it’s own

Repurposable Blog Post No Matter What Format

Sometimes I’ll get “yes, buts…” when talking about creating repurposable content and it usually has to do with perceived limitations on the type of content they’re creating – like written versus podcasts versus video.

But you can really find a way to repurpose no matter what format.

Here’s a little “repurposable no matter what format” gameplan.

For Written Content: Create your outline and write each section with repurposing in mind (see previous sections for how). Then your written content can be repurposed as standalone microblogs, carousels, reels. Or if you ever want to expand to a new format (podcast or video), you can use your written blog as a base script.

For Podcast Content: Record your podcast after creating an outline with distinct sections or subtopics you’ll cover. Get a transcript of your podcast and clean it up. Just like with written, you can use the text as standalone microblogs, carousels, reels. But you can also use the audio sections as audiograms or micro podcasts or direct reels with your podcast as the sound.

For Video Content: Video content probably offers the most versatility when it comes to repurposing. In addition to all of the repurposing strategies covered already for written and podcast content, you can also use your video to create reels, shorts, video pins and TikToks.

The exact repurposing workflow is something that develops through doing, so just make sure to take a little extra time your first 3-5 times you’re figuring the process out to document your workflows and notes. That way, you’ll not only have repurposed content but also have your SOPs ready to start saving time with outsourcing or batching like tasks together.

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