Going green: 10 ways to recycle content

Recycling isn’t just for the environment anymore. Recycling old content is a means of capitalizing on previously successful topics through rewording, remixing, and using different forms of media.  When done well, recycling content can help you save time and improve engagement.

10 simple ways you can make old content new again

1. Write an Ebook – Pull together content from related blog posts and assemble an ebook.

2. Make an infographic – Pull statistics from an assortment of blog posts and make an infographic.

3. Turn a blog into a video – If you had a popular blog post, create a video based on the same topic. Videos are highly shareable and will likely have a larger reach than a blog.

4. Narrow the focus – Use details and statistics to help build a blog around a specific part of an old post.

5. Embrace Slideshare –  You already had to make a slide show for a presentation, so why not share it with your audience?

6. Tweet interesting tidbits – Great quote from a blog post? Coworker say something memorable during a presentation? Tweet it.

7. Repurpose testimonials – With your clients’ permission, use their testimonials for content. You can create a graphic with the quote, use it as a conversation starter on Facebook, or use it as the basis of a blog post.

8. Turn a “Top 5” post into a series – Take an old “top 5” blog post and turn each of the five points into its own blog post.

9. Reflect – Reflect on an old post and write about how things have stayed the same or changed since writing the original.

10. Use customer comments – Take some of those questions you answer several times a day and create a blog or video to answer them.

Recycling content may seem like a faux pas, but as long as there is a significant change between the old and new content you are just taking advantage of an expert secret. Old content can hold a lot of value, so don’t let it go to waste.