How to Create a Content Repurposing Plan That Works for You

As discussed in our previous article about content repurposing, it is something that can provide incredible leverage if you keep at it.

However, many people feel it is simply too much work, or that it would cost to much to outsource. Others try to do too much, become overwhelmed, and quit.

The reality is that there is no “general plan” that will work for everybody. Your content repurposing plan will depend on a number of factors, and it will need to be sustainable.

It is better to start slowly and stick with it than to start in a rush and run out of steam.

How to Create a Content Repurposing Plan That Fits Your Life, Your Business, and Your Resources

Step 1: Assess your starting point

Where are you starting from?

What is your current situation in terms of resources and skills?

What types of content do you already have? Do you have only blog posts, or do you have old posts on social media, videos, audios, graphics, etc?

What are your strengths? Are you good at writing, or speaking, or graphic design?

What tools do you already use?

What social media accounts to you have set up, possibly with an existing following?

Finally, what would you realistically be able to produce each week, while taking into account whether you can afford to pay for tools or not?

Identify 5-10 pieces of existing content you can used or expanded as the basis for content repurposing.

Step 2: Identify your goals

What do you want to accomplish by repurposing your content?

Do you simply want more exposure?

Do you want to generate more leads or sales?

Do you want to grow brand awareness?

Do you want to funnel traffic to your blog or a Youtube channel?

Do you want to engage your existing followers?

Pick one primary goal and two secondary ones. Use these priorities to determine the messaging of your repurposed content.

Step 3: Choose platforms that match Your strengths and audience

Each platform caters for a different audience. For instance, Tiktok is geared more towards younger people, while Pinterest is used mostly by younger, affluent women. Youtube has a wide audience, but Facebook tends to be a more mature audience.

Determine who your audience is, and where they mostly hang out online.

Next, let’s look at your strengths:

Among all of the platforms where your audience spends time, which if these suit your strengths? If you prefer to write, then look at your blog, Medium and Linkedin.

If you find it easier to talk to people, look at creating videos and short form videos. These can be used on Youtube shorts, Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook reels, Linkedin video, X and Pinterest.

If you are good with creating visuals, you can look at Instagram, Pinterest, and even Facebook and X.

The one BIG question you need to ask yourself is this:

How many platforms can you – realistically – manage consistently? (Most people should start with 2, unless you have plenty of time, or enough money to outsource,)

Start small, and only expand once your system works.

Step 4: Choose your content formats

Based on your strengths, create a simple repurposing formula that fits both your strengths and your audience.

For instance:

A blog post can be broken up into several Linkedin posts, A youtube video and several shorts, a carousel and graphics.

If you start with a long form video, it can be repackaged into a summary on your blog, short form videos, audio for a podcast, and a newsletter email.

If you start with a podcast, you can use the transcript for a blog post and a tweet thread, and graphics or carousels with quotes and extracts from the podcast.

Pick 3-5 formats that you feel comfortable with.

Step 5: Create a repurposing workflow

Based on your strengths, your resources and your target audience, it is time to compile a sustainable workflow.

What are you starting with? Is it a blog post, audio or video, or even a newsletter?

Break it down into small, specific talking points.

Break it down (key points, quotes, stats, tips)

Assign each point to a format.

Create, and schedule each piece across the appropriate platforms.

Track what works well, and double down on that.

For instance:

Once every two weeks, you publish a blog post. From that blog post you create three social media posts and three short form videos.

If you publish to say, Youtube, Instagram and Facebook, That gives you 15 additional points of entry (9 video posts, 6 social posts). That will go a long way to bridging the two week gap between blog posts.

Step 6: Adapt your content plan for your unique circumstances

In order to come up with a sustainable plan, you need to take a number of factors into account:

The time you have available, or the amount of outsourced time you can afford to pay for.

If you do it yourself, consider your energy levels.

If you delegate it, would the responsible person/s be working solo or as a team?

How fast does your industry move? Will that which you create today still be relevant by the time you create your next piece of base content? Is your content evergreen, or does it need to correlate to industry events?

What is your – or your delegates’/outsourced worker/s – capacity to create batch content?

Does your target audience prefer quality or quantity?

What your audience cares about most.

Step 7: Track, review & improve

DO NOT stress over every piece of content every day. In order to identify patterns, you need to be able to see the bigger picture.

In order to see the bigger picture, you need more data. Review your results monthly, unless you operate in a fast-paced industry.

Take note of the following:

Which platforms actually delivered traffic to your targeted page?

Which formats got the most engagement and exposure?

What took too long to create, relative to the exposure received?

Which items or steps can be automated or simplified next month?

Keep in mind that you need to be realistic too – if you are posting to a platform on which you have few or no followers, you will need to give it time to grow. But posting regularly will help you achieve that.

10. In conclusion

This is the bottom line you need to keep in mind:

Your personalized content repurposing plan will be:

Sustainable

Flexible/adaptable

Based on strengths

Focused on goals

And will evolve over time

Start small, and track your progress. Once you have enough data, start refining, and along the way, look for ways in which you can improve your system – using things like scheduling tools (because each platform has its own ideal posting times), creative tools, and even generative AI tools.