Using AI to Repurpose Your Content

Repurposing content is a strategic approach for maximizing the value of your existing content. By transforming a single piece of content into different formats, you can expand its reach, engage different audiences, and optimize your marketing efforts.

Key benefits of content repurposing include:

• Increased reach by distributing content across multiple platforms to tap into new audiences and expand your brand’s visibility.
• Improved SEO, since reusing content in different formats can help you rank higher in search engine results and drive more organic traffic to your website.
• Enhanced engagement, as different content formats appeal to different audiences.
• Better cost efficiency because creating content from scratch is time-consuming and resource-intensive. “Recycling” existing content saves time and money while maintaining a consistent brand message.
• Improved data-driven optimization, since analyzing the performance of repurposed content yields valuable insights into audience preferences and informs future content creation efforts.

Where to repurpose content

Maximize the impact of your content by repurposing it across different channels. Transforming one blog into different formats taps into the key benefits mentioned above. Here are some examples:

• Social Media: Transform blog posts into engaging social media graphics, videos, or short-form content.
• Email Marketing: Repurpose blog posts into email newsletters, highlighting key takeaways or offering exclusive content to subscribers.
• Video Content: Create video tutorials, explainer videos, or webinars based on blog articles or presentations.
• Infographics and Visuals: Transform data-driven blog posts into visually appealing infographics or presentations.
• Podcasts and Webinars: Convert blog content into audio or video formats for different consumption preferences.
• Paid Advertising: Repurpose high-performing content into paid ad campaigns to reach a wider audience.

Please note that while repurposing content is great, you should avoid creating duplicate content. Search engines will penalize websites with carbon-copy content and negatively impact SEO efforts. 

AI’s time to shine

Debates have raged for months about the wisdom of relying solely on AI to generate content. It can generate content faster than people, and it’s less expensive than a team of writers. Because it accesses millions of pages online, it’s handy for finding keywords to improve SEO. And if you’re really stuck on how to start, it’s great for brainstorming and beating writer’s block.

A few caveats:

• Where AI still falls short, however, is in its ability to infuse new content with nuance, creativity, and accuracy. AI-generated content often lacks depth, originality, and sometimes even coherence. Because it relies on existing data, its output is often generic or repetitive. 
• AI tools sometimes inadvertently generate content closely resembling existing material, raising concerns about plagiarism. Search engines like Google prioritize original, high-quality content and may penalize AI-generated content that’s found to be low-quality or duplicate.
• AI simply can’t replicate the creativity, empathy, and storytelling abilities of human writers. While it can generate basic text — a great starting point — it struggles to produce engaging, emotionally resonant content that connects with audiences on a deeper level.

Best practices for AI prompts

So how can you use AI to help repurpose content? Glad you asked!

The key is in the prompts you “feed” AI, whether you’re using ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or a different GenAI platform. The better you engineer your prompts, the better your results. Follow these tips.

1. Be clear and specific. Include details like desired word count, specific topics or subtopics, and unique angles or perspectives to add.
   • Ex: “Write an 800-word article based on the information below and emphasize the value of X and Y (topics from the original article).” Then, paste the original article below your prompt.
2. Give examples of the style you’d like the AI to emulate. Add snippets from other articles in the style you want. Describe the characteristics you want the AI to use (and avoid).
   • Ex: “Write in a style similar to the New York Times education section. Be engaging and informative and incorporate storytelling. Avoid technical jargon but do explain complex concepts for broader understanding. Similies and metaphors are ok.”
3. Do provide context, because the more background info you can feed the AI, the better the output it generates. Your prompt could include:
   • Intended audiences — Writing for parents? Students? Professionals? 
   • Purpose — Informative? Thought leadership? How-to guide?
   • Medium — Social post? Blog post? YouTube?
   • Brand voice — Incorporate specifics from your organization’s style guideEx: “Use the content below to write a Facebook post for high school students considering STEM majors. The tone should be informative and approachable or casual.”
4. Shortening a longer article? Break it down. If you’ve got a 1,200+ word article you’re reversioning for a shorter blog, newsletter, or social media post, “feed” it to AI in chunks, especially if you want to focus and expand on one section of the original in the new article.
   • Ex: “Develop the section on X into a 600-word blog post, expanding where appropriate.” or paste the section into AI and use this prompt: “Pull out the three key takeaways from this section and create a LinkedIn post that highlights their value for college admissions officers.”
5. Try different angles. Your first prompt might not generate the best results, and that’s okay. Use variations on a theme to keep refining. You may end up with multiple results that you can blend into a single new piece of content.
   • Ex: “Extrapolate from this article the value of a performing or visual arts degree to a parent worried their child won’t find a job after graduation” is more specific than “Write another article based on this one about the value of a PVA degree.”
6. Optimize for SEO. Incorporating SEO best practices in your AI prompts will help boost your content’s online visibility. Include the target keywords and specify content structure (like headings and subheadings) in your prompt.
   • Ex: “Rewrite the following article in about 1000 words and incorporate the following keywords “X,” “Y,” and “Z” as well as these subheadings “A” and “B” where appropriate. Include a 2-sentence description (dek) for a featured snippet in a newsletter advertising this new blog.”

Final thoughts

Generating high-quality, original content is essential for cutting through the noise and capturing audience attention in today’s saturated digital landscape. Transforming existing content into new formats and distributing it across multiple channels empowers organizations to maximize their impact and reach wider audiences. 

Successful content marketing hinges on the ability to repurpose effectively. When used effectively, AI can help give your content new life, extending its reach, increasing engagement, saving time and money, and driving better results.