17 sustainable marketing techniques to reuse and repurpose content

“Content is King!” said Microsoft mogul Bill Gates in 1996, changing the course of marketing forever. But that was only the beginning.

We understand that content is key to marketing success. But how can already-stretched marketing teams keep up with the pace and volume of content marketing requirements? And, how can they maintain the quality at the same time? The king demands a tithe and we marketers must pay.

While we don’t recommend cheap content, there is another way. Several, actually. Listed below are 17 marketing techniques that will help you reuse and repurpose your existing content, making it do all the legwork while you can have a well-earned rest.

Keeping up with the content marketing evolution

When Google released its first Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) study, content marketing became the key focus of every successful marketer. The research found that 88 percent of buyers conducted product research before making a decision. This gave businesses a new understanding of the role their content played and why they needed to take control of their online presence.

Later, when the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by storm, marketers and consumers experienced another seismic shift in content marketing. According to a study by Mediafly, the pandemic increased content usage by 207 percent. It's no wonder, then, that only a few years later, 50 percent of marketers said they planned to increase their investment in content marketing in 2024.

At Articulate, we want to help you build a sustainable content marketing strategy. One that delivers value and meets the demands of the fast-paced digital world.

What is a sustainable content marketing strategy?

A sustainable content marketing strategy is a plan that enables marketers to maintain a steady rate of content production.

We like to think of developing a sustainable content strategy as being a lot like building a capsule wardrobe. Stay with us here.

The primary benefit of a capsule wardrobe is its sustainability. The process consists of investing in high-quality, timeless pieces that you can wear time and time again (in several different ways). It is less about jumping on the latest trends to stay current, but instead, curating a ‘capsule’ of versatile, long-lasting items that will serve you for much, much longer.

So, how can we apply this principle to content marketing?

The benefits of recycling content

Content recycling and repurposing have several benefits. Marketing teams (and the wider business) can enjoy the following:

• Content repurposing saves your team valuable time. This applies to generating content ideas and writing content pieces from scratch.
• Sustainable content marketing aligns your content with a specified topic or target keyword. This helps everyone stay focused, on track and prioritises important marketing goals.
• Content recycling helps you scale. It increases the amount of quality content you can produce and the amount of people that will see it. This way, every piece of content reaches its full potential and gets the engagement it deserves.
• It can give your SEO a boost. Creating many content pieces centred around one topic shows Google (and other search engines) that you have expertise in that area.

Five tips for a sustainable content marketing strategy

Let’s go back to thinking about your content hub as a capsule wardrobe here. You want to fill it with the best while ensuring you still have enough and you don’t miss out on some of the shorter-lived trends that are perfect for you. Here’s how to get started.

1. Choose quality over quantity. It’s clear from the content evolution that your audience wants content. And they want it now. But it’s critical to prioritise quality over quantity. Don’t churn out content you aren’t proud of, as this will have a negative impact on SEO performance and your reputation.
2. Focus on versatility and evergreen content. When building your content strategy, start with the big picture. What topics are always crucial in your industry? Which keywords do you need to rank for consistently? And what can you write thousands of (interesting, informative, and engaging) words about? Begin here. Then, start building out longer-form pillar pages that you can add to over time, but take a more permanent residence on your website.
3. Then, turn one piece into several. Now you have a rich, insightful pillar page(s) on your site. Use this to fuel your wider content strategy. Examine the page and identify breakout topics that could fuel shorter content pieces (like blog posts, articles or videos, for example). Remember, it’s not a case of copy, paste and upload. Every piece of content you create must be unique, well-written, search engine-optimised and valuable to your readers. We’ll explore several ways to recycle and repurpose your content further down this article.
4. Add, adjust and update. Sometimes, even the most ‘timeless’ pieces could do with a little modernisation. Check facts, stats, dates and information are all up-to-date within your evergreen content. You may need to conduct a little research, identify some new sources or even make a few changes. But, the sentiment and the body of the page will almost always remain the same. This way, you can stay relevant while ensuring you don’t undo the hard SEO work you’ve been doing over time. Plus, you won’t need to write a whole new piece of content. And, then, republish that content with a byline saying the original publication date and when it was last updated. It’s a win for everyone!
5. Limit trends (but don’t ignore them). As a successful marketer, you must be ahead of the latest trends. You’ll need to know what’s going on in your industry, the next big changes to Google’s algorithm, which new TikTok sound the kids are lip-syncing to... But being aware of trends is one thing; taking part in them is a different beast. It is up to you to decide which trends are worth investing your resources in. Is it relevant to your business and audience? Is it achievable within your budget, staffing and time constraints? If the answer is yes, then it’s worth it. But remember: marketing trends move hyper-fast. Jumping on them too late can cause more harm than good.

Ten ways to reuse and repurpose marketing content

Content marketing has long-since moved past writing blog posts alone. It's crucial to think outside the box to make your content stand out. You want to build a strategy that’s more dynamic, more engaging and more digestible.

Here are 10 ways to reuse and repurpose your content to build a sustainable marketing strategy:

1. Use the macro to fuel the micro. Picture your content strategy as an upside-down pyramid. Or an ice cream cone (not to be confused with a marketing funnel). Your rich, informative, search engine-optimised pillar pages make up the largest section at the top. You'll need to use the top section to fuel the middle of the pyramid. These are your medium-length content pieces, like blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts, webinars and so on. Then, right at the bottom is your micro-content. Think social media posts, email newsletters, infographics and other ‘bitesize’ or short-form content. This way, everything flows from the top down.
2. Create gated content offers. According to Optinmonster, one of its clients saw a massive 62 percent increase in conversions and a 100 percent increase in email subscribers thanks to gated content. Consider turning a series of your best content pieces into a high-value piece of gated content. Host it on a dynamic landing page, share the offer across your social media channels and send it via email marketing. Track its success as a lead generation tool, always assessing the quality of leads and not the quantity alone.
3. Digestible and downloadable content. Think listicles, hacks and tips, infographics and downloadable guides. These digestible and shareable assets make great tools for sales and customer-facing teams. And, you can make downloadable content easily by adding forms or pop-ups that offer the chance to download an asset or even a whole article. (Trust us, people do download articles as PDFs and are willing to give their email address for the privilege. It’s counter-intuitive but we’ve seen hundreds of leads come into our database using this simple trick on several of our blogs. Try it!)
4. Snippets and stats for social media. Try taking snippets, stats and quotes from your content and turning them into engaging images, videos, GIFs and more. Try uploading existing articles onto LinkedIn, running polls on Instagram Stories and even creating videos of your tips or hacks for TikTok and Reels. Using in-platform features on social media is a great way to maximise your content's reach!
5. Email newsletters. Share new and engaging content with your email database. Fuel your company newsletter with recent content pieces or consider tailoring your content to different audience segments to deliver a bespoke experience. You could even turn a collection of articles into a weekly set of email lessons, like this one.
6. Webinars and podcasts. Whether you run your own webinars and podcasts or appear as a guest on others’, your content can act as an engaging and insightful conversation starter. Come armed with facts, stats, headlines and snippets. If you've been a part of previous webinars and podcasts as a thought leader, consider turning those into written content, too. Remember, this works both ways!
7. Videos and animations. According to a 2023 Wyzowl report, 96 percent of marketers agree that videos have helped increase users' understanding of their product or service. If video isn’t already a core part of your content strategy in 2024, it needs to be. Use your content to create a dynamic mix of video content. This should include long-form videos for YouTube and your website as well as bitesize videos for social media. Always check the specifications before creating the asset and include subtitles for accessibility.
8. Collaborate with the whole business. Speak to people across the organisation about the content you plan on creating. Sales, operations or customer-facing teams may have legacy documentation or assets you can repurpose into content. (At the very least, they will be able to provide you with insights into the kind of content customers and potential clients want and need.) Communication is key!
9. Include social proof. Case studies, reviews and testimonials are a huge benefit to businesses of any kind. Ask customers to provide you with testimonials and reviews, get approval to share impressive case studies and consider turning positive online reviews into social media assets.
10. Personalisation where possible. The more relatable the content, the more valuable it is. Consider taking a piece of content and tailoring it exclusively for key industries and use cases. This adds real value to your content and only requires a little bit of reframing. Plus, a McKinsey study found that businesses can generate as much as 40 percent more revenue with personalisation.

The dos and don’t of content recycling and content repurposing

By repurposing and recycling your successful content, you can rest assured that you’re keeping up with the pace, building search engine credibility and helping your business scale. Before you decide to embark on a content recycling journey, there are some things to consider. To ensure success, keep these two golden rules in mind:

1. Only repurpose what’s performing well. If something isn’t working, doing it twice isn’t going to help. That way madness lies. Always look at data (impressions, visitors, conversions and time spent on the page) before deciding what content you want to recycle and repurpose.
2. Don’t copy and paste. Repurposing content is smart marketing, not lazy marketing. To create SEO-friendly, engaging content, you can’t just copy and paste. Try exploring a different angle, updating stats and facts or even personalising it for a new audience. There are ways to be efficient and make the most of your content without plagiarising yourself.

We can’t be sure if Bill Gates knew what he was starting with that oh-so-quotable statement of his. But what we do know is that over 30 years later, the sentiment still rings true.

Content is still King — but this approach will make his reign more sustainable, cost-effective and equitable for you and your team. A modern-day king, if you will.

Click here to find out how we can help you get the most out of your content.