Question: We recently read an article here about “Content Upcycling.” Can you give us a 101 as to what it is and how it can help us?
There may be nothing that I love more than when one piece of content leads to questions that I can answer in another piece of content. In fact, that may be one really great way to explain “Content Upcycling.”
In the simplest form, what we have done is prolonged the life of a piece of content by extending the discussion and creating more content on the same article. This of course is just one version of “Upcycling” but in all actuality there are many.
Most marketers know that great content isn’t easy to create. Whether a blog post, infographic, white paper, video or something else, it takes time and money to create compelling content. However, we also know that in the new digital world we live in, content is key for driving demand for a large number of products, services and industries.
Because it takes so much time and energy to effectively create new content, we have been spreading the concept of “Upcycling” as a way to make each piece of content go further. This is done via a mix of content, syndication, reformatting and promotion. For example.
I write an article about quick wins in Social Media. The article has some level of success here on the blog. But let’s talk about taking it further. What will I do?
- I will syndicate it to at least 3-4 other sites including my other blog Millennial CEO and my LinkedIn Publisher page. I also frequently syndicate content to SAP, Social Media Today and Business 2 Community to name a few.
- Create a simple Slideshare with 5-6 total slides including a header, the four points from the post (list) and a closing (take action) slide where readers can connect with our company.
- Do a short video (1-2 minutes) such as one of our “I Social Talks” where we discuss the topic for the visual crowd.
- Make the topic a subject of one of our community chats such as #SSHour or one of our impending community talks like CMO or Cloud Talk which will start in September (more on that later)
Within each of the 4 items above there are a multitude of Upcycling opportunities such as posting these articles in entirety within our LinkedIn Company page or in a group on LinkedIn. Also sharing them on G+ and other social properties not only as we create and publish them, but on schedule as part of a social plan to keep content relevant beyond the immediate publishing date.
Upcycling is so much more than just creating content and syndicating it. Upcycling is taking every piece of content and making it reach further. Specifically getting it in front of more of the people who have the potential to be customers, clients or brand evangelists.
Ask yourself this question, what could upcycling do for your business? ?
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