Repurposing Content for Podcasts: Why and How To Do It
- Why Should You Be Repurposing Content for Podcasts?
- How To Start Repurposing Content for Podcasts
- How To Repurpose Blog Content for Podcasts
- How To Repurpose Videos Content for Podcasts
Why Should You Be Repurposing Blog Content for Podcasts?
Image via iStock by tanatat
Repurposing content for podcasts is a strategy that marketers use to take one piece of content and reuse it for another goal. The message and main ideas are usually still intact, but the format might be different, or the messaging might target a new group of people.
For example, you could gather data from your research and make a white paper. Then, use some of that information to create an infographic for other websites. You could also write a blog post using the data and turn charts into social media graphics. With content marketing, there are so many ways to get the most value from your assets. Here are some of the benefits of repurposing blog content for podcasts:
Reduce Production Time
Repurposing your existing content will help you save valuable content production time. It will also help you churn out new episodes quickly and easily. Think about all the work it takes to make an excellent article or produce a helpful video. You’ve got to start with brainstorming and researching data and keywords. Then you have the actual writing, recording, and editing.
But with previously published content, you’ve already done the heavy lifting in terms of creation. By repurposing your content for a podcast, you can breathe new life into it and continue to reap the benefits for years to come. Updating, revising, and reusing are all great ways to do this.
Grow Your Audience
In addition, using existing content can help you attract new leads. Think about it this way: if your blog readers are unaware that you produce a podcast, you can introduce them to your show by interlinking to recent episodes on your brand’s site, in newsletters, on social, and in blog posts. This leads to new listeners, which can also help further your brand’s reach when users search for podcasts on your industry topics. So repurposing your old content for a podcast could be just the thing to help you reach and engage with new audiences.
Get Long-Term Value
Reusing content for podcasts can also help you get more mileage from your efforts. Converting one content type to another can also amplify its reach. Think about it this way: you can select several top-performing evergreen posts and pull out the key points to discuss in a podcast. This also gives your brand more opportunities to continue promoting the marketing messages you’ve already developed.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to tune in: How To Create and Scale Content with Dave Snyder
Improve SERP Rankings
Reusing content you have already produced can help build your brand’s online presence even more. You can stay consistent in your content strategy by sharing relevant material without generating it from scratch. Your SEO efforts also benefit from repurposing content for podcasts. For example, teams can target primary keywords from content when creating promotional messaging around your business’s podcast. This not only improves on-page SEO for the original content, but it can help improve SERP rankings for your podcast channel, too.
Create Personalized Content
Reusing old content can also help you cater to your audience and deliver information in their preferred format. Some of your customers may like to scan long-form articles. Others might enjoy watching videos. Still, others might pick audio if they have the choice. Repackaging your messaging into different forms is a service to your audience.
Promote Your Messaging
Chances are you probably have lots of different content at your disposal. You might not have considered it as fodder for your podcast. You can turn your FAQ section, social media threads, and more into new podcast episodes. Reusing content will also help you have consistent messaging across all of your content types. By covering the same content pillars among your different types of content, you will create a cohesive marketing strategy that your audience can follow.
Read more here: Benefits of Marketing with Podcasts
How To Start Repurposing Content for Podcasts
Getting started with repurposing your brand’s content for podcasts takes a bit of planning. Using the approaches below, you can find and select the most suitable content to use in a podcast strategy:
1. Do a Content Audit
The first step in reusing your existing content for podcasts is performing a content audit. What content do you already have? What types are teams producing? Do you have a lot of eBooks, white papers, or in-depth guides? Make a list of the types of content you already have. Using these, create a series of talking points around evergreen topics that your audience can come back to at any time.
2. Touch on Trends
Audit your content and note all the topics you covered in the past—including website and social media content. Look at top-traffic pages and articles to see what audiences engage with the most. What trends do you notice with your content topics? What social media content gets the most interaction? This data will offer insights into the issues that interest your audience the most, giving you diverse subjects to focus on in your podcast.
3. Identify New Topics and Unique Angles
Take it a step further by looking for topics you haven’t covered yet in your podcast. Approach topics from more unique angles. For example, what topics do audiences search for that you haven’t touched on? These insights tell you more about the subjects you should target when repurposing blog content for podcasts.
And while you may have lots of different content, blog posts might be the easiest to turn into podcasts. This is because you can choose content pillars from your blog that can serve as seasonal themes for your podcast. Then, you can create clusters that outline multiple podcast episodes within a series.
Related: How To Repurpose Content Effectively
How To Repurpose Blog Content for Podcasts
The first step is to pick the proper blog posts to repurpose into podcast episodes. First, check out your website analytics to determine how much traffic your site gets. Search for the blog posts that get the most hits and hold your audience’s attention. This data can tell you what types of content and topics audiences want to see.
And these are the topics that resonate with your blog audience, so they’re the best places to start. Beginning with the top five posts, follow these steps to repurpose blog content for podcasts:
1. Do a Read Through
Start by reading your blog post aloud to get a feel for how the content will flow as a podcast episode. Depending on your blog style, you might feel comfortable recording a podcast episode simply by referring to the post and ad-libbing remarks as you see fit. You can pause at different places for breaks and then add transitions to help move the episode along. If reading your post aloud sounds odd, make adjustments so the content sounds natural from a conversational perspective.
2. Identify and Organize Key Takeaways
Making a bulleted list of key points gives teams a reference when repurposing blog content for different podcast styles. Grab the key takeaways and organize to touch on each part as your team creates the podcast. If there are many takeaways to include, think about structuring it as a series. Bullet points make excellent markers for breaking apart long texts into outlines that span several episodes that audiences will be more likely to engage with.
Think about it this way: if your blog is just over 2,000 words long, it doesn’t mean you should create a two-hour-long episode to cover it all. In fact, it’s better that your podcast doesn’t go longer than 45 minutes to an hour. People don’t want to have to work to understand what you’re saying. So separating these key talking points into a series-long deep dive can mean your business podcasts create more long-term value.
3. Change Your Messaging Sequence
With blog posts, the structure typically includes an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion. And while this framework works for this type of content, it doesn’t always work so well for podcasts. Instead of starting at the beginning and working your way to the end, start in the middle. Find the most exciting part of your blog post. This is usually the part that hooks the audience and keeps them there. Using this as the main talking point, add supporting information to flesh out the episode.
Related: How To Create and Reuse Evergreen Digital Content
4. Include Interviews and Roundtable Discussions
If you have a complex blog post or article, recording an interview could be a great way to simplify the content for your listeners. You can interview someone knowledgeable about the topic. This approach will give your listeners the main ideas for your blog post in a more entertaining way. Another way to break down a complex blog post is to host a roundtable discussion.
You can achieve this with just a few people. Plus, this format is perfect for exploring diverse perspectives on an idea and getting a lively discussion going. In both options, you can take the main points of the blog post and use them as topics for discussion. You can even provide these talking points to your guests ahead of time so they can frame their remarks.
5. Create Scripts
Consider writing a podcast script from your blog post for the very best safety net. Draft all of your points in a conversational way. Read it aloud and check for places that feel wordy or don’t flow well in conversational speech. Simplify these sentences and swap out big words for shorter ones. Your script should feel natural and sound the way you would actually speak.
6. Add Commentary
If you have extra information that didn’t make it into the blog post, now’s your chance to include it as a content add-on. Is there a timely or seasonal tie-in you should add to the episode? Is there a conversational anecdote that would connect to the podcast version of your message? You can also use this opportunity to share your own opinion.
7. Integrate Podcast Elements
Make sure you add an intro that makes sense for your episode topic. Outros usually wrap up your episode and include a call to action. One idea is an invitation to follow your company on social media. You might want to have music, sound effects, and mid-roll ads. You can choose a regular podcast host who can introduce each episode. The host can give your podcast continuity and establish credibility with your audience.
Be sure to develop show notes for each episode. You can post these on your website and a link to the episode. Your original blog post can be beneficial with this step. In addition, the SEO research you did for the blog post can give you keywords that you can use in the podcast title and description. You can also refer to your original blog to create social media blurbs to promote the podcast episode.
Read more: 8 Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Blog Content (and Why You Absolutely Should)
How To Repurpose Video Content for Podcasts
What if your company has a lot of recorded videos on your YouTube channel? Or webinars or live streams? While it may be tempting to just strip the audio out from the video file and edit it into a podcast, there are a few things to consider. Here are several steps to follow when picking old videos to turn into podcast episodes:
1. Check Audio Quality
Consider whether or not your video has high-quality audio. This is especially true in social media live streams with multiple parties. You might have used a high-quality microphone, but your guest might not have. While the regular smartphone mics often used in these videos are fine for social media, they may not be clear enough for a podcast. Since podcasts are audio-only formats, the audio clarity of your podcast can really make or break its success.
2. Consider the Type of Video
Before repurposing video content into podcast episodes, it’s important to think about the type of video content you’re using. For example, video tutorials with diagrams or infographics aren’t the best types to repurpose into podcasts. They rely too much on visual references. But you can absolutely still create podcasts around the same topic. You might just need to consider alternative ways to make your point without having to rely on visuals.
Be sure to listen: CopyPress’s Content Marketing Podcast
3. Use the Right Length
How long is the video you want to turn into a podcast? You may consider breaking it up into two or more episodes if it’s over an hour. Or your team can develop plans for different podcast styles to create shorter episodes that appeal to the entire audience. Cutting the length down is often better to hold your listeners’ attention. On the other hand, you don’t want to make your podcast episodes too brief. If you’re falling short and only have a few minutes of material, consider adding more key points or expanding on the ones you’re including.
Repurposing your content for podcasts is a great way to save time and attract new listeners. With a little planning, you can quickly turn your existing content into high-quality episodes that your listeners will love. Choose a theme, break it down into smaller topics, and identify the critical points you want to make. From there, find existing blog posts, articles, or other content that address each point to develop your podcast episode.
Get Started Repurposing Content for Your Podcast
Repurposing and optimizing shouldn’t be one-time strategies. To improve your distribution and boost your marketing efforts, add optimization to your regular content workflow. As your team updates existing content, you can find the best pieces to repurpose for podcasts.
Are you ready to level up your content marketing approaches? CopyPress has the tools you need. Schedule a strategy call today to learn more about how we can help you create a content plan that boosts engagement, drives traffic, and increases conversions.
Digital Marketing Manager at CopyPress
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