This article was last updated Jul. 29, 2023.
I recently heard from a friend on Facebook who was talking about the cost of content marketing. He felt that it was hard to quantify the value of content when compared to other advertising. After all, if you take out a paid ad and someone calls, that's a clear and direct ROI. Content marketing isn't always so simple.
My response is that, unlike a one-time, standalone ad campaign, content marketing continues to create an impact hour-by-hour, day-by-day. If you're creating your own content, the cost is almost nothing; if you're outsourcing, you pay once -- for a blog post, a social media campaign, or a graphic element -- and continue to gain SEO, share on social media, or include in email blasts for months or even years.
The other major advantage of content marketing is the ability to repurpose one piece of content into a variety of formats and platforms. Spend the time or money to create one blog post, then leverage that content in multiple ways that continue to create interest and bring in warm leads.
Just like love languages, your message should be differentiated for the various audiences you want to reach. Don't get stuck in one style of messaging. Change it up and watch it go further.
One Blog Post; Five Easy Ways to Repurpose
Imagine you write or purchase a blog post. It should be a minimum of 300 words, but most range from 700-1000 words. Want big SEO impact? A 2000-word longform blog can really give you a boost.
Quote Card
For the purposes of this exercise, I'm taking as my model a blog post from a few weeks ago: 25 ways to justify your buyer commission
Create a graphic element using a quote from the blog post. Perhaps you'll make this an Instagram graphic when you roll out the post. Maybe you'll use it as a graphic on Twitter once a week or on Facebook once a month to direct new followers to this piece of evergreen content.
A quote card like this will also make a lovely addition to your email blast, adding a visual element to the text there and directing your sphere to your blog post.
Video or Podcast
Next, if you have a YouTube channel or upload videos with Facebook Live or IGTV, you can use the information in the blog post to create a video version. Use the main points of the blog post as a guide and speak to potential clients in your own voice.
Here's a video that I did based on this blog post: The One Best Technique To Instantly Improve Your Property Descriptions
Have a podcast or participate regularly in someone else's? Use the blog topic as the jumping off point for your conversation.
Infographic
Want to create a shorthand version of your blog post? An infographic is a great idea. I made this one in Canva, a user-friendly graphic design platform. It's designed around the information in an Inman article I wrote: 30 real estate business etiquette rules Miss Manners never covered
Infographics are fun, shareable, and communicate your message in a quick and easy way for those who can't or won't take the time to read an entire post.
Whitepaper
Want to add a graphic element to the full text of your blog post? A whitepaper offers you the opportunity to repurpose the original text with graphic elements that make it really pop. You can then offer the pdf of your whitepaper as an incentive when people subscribe to your email or blog, or when they reach out to you for information about your services.
Click on the button below to access a pdf version of the whitepaper I created to accompany a Content Marketing v. Paid Leads blog post.
Don't Forget to Distribute Your Content!
One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is their failure to properly distribute their content. If you have a new blog post, video, or podcast episode, make sure you're sharing that link on social media and boosting those posts that get good responses. Join Facebook or LinkedIn groups to get additional page views and more followers and likes.
Use a social media scheduling platform to roll out links and graphic elements. Buffer is a great way to pre-schedule your social media shares, or automate them across platforms with IFTTT (If This, Then That).
Have trouble remembering all of the different content and keeping up with when you last shared it? The answer may be as simple as setting up a content calendar with reminders of which article, video, episode, or graphic to post on which days.
Are you a big Instagram user? Don't forget to link to individual content pieces when you post them. Post about your latest blog, then share that post in Stories with a link. Create a Reel as well to talk about the topic you've covered. You can truly use one concept and convert it into a host of different channels of communication.
Remember, people learn in different ways. For visual learners, there are graphics, infographics, and videos. For auditory learners, there are podcasts. For those who retain written material best, create blog posts and quote cards. For those who need high touch-high engagement, consider event marketing, workshops, or community activities.