Out of Content Ideas? 5 Quick Ways to Reuse What You Already Have

Even the most inventive content creators can struggle with ideas. The constant pressure for consistency can get pretending demanding. However, you don't have to stare at a blank document until inspiration shows up. Chances are, your company already has useful material sitting in some of your old content. Put it to use with content repurposing.

Content Marketing Institute defines content repurposing as refreshing, transforming, or recycling existing content into new formats. It can help companies get more mileage out of work they have already done without recreating every idea from scratch.

Here are five easy places to start.

1. Turn One Blog Post Into Several Smaller Posts

You do not need a new idea every time you post on LinkedIn. Pull one argument, statistic, example, tip, or section from an existing article and build a short post around it. A five-section blog can easily provide five different social posts without copying and pasting the article itself.

Content Marketing Institute recommends thinking about repurposing from the beginning and planning how one piece can become social posts, carousels, email content, and other assets.

2. Turn Sales Questions Into Content

Ask your sales team what prospects keep asking. If the same question comes up repeatedly on sales calls, there is probably a piece of content hiding inside it. Turn the answer into a blog post, FAQ, LinkedIn post, short video, or email. This is especially useful because you already know the topic matters to prospective customers.

3. Turn a Webinar or Podcast Into Written Content

A 30-minute conversation can contain weeks of material. Pull out the strongest discussion and turn it into an article. Use individual answers for social posts. Extract memorable quotes for graphics. Group several related points into an email.

The original content has already done the hard work. The ideas already exist. You are simply changing the format. Semrush notes that content repurposing can help businesses increase content production and reach audiences across different platforms without starting from zero every time.

4. Update an Old High-Performing Piece

Repurposing does not always mean changing formats. Look through your older blogs and find something that performed well but is now dated. Update the statistics. Replace old examples. Add a new section. Strengthen the introduction. Then redistribute it. You already know the topic has potential, which makes it a much stronger starting point than picking an idea at random.

5. Turn One Big Asset Into a Series

White papers, research reports, case studies, ebooks, and presentations usually contain multiple standalone ideas. Instead of promoting the asset once, break it apart. One report might become three articles, six LinkedIn posts, an email series, a customer FAQ, and a sales handout.

You are not repeating yourself. People consume information in different places and formats. HubSpot notes that repurposing existing content into new formats can help it reach audience segments that may never have encountered the original.

Before You Create Something New, Look Back

Creating content consistently does not require producing an entirely new idea every day.

In fact, Content Marketing Institute found that 37% of B2B marketers struggle with content repurposing, while 39% struggle with producing enough content.

Those two problems may have the same solution. Before you open another blank document, look at what your company has already created. There is probably more content there than you think.

Borrowed Pen can help you find it, refresh it, and turn it into content you can actually use across your website, sales materials, email, and social channels. If your content library needs a second life, let’s put it back to work.