The greatest hits: Repurposing your best content for social media

In today’s crowded social media landscape, social marketers know how challenging it can be to get their brand’s content to rise above the noise. Throw in the fact that many social media algorithms prioritize relevance over chronological order and social teams find themselves posting all kinds of content to see what sticks and what doesn’t.

But trying to identify relevant content for multiple social networks all the time is exhausting—and costly. And, frankly, some days you don’t have the time to create fresh social content from scratch.

When it comes to social content creation, it pays to work smarter, not harder. Instead of constantly coming up with new ideas, social marketers should look at what they already have and repurpose their top-performing blog posts, videos, reports, white papers and more.

In this article, we’ll discuss repurposing content for social media and how to make your content work for you, instead of the other way around.

Why it pays to repurpose content for social media

There are many strategic benefits to repurposing content for social media.

What does this process look like in practice? The Sprout Social Index™ is our annual data report that speaks to the entire marketing industry. But we also include data points that are specific to certain disciplines and can be used to capture the attention of niche audiences.

With this in mind, we create new articles inspired by data from the Index to dive deeper into those industry insights. Plus, we consistently pull graphics from the report to include in our social media content.

Here are the key benefits of having a content repurposing strategy:

Saves time, money and effort

Social media content creation for multiple networks is time-consuming. However, it’s an effort brands need to take if they want to remain relevant with consumers. According to Sprout Social’s 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report, social media users connect and consume content differently across social platforms. To reach your target audience, you’ve got to post relevant, entertaining and educational content in multiple places.

However, with tighter budgets and lower head counts, brands have to figure out how to make the most out of every marketing resource they have available.

When you have a content repurposing strategy in place, you optimize your efforts and spend. Of course, you should avoid sharing the same content everywhere, all the time. It’s important to take into account each social network’s unique features and demographics so the content you share aligns with what your target audience is looking for.

Reinforces the brand message

Sharing consistent messaging across different formats strengthens your brand’s identity on social, reminding followers who you are and what you stand for. Remember the “Rule of Seven”? Prospects need to see or hear a brand’s message at least seven times before taking any action to make a purchase.

When you repurpose content for social media, you double down on key brand messaging. According to the 2024 Content Benchmarks Report, brands published 10 posts per day across social networks in 2023. In some industries, the number doubled or even quadrupled. That’s a lot of opportunities to find creative ways to repurpose content and remind social followers about your unique value proposition.

Builds share of voice on a topic

Share of voice is a metric for how much your brand dominates a conversation in your industry compared to your competitors. For example, Sprout is a frontrunner in conversations about social media influencers. Repurposing content allows brands to maintain steady content production volume, so they can maintain and grow share of voice on social without having to create a bunch of net new content.

The next time your target audience searches for that topic on social or in a search engine, your brand may be at the top of their search results—proving to your audience why you’re the authority in this area. (We’re always on the front page of search results for social media influencers, for example).

When you repurpose content for social media, you play the long game. It’s not just about saving time and money, it’s also about increasing visibility and authority over time.

What to consider: Best practices for repurposing content for social media

If you don’t have a strategy for repurposing content for social media, it can feel a bit overwhelming to start. Where do you begin? What workflow is right for your team? How much repurposing is too much? Don’t worry—the following best practices will answer your questions so you feel confident when getting started.

Identify high-performing content

Before you dive into recycling your content, you should know that not all content lends itself to this particular art form. For content repurposing success, you’ve got to select the right content to reuse in the first place.

Put your best foot forward, as the saying goes: Prioritize content that performs well, resonates with your audience and will meet your needs and goals. Having a goal in mind makes it easier to determine which content to include in your curation strategy. Goals can include:

• Raising brand awareness in a certain industry
• Connecting with your audience
• Driving organic traffic back to your website
• Supporting leads or trials

Consider which social media metrics you’ll use to determine your best-performing content. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement across networks, repurpose content that has a high number of likes, shares and comments. If your goal is to increase follower growth, consider repurposing content that has previously had the most mentions, comments and shares. For brands that want to drive organic traffic back to a landing page or website, repurposing content that has a high click-through rate makes the most sense.

Check if the content you want to repurpose is evergreen or time-constrained. An article that performs well year-round may be easier to repurpose right now, while event-specific or seasonal content may need to be carefully scheduled before posting.

Choose the right channels

Repurposing content for social media also means you need to consider where it’ll be posted. The right channel makes all the difference—how you tell the story is equally as valuable as the story itself. Your repurposing strategy needs to consider audience network preferences, along with your social goals for the year.

For example, if your audience is largely active on LinkedIn and one of your goals is to increase visibility on that network, then you’ll want to consider how best to repurpose content that’ll get more eyes on your feed.

While LinkedIn is a great space for sharing thought leadership content, be sure to think about what else social media users want to see on that channel. This will help you increase visibility on that network and improve social follower retention as well.

In addition to considering which of your networks are most active, focus on what types of content consumers are looking for as a whole across networks. Industry trends can shift and fade quickly for each network, so it’s also important to have a pulse on where social is going. For example, short-form video is currently king, which means that social networks that support and promote that format will likely continue to see growth.

Tailor content to each platform

Know your audience. Think about what your audience on each network expects to see from you. For example, if your Instagram followers consistently react well to short-form videos from your brand, repurpose more content into that format. Be sure to surprise and delight your audience with something unexpected every now and then too, such as a GIF or meme, so that your social network feed isn’t all the same.

Considering the right format for each social network is key because what works for one network isn’t going to be right for another. For example, a three-minute video based on an eBook may work well for YouTube, but is likely too long for X (formerly Twitter). Instead, users want to see shorter videos under a minute on X, along with static images, text-only posts, GIFs and memes.

Don’t overlook emerging networks you’ve recently started using. Repurposing content may provide an opportunity to increase your visibility on those networks and establish your brand as a leading voice in the space. Take Threads, for example. While only 15% of our survey respondents have a Threads profile, there’s significant potential for growth.

Use AI to save time

If you’re thinking about how to repurpose content for social media in less time, consider the many AI tools available that can help.

AI tools can enhance social media content creation by making new versions of tested formats. For example, marketers using Sprout Social can use our Suggestions by AI Assist tool to generate custom copy that aligns with their brand’s voice and audience preferences, supporting their copywriting efforts.

To enhance your repurposing strategy with Suggestions by AI Assist, try using the tool to rework top-performing posts. This allows you to create three fresh versions of a proven format in no time.

How to repurpose high-performing content into a social media post

After compiling a list of your best pieces and determining the social networks to focus on, it’s time to repurpose your content for social media. But, beware of social media saturation—social media users are sifting through a ton of social media content, so it’s best to offer quality over quantity. Here are some ideas to help kickstart your creativity, stand out from the crowd and turn any piece of content into an engaging post for your networks:

Post X threads

While one X post is only 280 characters, you can expand your content by posting threads instead. Use X threads to share detailed and complex information that doesn’t lend itself well to a single post, such as blog content. It’s also a good way to share resources, lists and tips and tricks with followers.

Cross-post your livestream

Extend the life of your livestream event by saving and uploading videos to YouTube, sharing snippets to X or trimming clips for an Instagram post or TikTok. You can also use screenshots and quotes for non-video posts to capture your audience’s attention or tease what’s to come. The possibilities for repurposing livestreams are endless. You can even turn memorable moments into GIFs and memes for more shareability.

Make it a GIF

Have a video clip or animation that brings a smile? Turn it into a GIF. Plenty of free tools exist to do this, and GIFs make for eye-catching posts that can be used to promote a piece of content or a new product. Starbucks, for example, created a simple GIF that showcases the cold foam in their new product in a fun way.

Ask a question

The same questions used to spark comments at the ends of videos and blog posts can be repurposed on other platforms. Create a static image with the big question, for example, or take the poll route. LinkedIn Q&As and Facebook and X Polls all create opportunities to engage your audience with existing content or tease a new report that’s on the way.

We asked a question on an Instagram carousel which pointed followers to our LinkedIn live event on the same topic.

Provide an answer

Search your Facebook and LinkedIn communities for questions you can answer with an existing article. By repurposing content and/or linking to it in your response to queries, you build relationships and increase the chances of being found by others asking the same question. This approach also shows social followers you’re paying attention to their questions, preferences and needs.

Amazon answers a question in the video below, engaging followers with a subject matter expert. Similar content is used in a blog post by Amazon as well.

Rework written content for Instagram

Even written content can find a home on a visual platform like Instagram. But don’t just copy and paste a paragraph as your Instagram post; consider pulling out salient data points or quotes to build a visual social narrative around. A lengthy report also works as fodder for a series of short videos sharing key information. Instagram carousels are great ways to share text-based content—just be sure to implement design best practices to tell the story visually.

We noticed an increase in interest in building an executive social media presence, so we wrote a guide on it and created an Instagram carousel featuring three compelling reasons for executives to focus on their social media presence.

Turn a webinar into a video

Webinars offer informative and educational content for social followers, but often, followers need to watch them live. Why not turn a webinar recording into a social video, similar to what SAP has done below. In this case, they’ve used the whole webinar as a video, but you can also slice and dice the recording into bite-sized pieces for different social channels.

Focus on the numbers

Stats on social media tend to capture a lot of attention, especially in industries where building credibility and expertise matter. Create stat-based static graphics or short videos that use your brand’s research from reports and white papers to showcase your authority in the space.

Use the power of a memorable quote

Looking to spark conversation, build authority‌ or drive engagement? A powerful quote can make your content stand out.  Comb through your blogs, reports, interviews and other text-based content for a quote that’ll capture your audience’s attention. Share it as a static graphic on your networks.

Smart content repurposing generates exponential returns

If you already have high-performing content, it’s time to use it across channels. With a little creative reformatting and thoughtful placement, social media marketers can make the most of all their brand’s greatest content and reduce the content generation workload. It’s a win-win.

Want more tips to make a lasting business impact with your content strategy? Download the 2024 Social Media Content Strategy and get findings to help you prioritize your budget and bandwidth to deliver the greatest return on investment from your social efforts.