5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Content and Reach a Wider Audience
You want new followers, more leads and better brand authority, but creating new content every week is exhausting.
When I started my copywriting business, I wrote a new Instagram post every two days. I thought every post had to be original with new examples and research—the whole lot!
I ran myself ragged. And because I was so focused on socials, more valuable content fell through the cracks. I didn't have time to write thoughtful blog posts or think about my overall strategy.
It took a year of content overdrive until I finally realised I had it all wrong. There was an easier way.
To save you content creation exhaustion (yes, it’s a real thing) or feeling guilty for not doing enough, I’m letting you off the hook. I’m giving you 5 tips that will make creating content easier and more effective.
1. Refresh and repost
Repost old posts. But won’t people notice, you ask? Don’t worry. They won’t! Think of all the information you consume daily, and then remember how tricky the algorithm is. You don’t see every single post from the people you follow. So why not repost old content?
How do you choose what to post again? By what your audience found valuable the first time. Check the stats. How many saves? Comments? Profile visits? Your most popular content will be valued again.
Before you repost old content, see if you can improve on it. Freshen it up with a new photo, edit the caption or use a different example. I often find I’ve learnt more since I posted it.
The repost method can be used for blogs too. Blogs are valuable pieces of content, and they usually take a few hours to write. So why not promote old blog posts and make the most of your hard work?
2. Tailor to the platform you’re posting to
Do you post your Instagram content to Facebook, but struggle to think where else it will go?
Reshape your content for different platforms. The only rule? Think how the audience will differ on each platform.
For example, LinkedIn is a little more formal than Instagram. It’s also less visual. So when I repost to LinkedIn, I delete the emojis and sometimes post without a picture.
One of my artist clients posts her new artwork on her blog, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. This is how she edits her copy for each platform:
Blog: Multiple photos of artwork and writing under each picture
Instagram: Artwork with a short caption describing the process
Pinterest: Artwork with artist name and link to website
Twitter: Artwork with a one-liner announcement of new work and link to website
Same content with minor tweaks across four platforms.
3. Snip and tip
I’m surprised at how many people pay for great copywriting but never reuse the content. If you’ve invested in website copy or you post regular blogs, those delicious words are ripe for the picking!
Your about page? Use it for an intro post to welcome new followers. Your service pages? Create informative posts about the service you offer. FAQs? Write a post to answer your target market’s question. It’s all there waiting for you!
Your blog can give you up to 50 captions ready to post. Go through your favourite blog article and find 3-5 key points your audience will find valuable. You can use these in one socials post or break them up, tip by tip.
4. Blog regularly
There are many benefits to blogging, but I’ll focus on two:
Google prefers fresh content when ranking websites. If your competitors are blogging regularly and are SEO-friendly, they’ll likely rank higher
Because of the number of Google searches (3.5 billion every day), blogs enable us to target specific keywords and gain more traffic
A good example: Google "How to whiten teeth?" You’ll get a bunch of blogs on teeth whitening websites. Why? Because good copywriters know people searching for teeth whitening tips are ready to buy teeth whitening products.
And what if you don’t buy a teeth whitener? It’s still good news for that website because remember, Google rewards websites that people find useful!
5. Create a hero
We’re now moving into content strategy territory, but you don't have to be a strategist to benefit from the hero concept.
Once you get used to repurposing your writing, you can start creating content to use across multiple channels.
Hero content is content that reaches a wider audience and gives you a higher return on investment. An eBook is hero content because it serves as a lead magnet to grow your mailing list, but it also gives you bite-sized content to use on other platforms. But if you like posting blogs, they can be your hero too!
Here’s how one blog post can become your hero and give you content over multiple platforms:
An 800-word blog post turns into:
Blog post itself
Promotional post for blog across all channels
Social media posts using snippets from blog (10+)
One-liners from blog to twitter (20+)
Tips from blog turned into Instagram and Pinterest tiles (10+)
Story post about writing the blog for LinkedIn (3+)
Instagram video outlining tips in blog (5+)
Newsletter announcing blog post
*More of a video person? The same concept applies. Your video can turn into the content mentioned above.
Wrapping up
Now you know how far your content can go, you’ll be more inclined to sit down and write it.
One piece of content can give you:
Social media posts over several platforms
Ongoing email marketing content
Video topics and material
Blog content
Now you’re feeling motivated to get writing, here are 3 extra tips to keep in mind while you’re creating.
Always go back to your content pillars when planning. If you don’t know these, work on this process first. It will save you loads of time.
Produce content in batches. It’s easier to write multiple posts in one session than getting into a creative frame of mind each time.
Write your blog, then write socials to support it while it’s still fresh in your mind.