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Reusing old content has become more valuable than ever as businesses navigate industry changes and evolving audiences.  Consistently producing new and relevant content that can keep current audiences engaged while reaching new targets can be difficult to scale (think quality – not quantity).  Pulling content out of the vault eases the workload of your internal creatives while also reinforcing your message, improving organic reach, and boosting your SEO score.

There are many ways to repurpose it marketing materials, but the core idea remains the same: take valuable content that has been buried under newer things, add a new spin on it, and push it back to the top of your feed.

Why reuse old content?

Before diving into your past catalog and simply taking a shot in the dark at re-posting archived materials, let’s dissect how this is beneficial to your business. Understanding the value of repurposed content will help you decide which pieces to revitalize and what channels to reproduce it on.

1. Scalability – Save time and money

Repurposing old content can often take a fraction of the time and effort it would take to create something new.  If you produce content in house, you’re aware of how thoughtful the production process is and how tedious it is to consistently create high quality content.

If you’re working with a third party such as an agency, you’re certainly aware of how quickly billable hours stack up.  Repurposing old content is a great way to optimize your time with an agency and get the most bang for your buck.  Your agency can guide you towards good content to reuse based on how well it performed in the past.  Then, they can transform it at a faster pace and a cheaper cost than producing something original.

Whether your efforts are through a third party or in house, this is a great opportunity to gather insights on how your content has been preforming and help point you in the right direction for the future.  Think of this as a two birds, one stone situation.

2. Boost SEO

Your content can only truly boost the overall SEO of your website if people are visiting and spending time viewing your content.  To continuously give your audience a reason to spend time on your site, don’t let your old content go to waste by hiding it in the past.

If the content originally preformed well, giving people a fresh reason to revisit your page will add to the existing SEO score that it originally garnered.  Repurposing content is a great passive strategy to achieve stronger search engine value.

3. Reach new audiences

This boost in SEO is also one way that your repurposed content will attract new audiences.  Different audiences prefer to digest content in different ways.  Giving your content a facelift in it’s deliverability has the potential to reach those stragglers.

Consider demographics, what channels content is being shared on, and what the content is featuring.  Some audiences would watch a short video 10 times before considering reading a 2,000 word blog post.  And that’s ok.  It’s valuable to reshape the box you’re delivering your message in to make sure everybody is opening it.

Just be sure not to overdo it by rehashing the same topics week after week. You don’t want people to see you as a brand with nothing new to say.  To avoid this, run analysis on the performance of your content and decide what cadence of repurposing fits best for your business.

How should you reuse content?

Content marketing comes in many forms, and they cannot all be treated equally when it comes to repurposing. Once you’ve identified what’s worth reusing, you have to find the right approach.

Blogs

Blogs content is often supported by a variety of data sources, which develops your brand’s expertise on a subject and general credibility. One straight-forward approach to repurposing old blogs is to update them with newer data. Add new links to externals sources, or even new backlinks to pages on your site that didn’t exist before (Remember: this all contributes to SEO value and brand image).

Consider ways to convert your written content into podcasts or videos.  Come up with new ways for audiences to digest your content. Not everyone engages with content in the same way.  Then, consider linking the original blog to the podcast or video content to push users back to your site.

Once you have a solid backlog of blog content, you can compile related blogs into a single collection. This can even take the form of a physically published book.

The purpose of blogs in content marketing is mainly to build up the brand image by showing your expertise. Reminding people that they can engage with your content in different ways gives them more chances to see that you’re an expert.

Videos

Video content does not need to be reshot in order to be repurposed. Graphics, text, and animations can be added to transform your video.

Are you proud of a recent award or achievement your business achieved? Commercials or other video marketing pieces are a great place to insert graphics announcing your success.

If you have the time, recording new voice-over narration and adding new music is a great way to reuse videos. You won’t have to bother reshooting footage, and the content will still feel fresh. This is a great way to make new announcements for your business or share anything that has changed since the original video.

This is an important thing to remember even when shooting footage for entirely new videos. Always incorporate some level of timelessness. You can always cut things out, but try to get enough evergreen footage in your content that it can be trimmed and reused.

Social Media

Social media is made for throwbacks. We’ve even dedicated a whole day of each week to it. Engage in the Throwback Thursday trend to reshare old posts with your followers.

Hopefully, your follower count is always growing, so there should always be new eyes to share your content with. This can be done through stories, so you don’t have to clutter up your feed with duplicate content.

The cycle of reusing content can involve every channel. If you’ve refreshed an old blog from 2021, share that out on social media or link it in a newsletter series.  Get creative and always consider not only how your audience has evolved, but how your business has evolved.  Hey, maybe that newsletter series didn’t exist when the blog was originally shared.

One important thing to remember when updating content that has been shared on social, is to make sure links still work. If you’ve gone back to edit an old blog, or have published a new version of a blog, make sure your posts link out to the new content. And always make sure no posts are linking to a page that no longer exists. Set up redirects to solve this issue.

Sunday Morning Overview

CBS News “Sunday Morning” profiled The Post and Courier-led “Uncovered” project on July 2, highlighting the newspaper and its partner efforts to expose corruption and questionable government conduct throughout South Carolina.

The Post and Courier launched the project in 2021 with a handful of print media partners. It has since grown to include a network of 19 community newspapers from every corner of the Palmetto State.  The project produced more than 70 stories to date, spawning reform initiatives and at least 10 state investigations and audits in the process.

Ted Koppel dove into The Post and Courier’s growth strategies in the ever changing publishing industry, observing, “Manigault is bucking the trend: hiring more staff, expanding digitally across the state, and investing heavily in, of all things, a state-of-the-art printing press.”

The Post and Courier is acutely aware that small newspapers across the country are closing their doors, thus contributing to the staggering fact that 70 million Americans live in “news deserts”.  Koppel pointed out that the impact of news deserts is dire – “absent a source of reliable local news and scrutiny of local officials, can lead to the spread of disinformation and corruption.”

The Post and Courier’s commitment to ending news deserts with local expansions and upholding democracy with investigative journalism is the fuel behind the paper’s growth.

Read more about The Post and Courier’s commitment to local market expansions.

Local Newspaper Market Expansions = New Business Opportunities Across the State

As The Post and Courier’s audience continues to grow, so does the audience our business partners have access to reaching with advertising efforts.  Furthermore, the grassroot investigative journalism that is being conducted in local communities would not be possible without the continued support from our readers, business partners, and donors to the Investigative Fund.

Top Leadership Changes

Changes are coming to top editor positions at The Post and Courier as South Carolina’s largest newspaper continues to grow and expand its offerings.

Executive Editor Autumn Phillips has been promoted to the newly created position of editor-in-chief, effective Aug. 1. In this role, Phillips will oversee two significant growth opportunities for the newspaper: philanthropic fundraising and the launch of a new venture in which she will lead readers on international trips.

“Autumn is a veteran world traveler and journalist,” Publisher P.J. Browning said. “She will teach participants how to write about the journey as a way of deepening the experience.”

Veteran journalist Jeff Taylor has been hired as The Post and Courier’s new executive editor after a national search. Taylor, who also will start Aug. 1, is an award-winning newsman who most recently served as vice president and executive editor for news and investigations at USA Today.

“Jeff comes to us with a tremendous background as a journalist and has held many executive leadership positions,” Browning said.

For Phillips, the move allows her to keenly focus on two of her driving passions: writing and travel. During her 5½ years at The Post and Courier, she has written several pieces about her sojourns to far-flung places such as Lebanon, Sudan and Kyrgyzstan. Beginning next year, she will bring readers along on her journeys.

Subscribers will also have a limited number of travel opportunities with other Post and Courier journalists as they report on international connections to Charleston. Photographers will teach them how to capture the journey, and reporters will show them how to see a place through the lens of climate change, history or food, Browning said.

Back at home, Taylor will oversee the daily operations of The Post and Courier as it continues to expand across South Carolina. In addition to its home base in Charleston, the newspaper has newsrooms in Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Florence and Rock Hill. As he charts a path forward, Taylor will lean on a wealth of experience gleaned from a long and distinguished career in journalism, Browning said.

Read more about Phillips and Taylor, along with other news, on www.postandcourier.com.

New Ventures and Continued Focus on Digital Expansion

The impact of Autumn Phillips new venture on the community will be profound, as subscribers will have the opportunity to partake in travel experiences with other Post and Courier journalists, gaining insights into international connections to Charleston.  Jeff Taylor is poised to spearhead The Post and Courier’s digital expansion, bringing forth positive changes for business partners, advertisers, and the Charleston community.

Recognizing the paper’s impact, community connection, and high regard among South Carolinians, Taylor is thrilled to join a platform that embodies his passion for “big-J journalism” and its potential to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Taylor’s vision revolves around bolstering The Post and Courier’s digital footprint, attracting new generations of readers who will shape the newspaper’s future.

By capitalizing on the paper’s reputation for producing penetrating and context-rich stories that provide a comprehensive understanding of the interconnected pieces, Taylor intends to offer content that cannot be found elsewhere.

This digital expansion will not only enhance engagement with existing partners but also attract new business and advertising collaborations. Ultimately, the Charleston community stands to benefit from Phillip’s and Taylor’s dedication to elevating journalism and fostering a deeper understanding of local and international issues.

 

The Post and Courier launched into the Pee Dee market on May 1, 2023.  Find all the news you need to know from the Pee Dee area and sign up for the weekly newsletter to receive roundups of stories handpicked by Post and Courier reporters.

 

Regional Information

The Post and Courier is continuing it’s goal of providing quality news coverage across the Palmetto State by launching into Pee Dee, a region in the northeast corner of the state.

It is loosely defined by counties that touch the Pee Dee River watershed –  Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Sumter, and Williamsburg.  This rural area of the state has historically been considered a news desert, and the Pee Dee staff is dedicated to changing that.

Tim Matthews, Publisher and Digital Sales Director, said, “The first thing is to let the folks in the Pee Dee know that we are here and committed.  Part of my job is to have the pulse of what’s going on as I go around and talk to local business people. I also want to be part of the community by being involved in the Rotary, the chamber and other local organizations. ”

Matthews’ goal as Digital Sales Director is to develop digital marketing plans for small- and medium-sized businesses that includes advertising on digital platforms like Meta, Google, YouTube and others. As the publisher of the Post and Courier’s Pee Dee news operation, Matthews will represent the organization in the community.

Learn more about the Pee Dee staff.

Reach Prime Audiences Before Competitors

The Post and Courier’s launch into the Pee Dee market has created the opportunity for businesses to reach previously untouched audiences.  Your business has the chance to create a lasting impression and relationships with consumers across ten counties and countless industries.  Matthews, who has over 12 years of experience developing successful and strategic digital marketing plans, said, “We have a local partner who handles the creative process including photography, video and graphic design.  Our marketing team can customize an event tailored specifically to your business’ target audience.  We will handle all of the details from start to finish.”

The Post and Courier Pee Dee team will equip your business with the tools to be among the first companies to reach these readers.  Take advantage of the variety of advertising and sponsorship opportunities today.

The Post and Courier is relaunching their climate and environment newsletter with a new name, Rising Waters: Climate Stories of the South.  This newsletter will focus on the environment and climate issues not only facing the South Carolina Lowcountry, but the entire Southeast region of the United States.

Time for Change

Over the past few years, the environment and climate change newsletter, Tipping Point, has been sending to over 2,000 subscribers, but The Post and Courier has decided it is time for a change that will better reflect their journalism and the everchanging state of the environment.

Environment and Climate Reporter Clare Fieseler joined The Post and Courier last December and expressed an interest in starting this newsletter to better connect with her readers, and make sure that they were receiving the environmental science content that they expect from The Post and Courier.

“Some of the same issues I lived through in North Carolina for many years – storms, rising seas, land development and thorny environmental politics – followed me here to the Lowcountry,” Fieseler continues, “I knew that I wanted to give readers a weekly deep dive into our climate coverage to show how it connects to news happening across the South.”

The 2020 series, Rising Waters, documents how the quickening pace of climate change and sea level rise poses an existential threat to South Carolina.  The series was named as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the local reporting category in 2021.

The Post and Courier’s Executive Editor, Autumn Phillips, said, “We wanted this newsletter to continue the paper’s tradition of excellence when covering climate change and the environment.  Bringing back the name ‘Rising Waters’ was a no brainer.”

This newsletter will focus on how climate change interacts with the environment, such as with wildlife, human health, food, housing, migration and more.  Fieseler hopes to share books, trends, scientific insights and more with her readers, and to settle how they can address the environmental changes that are surrounding them today.

Rapidly Growing Audience = Effective Marketing Opportunities

This newsletter is projected to target a highly engaged and specific audience, creating the perfect atmosphere for businesses to capture the attention of these subscribers.  The Post and Courier’s Director of Sales, Wayne Snow, said “The broad insights Clare will bring to our highly engaged audience supports our unending commitment to connecting advertisers that have a desire to capture them.  When it comes to topics like these, we’re excited about the opportunity to marry our customers to ‘Rising Waters’ thoughtful and responsive subscribers.”

Details regarding these sponsorship opportunities will be announced in the coming weeks.  For now, subscribe to the weekly newsletter and donate to support climate and environmental journalism.

Rising Waters: Climate Stories of the South will be sent directly to subscribers emails every Friday at 8 a.m.