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How to Repurpose Content to Support Your Brand Through Strategic Communications

By: Marijean Jaggers | 10/30/2009

I've been doing a lot of coaching with clients on how to repurpose content they're already creating to maximize their reach, particularly in the online space. All the content created by members of your team -- whether it's in internal e-mails, on social networking sites, in printed materials or in comments left on external blogs -- may have a place in helping to support your brand and as part of your overall strategic communications plan. During one such coaching session earlier this week, I was again going "old school" drawing with pen on paper to illustrate the point I was trying to make. After I was done, the client wanted to keep my chicken-scratch drawing and I thought: "That's it. I've got to develop a better illustration rather than continuing with my messy on-site talentless drawing."

Ta da! (Disclaimer: I am not a designer, nor do I pretend to be, but this is better than the pen and paper version; trust me.)

I ended up with two different illustrations, both of which show the core of the message -- that every organization needs to establish a Home Base for their content, be that a company Web site, a blog or "other." I've included "other" because sometimes it makes sense for an organization's home base to be a wiki, or a Facebook page, or some other online presence that just makes more sense than the traditional solutions.

The radiating globes represent all other places your content can be shared -- all of which direct back to your home base, the primary clearing house, archive and active home for all your content. The callouts above are our suggestions -- the counsel that Standing Partnership provides to clients about how they can be thinking about repurposing content they've already invested time or dollars in creating.

The second illustration is a companion to the first and appears below:

This illustration provides some of the thoughts and reactions we've heard from clients as we've shared this information with them. Hopefully as you review this image, similar thoughts occur to you, and you're beginning to formulate ways you can take your newsletter, photos of your team, your promotional video or television commercial, your articles and blog posts and break them into bite-sized pieces to share across all the platforms in which your audiences exist.

I'm going to continue playing with these illustrations and using them in presentations down the road. I welcome your feedback!

Posted in Brand Positioning, Digital Communications, Reputation Management