Think of your content as the store windows of your business – regardless of what products you sell or services you offer, they give you the chance to win over potential customers at a glance. A store with a crudely hand-written sign on a piece of cardboard won’t generate much “buzz,” but a well-designed, well-lit decal across a window certainly will. Once your “window to the world” is set up, however, you may start wondering what to do with the items already on display: fresh new ways to show off ideas without needing to overhaul the entire window each and every time.
Thankfully, content is not only durable, but it’s also incredibly versatile by its very nature. The CONNECT method ensures that you continue to reach out and engage with your customers, helping you get better ROI on each and every one of your content pieces. Depending on your industry, audience, and needs, you can even shuffle the consideration order to optimize your content – get creative, and experiment with the easiest transformative methods for your existing content first. You’ll be surprised at how much additional mileage has to offer!
Convert it to a script for voiceovers and closed-captioned videos
The “media” part of social media gets woefully neglected – blogs and landing pages are essential, but not every one of your potential customers enjoys reading, particularly if they’re pressed for time. Instead, try to restructure the format of your content, using sub-headers as talking points or simply reading the article outright as a voiceover to videos showing appropriate work, prep, or views of your products. Connecting time signatures on the voiceover and video will also allow you to upload the article as a closed-captioning script, making your videos – and already-written content – accessible to the deaf community and hard-of-hearing viewers.
Offer it to customers as an eBook download
Free offers always capture attention, so repackaging something that you already own, and have already paid for, creates a tidy win-win situation. Isolate a landing page and paste in a sales sheet or digital brochure copy with the initial article and offer it as a limited time free offer. You’ll get contact information for warm leads, your customers will feel they have bought-in value when it comes to your products, and you’ll be able to get additional usage out of content that would otherwise end up on the visual back burner as time stretched on.
New Content Linkbacks
Building authority is an uphill battle in the age of the Google search, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attempt to stay topical. Whenever you have new content written, direct your freelance writer to touch on a previous subject that you already have content on and link back to that post. This will help support traffic for both content pieces and keep older content relevant with no expensive fanfare or hyperbolic banner ads required.
New Customer Onboarding
Sending out a welcome email? Why not flesh it out with a little cut-and-paste (or better yet, a link to track traffic) straight from your existing content? You can even make mention of the source in your welcome message, and encourage your readers to “click through to read the rest” with a truncated passage at the end of the email. You’ll be familiarizing them with the concept of turning to your pages and blog for answers in your expert subject matter and starting your relationship off on the right foot.
Email Use
Weekly or monthly email newsletters are an excellent way to stay relevant and in the forefront of your customers’ minds, but filling them with content can be a challenge. Using old blog posts is an excellent way to take the effort out of the process, allowing you to effectively ‘repackage’ existing articles and posts into a fresh new format. Unlike the normal “rules” of content, the older the better for this application. if you’re anxious to optimize your content, remember that means
Commerce Linking (link from product/service pages)
Your product pages are a rich, interactive platform to entice your customers – but only if they’re filled with content to enrich their buying experience. While product descriptions pique interest, linking or including content helps your brand establish authority in the marketplace and helps buyers on the fence hop down – right into your checkout flow.
Turn it into a Landing Page
The humble A/B test can tell you a great deal – about your customers, about your company, and about the success of your various products. The most definitive pathways start with a targeted landing page, which is easy to flesh out when you lean on existing content. Simply mix it up with a few well-defined “buy now” or “click here” buttons or banners, and you’re well on your way to determining the best way to capture attention and a higher volume of sales.
With a little cleverness and experimentation, you can get the most out of your content, regardless of length, subject, or age. These seven techniques will also help you expand your content platforms, keep customers interested and responsive, and keep your marketing ideas fresh and transformative as you optimize your content.
How will you CONNECT with your content?
Delany M is a well-rounded freelancer with an emphasis in product descriptions, landing pages and articles. With over a decade of experience to her credit, she has enjoyed writing for national chain retailers, small e-commerce boutiques and a wide range of service providers. She prides herself in going “beyond the word” to capture the essence of a brand or company, ensuring copy that is as noteworthy as the goods and services her clients provide.
