5 Tips For Using Old Content To Draw New Customers To Your Business

Customers find out about you online by discovering articles, blog posts and other types of content you've created. Content you create is essentially the doorway through which new customers can find you and be introduced.

But it does of course require continual content creation activities. The good news is that the creation of content is a long-term investment in your business. The initial resources you put into its creation reap dividends for weeks, months and years down the line.

However, that doesn't mean that all the content you create has to be started from scratch. This is where repurposing content comes into play.

If you already have some content (and most businesses do), you can use it as a launch pad for brand new content that you can use in various ways to market your business.

Here are 5 ideas for doing just that, reusing old content and creating something new:

1. Refresh old blog posts.

It's likely that blog posts going back a few years are less relevant and pertinent now than they once were.

So review your old blog posts, create new versions of them with updated information, and publish them as new posts. Edit the older post to link through to the new, using a keyword in the link to help the new post rank appropriately.

As well as simply updating the information, you can also use old blog posts for inspiration. For example, address the same topic but from a different angle.

2. Turn existing content into YouTube videos.

Of course, online content is not all about the written word. Videos are increasingly popular, have high levels of engagement on social media, and they show up in search engines too.

Here's how to turn some old written content (such as a blog post) into a video:

-- Use the original content as the basis of a script for a presentation, including only the key points. Update the information as necessary.

-- Create the presentation, for example by using Google Presentations or Powerpoint. Be sure to include a call to action towards the end of the presentation, such as inviting viewers to visit your web site. For example, you might offer them a free download of some kind as a lead magnet.

-- Use Camtasia (Windows) or Screenflow (Mac) to video your screen as you run through the presentation.

-- Create a voice over, where you run through the presentation and explain the key points as required.

-- Edit the video (again in say Camtasia or Screenflow) so it runs smoothly and is easy to watch.

-- Upload to YouTube. Include your keywords in the description, in the name of the video file, and in the thumbnail image if you choose to upload one. Make sure the link to your site is in the description for the video.

3. Make a presentation for SlideShare.

SlideShare is one of the web's most popular sites, and your content (and therefore your business) can get a lot of exposure as a result.

It's simple to do. Just take the presentation you created for your video above, and upload it to SlideShare.

Remember to ensure your call to action shows at the end, and that any URLs in the presentation are clickable. They will also be clickable when the presentation shows on SlideShare, and this is how you will benefit.

4. Look through old blog posts for tips that you can broadcast as Tweets on Twitter.

Each blog post can contain a dozen or more tidbits of information that could be morphed into valuable Tweets.

You can schedule the Tweets to be published at regular intervals in the future by using a suitable software tool. For example, with the right tool you can upload a list of such tips along with links back to your site, and have them auto-published for weeks or months at a time.

5. Turn old blog posts into new articles.

Just re-write the blog post, updating the information as necessary. Then submit the article to the top article sites. The most popular article directories enjoy high levels of traffic, and by posting your articles together with your link, you get to lure some of that traffic back to your site.

These are just a few of the ways that you can reuse old content. You could also use old content to create posts for Google+, LinkedIn Pulse, etc. You could turn your previously written content into an ebook or use it in your email newsletters. There are all sorts of uses -- get creative and make your content work for you!