Content Repurposing Exposed

When I talk with lawyers and other technical service providers who specialize, I have enormous respect for their individual areas of specialized expertise, and if we start talking about digital marketing (and all the tools that comprise practicing it on a serious level) it becomes clear rather quickly that there is more misinformation about social media marketing than there seems to be accurate information.

When & Why Blindly Posting to Social Media Doesn’t Do Anything

There are many websites and “developers” and self-proclaimed digital marketing “gurus” who offer online courses on the topic of social media marketing supposedly revealing how anyone with a pulse and functioning cortex can transform their businesses overnight through posting on sites; and for the most part social media.

Marketing is widely seen as a type of “cure all” for simply not getting enough leads coming into a practice.

The reality is far different, in that social media marketing is actually more complex than some kind of generalized dumping ground for content that immediately generates leads and referrals.

At last count, there are (at least) 50 social media marketing outlets one can post content to.

Now, unless there is a flawless automated way by which to submit your content (once it’s written and vetted) to each of these outlets (and there isn’t), you’re talking about spending several hours on a regularly recurring basis writing articles (not just fluffy press releases, either), finding and measuring images to include in the pieces, finding related videos, and then posting them to each different social media website’s specifications.

No practicing lawyer or accountant in his or her right mind should be spending their valuable time doing this any more than they should be spending hours every day filling in crossword puzzles or watching daytime television.

Value Your Expertise & Work Methodically

If we use the lawyer as an exmaple profession, your job is to help clients win cases and expand your caseload, and do more of the types of cases that really intrigue you.

You can’t fulfill that purpose whilst concurrently trying to become an amateur web developer, writer, SEO expert, and designer all at the same time. It doesn’t work and this is why DIY digtial marketing doesn’t work either.

 Content Marketing Gone Wild

So if we know that there are 50-100 social media outlets in the wild to distribute our content to in order to try to get as many new leads from our content marketing efforts as possible, and there’s still alot of completely separate legal work to be done, what’s a lawyer to do who wants to actively engage social media and garner as much ROI from it as possible?

The answer is a simple, yet also complex at the same time.

Here’s the truth about social media the shysters don’t want you to know or simply don’t know themselves (and just parrot what they read in others’ blogs themselves): Social Media Marketing is a means to an end, no more. It’s not magical or immediate, just as no lawyer wins cases by pushing a button or barking “I object!” It just doesn’t work that way.

Content marketing, as we’ve covered in other posts here, is essentially the process of writing conversational, engaging content specifically written for a targeted consumer base.

This means blog posts (basically mini-articles complete with citations in the form of links to relevant material), videos, MP3s, and other multimedia resources we can use to substantiate a point in our article.

The Advanced Concept of Content Repurposing

Reusing that content in other formats, like podcasts or videos, is also called repurposing or repackaging, but it’s still considered content marketing – because you’re marketing content you created or paid someone to create for you.

Take that a step further, social media marketing is taking that content you’ve created and potentially repackaged and submitting it (however slowly) to all relevant social media outlets – or channels.

Lawyer Content Repurposing Example

For example, let’s take a great article you’ve written on child custody mediation.

The article is approximately 1,000 words in length (which is a good average or typical size).

It’s written in a snappy, conversational yet easy to follow style with any technical terms being explained.

There are lots of links to definitions of terms, maybe one or two links to related videos (hopefully ones you created earlier on the same or related topic).

You have some relevant infographics or images (copyright-free of course) to make the article easier on the eye and more fun visually to consume.

Now you take that article and (if you can) translate it into video format, into a audio podcast (maybe with a snazzy intro theme or witty guest host), maybe a complimentary infographic image.

Now you have quite a good amount of content marketing collateral you can distribute to as many relevant social media channels as possible.

Videos would go to YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion and as many video sharing sites as possible.

You would optimize (as in write) the SEO key words and descriptions you want to be identified with in the titles and descriptions for each item submitted.

So, by the time you’re finished with one article, you’ve distributed one video to multiple video outlets, blog posts to multiple outlets (such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, maybe Medium, and so on), and down the line you go.

Now, the more regularly you distribute informational content that is enjoyable to consume, to as many social media markets (channels) as possible over a prolonged period of time (let’s say six months for the sake of brevity), the more likely you are to start seeing a uptick in conversions: more people visiting your website, downloading your giveaways, more people subscribing to your blog or newsletter, more people ultimately calling you for help or emailing you for appointments.

Now, yes, not all of these conversions will be ideal clients, but it’s a heck of a good start.

The more leads you have coming in, the more potential ideal clients you have getting in touch with you asking for your expertise. And that’s the idea.

Content marketing, and its natural brother or sister, social media marketing, are both dependent upon each other. One without the other is nothing but a hollow term.

Together, they work hand-in-glove to deliver targeted content to those you want to reach like a 24/7 marketing division of your practice or firm.

Much of this can be set to work on autopilot, but some of it cannot be done that way, and the process requires regular fine-tuning and tweaking as platforms change or issue updates.

It’s a concept many small business owners struggle with or simply don’t see, or perhaps perceive as insurmountable; but if you take a gradual, methodical approach toward setting its systems up for a long-term commitment (as in six months at least and then checking in one), and build for by preparing a content surplus  before launching, you actually come very close to starting a social media marketing campaign in the way that a digital marketing agency would fulfill one.