The old content is not meant to be forgotten but can be used as a renewable resource for new ideas. We find it mind-boggling that only a fraction of marketers takes advantage of their old content.
Every new piece of content you create can be republished or repurposed, but most importantly it can be a treasure trove for additional ideas outside the main topic. You can create sequels, spinoff and additional related content based on the main topic.
Often, the posts are over 1000 words. It is most likely that these posts contain a handful of key topics or ideas that can be elaborated into a new post.
Any of your posts might have the potential topics that can be a next hit piece of content. This is why we recommend that you mine your old content to come up with new ideas for appealing posts.
Let’s take a look, how can you dig through your old content and come up with new post ideas.
1. The sequel strategy for evergreen content
The most obvious way to use your old content for new ideas is to consider working on the sequel post for the existing one.
This approach can be useful if the content of your old post is not relevant anymore but the general topic is. For instance, if you have a detailed post on how to optimise your website for better ranking, the topic is always relevant but the actual information keeps changing.
You can think about updating the content of the topic, but it can be overwhelming. There is so much change and so often, that it can become a nightmare to keep the information up to date.
So instead of struggling with updating the old post, you can create something new like an annual guide. This allows you to publish a new sequel every year and link your past content to the most recent addition.
Like we did in this Guest Posting In 2020 Guide.
For any topic that is talked about consistently, the sequel strategy is a great way to come up with new ideas. Instead of trying to tweak old content now and then, it is easier to create a new post.
We are not undermining the importance of content repurposing but sometimes it’s easier to just start afresh.
2. Create tangential ideas into new content
Another exclusive way to create some engaging new content based on old posts is to create spinoffs.
The strategy here is simple. You take a minor part of an existing piece of content and republish it in a more detailed and original piece of information.
If you give enough time to such likely covered topics of your old content you can create high-quality posts. Spinoffs are great for continuing the momentum of success content, regardless of how old or outdated your post is.
If you use YouTube, then you might be aware of how content creators on the platform do this with their old viral videos. As the YouTube algorithm can be highly theme focused, the YouTubers make use of this to their advantage by creating videos of the same theme so the video platform can recommend those to the viewers.
Once you have multiple spinoffs of the same theme, you can create a playlist, series or sequence depending on the content’s format and easily entice the readers.
To create successful spinoffs, consider:
- using subsections subheadings of the original content
- numbered lists
- includes statistics or impactful stories
- draw a clear conclusion
You can create such a piece of information from any idea that is part of the main topic but not elaborated enough.
3. Utilising the audience feedback loop
We love this idea as it involves taking a cue from the readers’ engagement with your old content. By analysing your audience’s comments and feedback on the old content can be a goldmine for new topic ideas.
All the feedbacks, follow-up questions, sharing their own experiences and requesting clarification on certain specifics, the readers give you a clear view of what kind of topic they want to read.
It goes without saying, that to be able to fully utilise this method you will have to engage with your audience and listen to what they have to say.
If you are a big team or brand, then you will need to work in collaboration with your company’s PR or social media management team. Your customer support department is also important here and bringing them into the loop will help you find out what questions are asked about your company or brand often.
This is strategy is based on the ongoing feedback loop which is why you have to consistently work on engaging with the audience and paying close attention to how they engage with your content.
4. Go back and find the content
The final strategy for creating great content is to evaluate your old posts for plot holes or information that you might have missed.
It is not uncommon to find content gaps in the hindsight. This gives you an opportunity to create new content by filling in the gap.
It’s not only based on your research but such ideas can also arise from audience feedback where they inform you about lacking information.
Next time you’re creating any content, and you come across an idea that you think has a lot of information to be covered but you missed on it, don’t let it just go. Save the topic or idea to be covered as your next wonderful content.
Takeaway
Now you have four new ways to create compelling content from your old posts.
It might look easier, but you will need a strategy to fully utilise its potential.
Here is the quick reminder of what we have covered above.
Never try to spin-off ideas that do not fit your larger content strategy. Just because you can create a new content it doesn’t mean you should from off-topic ideas.
Do not think of it as repeating yourself. Mentioning an idea in a post and dedicating an entire piece are two entirely different things.
Never forget to add internal links from the original content to the spinoff piece and vice versa.
This is all you need to know about creating excellent content from your old posts.
