Table of contents
Strip Audio and Use It in a Podcast
Chop Clips for Vertical Short-form Content
Use Medium-length Clips During Live Conferences
Turn Your Video Into a Webinar
Turn an Audio Transcript Into a Blog Post
Splice Together Short Clips for a Long-form Video
Organize Multiple Videos Into a Course
Create a Trailer or a Sizzle Reel
From "content is king" to "recency is king," a lot has changed about content in the online world. With a huge inflow of content, it has become crucial to repeatedly feed fresh content to the algorithms.
There is plenty of debate regarding how much one should post each day. But everyone agrees that at no point should posting frequency take priority over quality. Repurposing video content is a common way to maintain quality while multiplying content.
To repurpose video content, you need to take clips from a longer video or build longer video content by merging shorter clips. You can also strip the audio for a podcast or turn the video transcript into a blog post. Repurposing is all about changing the content format, duration, or dimensions.
In this article, you will learn nine actionable ways to repurpose video content, including how to:
* Use the audio from your video as a podcast episode
* Create short clips from long-form video content
* Transform your videos into a webinar
* Use clips to play on cue during conferences
* Make blogs from its audio transcript
* Create long-form content by merging short clips
* Organize multiple videos into an online course
* Create a sizzle-reel
* Use content for context
Strip Audio and Use It in a Podcast
If your video content is rich in educational value, you can easily use its audio as a standalone piece of content. Just because audio isn't easy to share on social media, people underestimate the audio-only audience. By the end of 2022, it is predicted that there will be 424 million podcast listeners.
The advantage of stripping the audio from your video content, whether educational, funny, dramatic or ASMR, is that you truly expand your audience past the social media.
Fellow funnel hackers are surely aware that Russell Brunson, the grandfather of funnels, mentioned that the podcast listeners are his best buyers.
And it makes sense - if you opt in to some podcast, you consume one episode after another and build trust towards the author and a strong relationship.
By turning your video into an audio format or podcast, you can submit it to a podcast distribution service.
ContentFries can make this process very simple:
Content Trimmer - ContentFries has a tool you can use to trim the video portions you want to turn into a podcast.
Download your videos as an audio in .mp3 format - There is a button near every content piece you upload to ContentFries that does just this, so it is super simple.
Podcast Distribution Platform - Anchor is a podcast distribution platform that allows you to get your Podcast on Apple, Google Podcasts, and other podcast networks. It's free, has a great mobile app and is very simple to use.
Chop Clips for Vertical Short-form Content
This is one of the most obvious ways to repurpose long-form videos. Since social media users don't have a very long attention span, you need to make sure the valuable parts of your video get highlighted as standalone short-form content pieces.
Moreover, chopping up short clips can allow you to post on different platforms every single day instead of repeatedly shooting new content. It can also help you amp up the quality you pack into your longer videos because every valuable bit will become its own standalone piece.
What you'll need:
Clip Trimmer - This program will help you isolate the bits to post. ContentFries has this feature in its subscription.
Transcription Software - A transcription program or an assistant can help produce captions for the video. ContentFries has an inbuilt transcription program that is up to 99% accurate at transcribing.
Video Editor - A video editor can be used to add your logo, change caption format, and headlines to the content. ContentFries has inbuilt templates and a drag-and-drop context editor to help you bulk export and generate various versions of your video at once.
Use Medium-length Clips During Live Conferences
Live conferences aren't sprints. They are marathons. You don't have to be live the entire time. Online conference software has made it very easy to insert recorded videos on cue. If you have 5-minute to 8-minute videos, you can easily throw these clips at strategic points in the conference and take a breather.
What you'll need:
Trimmed and captioned videos - You can use ContentFries or manually trim and caption videos.
A webinar program that supports recorded content - StreamYard allows you to insert recorded clips into your stream. You can also use Zoom screen sharing to play recorded clips.
Turn Your Video Into a Webinar
Who said you need clips to do a webinar or a conference? You can edit out the references to the video context and use the rest of it for a recorded webinar. Almost every webinar program now supports recorded content.
The benefits of recorded webinars are numerous because you can repeatedly generate leads and sales without having to go live every time. In fact, we recommend recording your webinars live and using them as the main pillar content pieces for repurposing. Check out our post on Zoom video repurposing for more specific advice.
What you'll need:
Long-form video - You don't need it to be prim and polished or even captioned. ContentFries is a content repurposing software to help you turn your video into dozens of pieces of content.
Recorded Webinar Platform - GotoWebinar, StreamYard, and multiple other programs allow you to broadcast a recording in a live-seeming context.
Turn an Audio Transcript Into a Blog Post
If your video has dialogue or monologue, then its audio content can be transcribed and turned into a blog post. The benefits of blog posts are quite unique in that it makes you more discoverable. While social media posts eventually get drowned out, text persists.
Transcription can be done in one of two ways. You can have a human transcribe your content, or you can use a transcription program to do so. In either case, you will need to give it the final touches required to make the material look like it was intended to be a blog post. This includes removing references to "this video" and "hearing" or "watching." Turn those references to reading and writing to make it more context-appropriate.
What you will need:
A transcriber - You can use ContentFries for blog export, or you may pay someone by the minute to transcribe audio. Both work pretty well.
An editor - This can be you, but you can also choose a third party or outsource it to copywriter to edit the transcript and make it look more like a blog post.
A place to post - You don't even need a website to post. You can post blog content on LinkedIn, Medium or guest post it to different websites within your niche.
Splice Together Short Clips for a Long-form Video
Repurposing video content doesn't just go one way. While it is true that, most often, long videos are cut into short clips, it is also true that you can do the opposite. If you shoot short videos, you can merge them into a longer video, for platforms made for long-duration consumption.
One of the most notable examples of this is Gary Vee's own podcast. When Gary doesn't have the time to shoot a single long-form episode, he merges multiple interview clips into a single episode.
Another example is the Lewis Howes Youtube channel, where each video is an amalgamation of medium-duration clips shot with a single guest. Sometimes these clips are in different locations.
The advantage of producing long-form content this way is that you can pay more attention to each individual bit. It is easy to let a long video get diluted. But when you work on 5 to 8 minutes at a time and eventually add it all up to form a single hour of material, the entire hour is packed with value.
That's how the art of standup comedy has been for over a century. Comics used to work on their material 5 minutes at a time. But now, it's not just the substance in one's content that one can repurpose and amalgamate but the content itself.
What you will need:
A video editor - Any video editor native to your device can be used for this purpose. Almost every video editor has the ability to merge multiple clips.
Series of value-packed clips - The length of the content matters less than the value it delivers. So unless your 5-minute clips are all highly-watchable, you cannot expect people to watch them in succession.
Organize Multiple Videos Into a Course
Do you know what's better than having people watch your content for long periods? Having them pay for watching it. If you are in the education and consulting niche, not all your content has to be just for self-promotion and marketing. The more people buy into your messaging, the more willing they are to pay more to get to the really valuable stuff.
You can organize smaller video clips into a full-fledged course. This type of repurposing isn't done as publicly, but you will be surprised to find out how many people turned their limited podcast series into courses. You don't have to charge money for it, either. If you want to use it just to get the email addresses of your potential customers, by all means, go ahead.
What you'll need:
Over 12 pieces of content around the same theme - For the content to lend itself to any course, it must all cover the same themes and ideally lead to some kind of usable framework. Generally, your content will follow a theme anyway because you're an expert in a niche.
A course-building platform - Thinkific is an excellent platform that allows you to weave together multiple recorded videos into a single course.
Create a Trailer or a Sizzle Reel
If you are a professional speaker, consultant, life coach, actor, or comedian, you need a sizzle reel. But even if you create any other type of content, you need trailers and teasers to keep your audience interested.
Trailers are rarely shot because they are often cut. And trailer cuts are among the oldest examples of content repurposing.
With the advent of digital technology, this is no longer the domain of just Hollywood studios. You, too, can use a wealth of your own content to cut together a decent sizzle reel. The benefits of sizzle reels are slightly different from those of a teaser.
Where the sizzle reel introduces you to a new audience that might not be as committed to engaging with longer content from you, a teaser gets your existing audience excited.
What you'll need:
A video downloader - Unless all your content is available offline, you probably need to get platform downloaders like the Youtube Downloader or the IG Downloader. Fortunately, these downloaders are available online for free.
A video editor - Just about any video editor will help you create a sizzle reel. But we recommend using the video editor you are most familiar with. It will help you create the best possible version you can edit.
A remote editor (optional) - In case you don't know how to put together a teaser or a sizzle reel, you can always find a video editor on platforms like Fiverr. They can take the editing off your plate.
Use Old Content With New Context
Often, content creators are limited by their own notion that all repurposing must disguise content as fresh. But Gary Vee, the godfather of modern content repurposing, uses his old videos very often. He doesn't even hide the fact that they are old but actually banks on their datedness. His "Side-by-Sides" are famous because he selects clips of himself making predictions.
Prediction clips have a long life because one can throw back to them with a fresh "I told you so" clip that adds context. You can also call back old clips and express how wrong you were in your previous position and what you have learned since.
Whether things turn out how you said they would, or they shifted, you can always bring up old content and add fresh commentary. Other common uses include showing a visual transformation, status transformation, and general rise since the old days.
What you'll need:
Old videos - These videos need to be at least one year old to have any effect.
Fresh videos - These must either align with old claims or contrast old conditions for optimal effect.
A video editor with an overlay feature - Editors like VideoPad for Windows, iMovie for iOS, and InShot for Android have the overlay feature.
Final Thoughts
Repurposing video content is beneficial for audience engagement and online reach. But you must have a value-first approach to your content repurposing strategy. Stripping audio for podcasts, splitting clips or merging them, and using audio transcripts for blogs are all good tactics, but only if you execute them with audience engagement in mind.