When you were growing up, you probably got tired of your mom saying that you couldn’t leave the dinner table until you finished everything on your plate. These days, you probably look back on this memory from a couple different viewpoints. First, her food sure was better than that microwave “meal” you tried to eat after working late the other night, right? Next, the concept of making sure you don’t waste anything, from food to creative content, is a lesson that resonates with your adult self a lot more than it did with the kid version of you. With this in mind, let’s take a look at how this mindset can help you repurpose your email content and ensure you always get the most out of this kind of customer outreach.
What Exactly Is Repurposing?
At this point, you’re probably wondering what we mean by “repurposing” your marketing emails. Basically, this technique takes content you already have – say a line of emails full of juicy stats and great ideas – and reviews it to see if you can re-use any of the info or ideas in your next email campaign. To some, it’s probably going to sound like scavenging through scraps, but that’s not exactly the mindset associated with repurposing content. Instead think of it as double dipping into facts, stats and ideas that are simply too good to not use again.
Waste Not, Want Not
It’s no secret that as time goes by, it gets harder and harder to write great content, especially when you’re sending out more than one email per week. A few months into a campaign like this and you’ll be scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to come up with fresh and exciting ideas. With repurposing, you’ll still need to put in a little elbow grease to avoid sounding stale, but at least you’ll have a great foundation to build from that saves you hours of extra work. With everything else on your plate, cutting down on how much time you spend doing research to help promote your products and services can go a long way toward making your workdays far more manageable.
Getting the Most out of Your Old Emails
Now that you understand the basics of repurposing your email content, it’s time to dig into the particulars of putting this strategy to good use. First, any stats or figures related to products or industry news that is still relevant are fair game for your next email. Additionally, if these little gems are especially compelling, don’t be shy about sneaking in a tweet or Facebook post containing this content. As part of any smart email marketing campaign, any time you can get social media in on the act, you’re definitely doing something right.Aside from this, if your emails are cyclical in nature – meaning that you tend to rotate deals in and out during the year – keep a copy of your specific seasonal templates and pull out the particulars whenever it’s time to run the same promo. Obviously just copying and pasting your last version isn’t a smart idea, but if you’ve already done some serious research and put it to use in these emails, reusing it and adding in a fresh take for your customers is definitely a good call.
So, Just How Powerful Is Repurposing Email Content?
Of course, you’re probably not sold on the idea of repurposing your emails until you see some hard facts showing just how powerful this process really is in practice. To help answer this question, let’s take a look at a case study that Marketing Sherpa recently released on repurposing. In this example, Evo, a retailer focusing on outdoor lifestyle products, took content from prior email campaigns and other outreach initiatives to kick its email operation into high gear. After the dust settled and it was time to tally up the results, Evo recorded an increase in clickthrough and open rates by 904 and 160 percent, respectively. With numbers like that, saying that repurposing email content can deliver major results is putting it mildly.
Thinking Long-term
Perhaps the most enticing thing about repurposing your email content is that it can extend to every facet of your marketing operations. Whether it’s breaking white papers down into an email series or turning that question and answer series your brand released on YouTube a while back into a string of Facebook posts, there’s plenty of ways to breathe new life into content that still has value to your customers. Eventually, there will be a time and a place to put this content to rest – like when new research comes out or your brand shifts its marketing focus. However, until that day comes, there’s no reason not to make sure you repurpose your emails and other offerings to ensure you give your audience the best experience possible and save yourself a little time and hard work while you’re at it.
