I am so tired of recycling. There, I said it. No, I’m not talking about bottles, cans, and old newspapers. I’m talking about content.
Have you noticed how many authors and speakers recycle their content? They put a new title on it, but when you read the article or watch the webinar, the content is tired, repetitive, or at best reprocessed. Too many are heeding the content marketing experts who advise us to re-use, recycle, re-purpose. These experts recommend content recycling campaigns with a strategy, tactics, and calendar to get maximum value out of each product. According to some content marketing gurus, one piece should yield 20 products.
Content marketing philosophers go so far as to make an analogy to Thanksgiving leftovers. The turkey is the main event, but certainly we can turn the bird into sandwiches, hash, and casseroles. Others are romantics, calling the content reimagined. The more practical content marketers call it being productive. There are a few contrarians like me who admit that churning out content with nothing to say is merely uncreative duplication.
When your content is re-purposed, re-imagined, or reprised, does it delight your readers?
I have no problem with updating previously published content. I often look back at old material and think of new ideas, fresh angles, and additional lessons learned. But content recycling does not excite me. It does not demonstrate thought leadership, initiative, and creativity. Yet, we often find ourselves caught in its web when we seek to promote our brand on the Web.
Is recycling content good business, or is it just plain boring? I say the latter.
By Lisa Pafe
