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Content repurposing

Somebody says repurpose, and a good long piece becomes ten short posts that each say a tenth of something. The original loses its argument and the ten pieces have none.

Part 1

Repurposing is a change of format, not a change of size

The same argument told to a different audience in a different place is repurposing. Chopping one argument into ten fragments is dilution, and every fragment is weaker than the whole because the reasoning was the value.

Do this: Ask what changes: the audience, the place, or just the length. If only the length changes, it is not worth doing.
Part 2

The parts that travel are the number and the example

A figure you produced and a concrete story survive any format. The transitions, the caveats and the structure do not, and trying to carry them is what makes short versions read like offcuts.

Do this: Pull the number and the story out first. Rebuild around them rather than trimming the original down.
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Part 3

It works best across time, not across channels

Republishing the same argument on six platforms in one week reaches roughly the same people six times. Telling it again in three months, with something new added, reaches the people who were not paying attention the first time.

Do this: Put the repeat in the calendar three months out and add one new figure when it comes round.
Part 4

When it is avoidance

Repurposing feels productive and costs nothing to justify. If your last six months contain no new argument and no new number, the repurposing is not a strategy, it is the reason there is nothing new.

Do this: Count the original figures your team produced last quarter. If it is zero, stop repurposing and go find one.

This is teaching material and our own reading of standard editorial practice, not advice for your specific business. Check anything important with your own specialist before you act on it.

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