Repurposing Your Event Content: 33 Awesome Ideas

Repurposing content is such an obvious win. And few content types provide as rich field of repurposing opportunities as your webinar or seminar. Considering the effort put in to developing the event content and the marketing content supporting it, not repurposing it is just wasteful.

Here is a list of 33 ideas for repurposing your event content. I’ve broken it up into three streams:

• content to develop pre-event
• steps to take during the event to encourage user-generated content
• content to develop post-event

[tweetthis]Considering the effort put in to developing the event content – not repurposing it is just wasteful.[/tweetthis]

Three quick notes:

This list was put together with a single session event in mind, not a full-day or multi-day event.

Feel free to use all of these ideas for a larger event, applied either to a single session or extrapolated out to cover multiple sessions. However, there are other repurposing opportunities unique to larger events that deserve their own list.

Second, I’m not suggesting you need to execute every repurposing option on this list (although you could). Think about your target market for your event, how they want to consume content, and where you can find them. Then prioritize the repurposing ideas that will have the greatest reach and impact.

Last, put together your event content repurposing plan as part of the overall event plan. You’ll ensure your intention to repurpose doesn’t get lost post-event and that you have everything you need during the event to generate the content you want afterwards.

Repurposing Before the Event Even Occurs

When you develop the substantive content of your event, you can already re-package in multiple ways for use after the event.

• Modify the slide deck to stand on its own without narration
• Save this modified slide deck as a pdf
• Pull out any charts and graphics in the presentation and create an infographic
• Create a drip email learning course (h/t to the Coschedule blog for this great idea)
• Use your outline to write an article or blog posts that hits the key takeaways of your presentation

You don’t need to share any of these pre-event, but you can create it then.

Laying the Ground for More Content During Your Event

[tweetthis]Have an event-specific hashtag, which you can share in your event promotional content.[/tweetthis]

Take these steps before and during your event to increase the amount of underlying content you have to repurpose.

• Record the event, both audio and video. If your event is online, nearly any tool you’re using will have this functionality. (If it doesn’t, you’re using the wrong tool.) If your event is live, have someone assisting with responsibility for recordings.

• Have an event-specific hashtag, which you can share in your event promotional content. Make it long enough to make sense, but not so long that it doesn’t allow room for registrants to add their own commentary.

1. Remind people to use it during the event.
2. Have an “after-the-show” show with the hashtag on Twitter / Instagram. You and your speakers can answer a few more questions and solicit feedback from attendees.

• Use in-event single question surveys. Again, if you’re using the right webinar tool, it will generate the results for you quickly, which you’ll incorporate into your post-event content.
• Always leave time for a Q&A session before your event ends.
• Ask people to post their feedback at the end of the session through the webinar tool. You can also put a short feedback survey link in your “thank you for attending” email you’ll send out to attendees right after the event.
• If your event is live, invite people to take their own photos during the pre- and post-event networking time. Remind them to use the hashtag when they post them on Twitter or Instagram.  Since you’re recording the event, you’ll be able to isolate your own photos of the presentation off the video file.

The Post-Event Content Waterfall

Have a transcript made of the entire event, which you’ll use as the foundation for a variety of content.

• Extract verbatim portions that can be used as stand-alone posts or articles with just a little clean-up.
• Insert some of the relevant graphics from your presentation and create an eBook or report of the entire event transcript, including the Q&A session.
• Extract speaker quotes and other snack-sized bites of wisdom from the transcript to post on all your relevant social media sites.
• Create simple quote slides of these presentation highlights. You can

1. use them individually with each social media post or as the accompanying image with a related blog post or article
2. create a highlights slide deck

• If you had multiple speakers at your event, create a speaker highlight article that summarizes their main points
• Curate the best tweets, Q&As, feedback, and photos for blog posts
• Respond to, retweet and “re-gram” posts with the event hashtag
• Post the video recording to video sites
• Post the audio recording to audio sites
• Edit the video and audio recordings:

1. Build 10 – 20 minute standalone episodes
2. Cut out some shorter content, 2-5 minutes each, that each deliver a key takeaway, but that can also be used as a teaser promoting some of the longer form content

Don’t Forget About Promotion and Distribution

[tweetthis]In the repurposed content include CTAs that redirect to more relevant content or to a related offer.[/tweetthis]

Some of the repurposed content will make sense to promote directly to attendees and registrants. Ask them to share it through their social media networks.

Repurposing your event content also extends the reach of its audience. Use your own social networks and website to promote and distribute this content generally. In addition, here’s a nifty list of 50+ sites where you can distribute your repurposed content.

Finally, include calls-to-action in the different repurposed content that either moves someone along to additional relevant content or to a related offer.

What have I left off this list? Share your best event content repurposing ideas in the Comments section below.