Recycling is a great thing, right? Well, here’s a way to recycle some of your old blog content and give it a fresh new use: By writing a white paper.
Your blog archive is a goldmine of information for a new piece of content that could become a lead magnet for your company. Here’s how to reuse your existing content for fresh ebooks and white papers.
As you look through your blog and come across old pieces of content, don’t delete them forever and lose their value. Instead of retiring them, turn them into fresh content. This is the perfect source material for a brand new white paper.
For example, if you have a series of three 500-word blog posts on the same general topic, start with those 1,500 words as background content and build from there. With some extra research and compelling facts, you’ll soon have a 2,500-word white paper.
Don’t know how to write a white paper yourself? No worries. A talented content writer can work their magic on your old blog posts and turn them into a completely new piece of content.
Whether you decide to hire a writer or do it yourself, here are the basics:
Ebooks are usually less text-dense than white papers, with more graphics and bullet points. Both ebooks and white papers can use old blog posts as source material.
Whitepapers generally take the same approach you’ll remember from writing book reports in elementary school: First, introduce the topic and outline what will be discussed. Next, share the body copy of the information. Finally, wrap up by reviewing the information and sharing some final takeaways.
Here’s an easy way to remember it:
It sounds silly when you put it that way, but it’s a tried-and-true format. Repetition is a proven method of boosting information retention. In fact, when people see various messages from you at spaced intervals - spread out by weeks or months - it dramatically increases how well they remember it.
Of course, just because your white paper involves some repetition doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Share some facts! Add some quotes! Include real-world examples that illustrate the topic and make it more interesting.
Have you considered using a white paper as gated content? If someone wants to access it, they simply fill out a registration form and share a bit of personal info.
With 9 in 10 companies now producing digital content, the internet is getting pretty cluttered. A white paper is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd and present a higher-quality piece of content.
Your gate also serves as a natural filter, sorting out those who only have a passing interest and allowing you to focus on the most interested people. A great white paper is a powerful lead magnet that attracts your best prospects.
Ready to create a new white paper? 11outof11 can help. We’ll take your archive of old blog posts and whip them into something new. Reach out, and let’s start recycling.