Where Does Your Content Go Once It’s Irrelevant?
I saw a table of Halloween-themed decorations in a local grocery store last week. Everything was marked down 50% less than a week after Halloween.
I’d bet the prices were lowered to 75% off over the weekend.
It makes sense. Holiday products lose value the day after the celebration. You likely know someone who buys Christmas decorations at a steep discount the week of December 26th.
The photo I took in Publix made me think about audio, video and written content. Does it disappear the day after the celebration, with hopes of returning the same time next year?
Are we missing opportunities to repackage content in the off-season? Or, like the half-off table in Publix, are we simply not trying to “take whatever we can get for it”?
HD Radio: Another Lesson in Content Repurposing
The digital age allowed content creators to repurpose audio, video and written words in ways unknown before the mid-90s.
HD Radio in the mid-2000s gave radio operators a broader spectrum to experiment with formats. Aside from bad timing with an economic Recession and broadcasters who didn’t want to develop those channels with humans, HD Radio was another content repurposing and reimagining moment for radio brands.
I was working with ABC/Citadel in Detroit during the HD Radio debut in the mid-2000s, and we recreated “Planet 96.3” on the HD-2 channel. The Alternative Rock format had been on 96.3 FM for most of the ’90s before it changed to a Hot Adult Contemporary music format in 2001.
The HD-2 version wasn’t even close to being the same as the ’90s “live” version. I scheduled the music based on the old Planet 96.3 music library, and I voiced the Imaging, superbly produced and given its attitude by Brian Figula, now Regional Operations Manager for Connoisseur Media Bay Area. Aside from audio repurposed on the station website, HD Radio presented the first real challenge to creatively reimagine content.
Ten years later, when I was programming KRWM Seattle for Hubbard Broadcasting, we created a 24/7 year-round Christmas music station on our Warm 106.9 HD-2 channel.
The radio marketplace was in a Christmas Music War, with as many as five radio stations programming Christmas music after Thanksgiving. Warm 106.9 owned the Christmas brand, and we weren’t going to allow the disruptors to take our position. HD-2 became another opportunity to repackage content, but more importantly, extend brand influence beyond the Christmas season.
Podcasts Changed The Rules
COVID changed everything, including access to content. Podcasting got a steroid shot during the COVID years, and once again, radio and audio content creators were challenged with providing entertainment to a new audience. Simply repurposing the audio from the radio show wasn’t enough after 2021.
“Use your podcast to talk about all the things you can’t do on the radio” or, “Talk about the stuff that makes everyone laugh when we’re eating lunch in the break room” was typically my counsel to radio show hosts.
Digital managers understand older content often accounts for a significant percentage of website traffic. Search engines continue highlighting blogs and links months, even years, after publication.
When demand is low, don’t assume interest is gone. Reposition, bundle and update the content by using what you’ve already made.
Is there an opportunity to repackage those seasonal-themed blogs, audio bits and podcasts into a special section on your website, an HD channel, a stream or a weekend late-night program?
Stewardship Matters More Than Creation
The goal isn’t simply repurposing content. It’s the stewardship of owning our content and getting credit beyond the obvious channels and dates of broadcasting or publication.
Grocery chains like Publix know this strategy very well. They’re not going to let the opportunity to sell their products pass just because the holiday is over.
Someone wants to pay money for a porcelain Jack-o’-lantern in November.
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