If you started your online community on Facebook, you’re not alone. Because of convenience, Facebook has become a go-to for many course creators and online entrepreneurs when they think about building their community.
However, there are a few reasons why you might not want to use Facebook Groups as your online community. We’ve discussed the many reasons why hosting your community on Facebook could be a bad idea, but here’s the quick overview:
1- You don’t own the platform itself, which means it could disappear any day without warning.
2- You don’t own the list of members in your Facebook community.
3- You don’t own the content you post on Facebook (if that’s the first place you’ve published it).
This raises an important question: If you have existing content that you’ve posted in your Facebook group, how can you protect it and get the most out of it on your new platform?
The simple answer: Repurpose it!
What is Content Repurposing?
Repurposing content is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the ability to get the most mileage out of an already existing piece of content. And that includes anything you’ve already posted to your Facebook group.
If you’ve ever posted an image paired with a lengthy caption, gone live in your Facebook group, or posted a video, you can take that piece of content and repurpose it in your newly hosted online community.
But there’s a catch.
But before you go ahead and repost (read: copy-paste and move on with your day) the same pieces of content, think about how that might look to your community member…
The problem with the copy-paste method (or in the case of video, simply uploading the same old video to a brand new platform) is you’re giving your most loyal community members an unwanted sense of deja vu.
They’ll be left with the feeling of having been there before. And in true “been there, done that” fashion, your community members will lose interest.
So what can you do to give your content new life, without reinventing the wheel? Consider Dynamic Repurposing.
How to Dynamically Repurpose Your Content
Here are a few ideas on how you can repurpose content dynamically.
1 – Change up the medium
Posted a video on Facebook? Watch it, take notes, and capture the main points. Then, turn these points into blog posts, discussion topics, or an image designed in Canva with the main points written out.
Tip: Repurposing a single piece of content like a video could give you multiple pieces of content and keep your content calendar full for weeks.
2 – Hyperfocus on the main point
If you posted something in your Facebook group that got a lot of comments and engagement, zoom in on what everyone else is saying. What questions are people asking? What conversation is happening in the comments?
Then, take those insights and create a 2.0 version of the original post.
Takeaways
1- People like new and fresh content, even if it’s just a simple re-packaging. The copy-paste method works if you’re just trying to move content from one location to the next. But it doesn’t help you get the most out of the content.
2- You need a system that gets your content in front of as many interested people as possible, without worrying that Facebook could take it away. That way, you can use your content to attract, engage, and retain members into your community.
3- Before you make a move to your new platform, scan some of your existing content in your Facebook group. How can you bring it back in a fresh, exciting, and engaging way? As you do that, remember to protect new content you create going forward.
