In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, where the demand for fresh content is relentless, MarTech expert Aisha Amaira champions a smarter, more sustainable approach. With a deep background in leveraging technology to understand customer behavior, she sees content repurposing not just as a time-saving hack, but as a core strategic pillar for maximizing reach and impact. We sat down with her to explore how marketers can breathe new life into their existing work. Our conversation touched on the nuances of adapting content for different platforms, from transforming formal presentations into shareable social media posts to the art of turning a single video into a series of engaging clips, and using simple formats to test which ideas truly resonate with an audience.
You mentioned expanding Instagram posts into articles requires changing the headline for SEO. Could you describe your process for this? How do you balance a title that grabs social media attention with one that is optimized for search engines to drive clicks?
That’s a critical distinction that many people miss. The process begins with understanding the audience’s mindset on each platform. On Instagram, attention is fleeting; you need a headline that’s punchy, creates curiosity, or makes a bold statement to stop the scroll. It’s all about immediate emotional impact. But for an article, the goal is search visibility. Someone on Google is actively looking for an answer. So, my process involves shifting from a “hook” to a “solution.” I’ll use SEO tools to research relevant keywords and long-tail phrases that people are actually typing into search engines. The article title will be structured around that primary keyword and often includes subheadings that are also optimized, which is a completely different game than crafting a snappy social media caption.
When repurposing corporate presentation slides for social media, what is your step-by-step process for selecting the most impactful points? How do you then adapt the formal, data-heavy visuals from a presentation into an engaging post for a platform like LinkedIn?
The key is to think like a highlighter. A corporate presentation is often dense, so my first step is to scan the entire deck and identify the one or two “aha!” moments per section—the surprising statistic, the definitive concluding statement, or the most critical takeaway. I’m looking for the points that made the room go quiet or nod in agreement. Once I have those nuggets, the adaptation process begins. I strip away all the corporate branding and complex charts. For LinkedIn or Instagram, I’ll transform that single key point into a visually clean, bold graphic. Think large text, a single powerful icon, and plenty of negative space. It’s about isolating the value and making it digestible in three seconds, not thirty minutes.
The text lists turning a long YouTube video into multiple Reels as a common tactic. Could you walk us through how you identify the most compelling clips? What specific editing choices are crucial for transforming horizontal video into a successful vertical Reel?
Finding the right clips is like panning for gold. I watch the long-form video with a stopwatch and a notepad, specifically looking for moments of high energy, a concise and powerful quote, a quick-win tutorial, or a surprising reveal. These are usually 15- to 60-second segments that can stand alone and still provide value or entertainment. The editing is where the magic happens. First and foremost, you have to reframe the shot for a vertical screen, which often means cropping in tightly on the speaker or action. Then, I add bold, dynamic captions because so many people watch Reels without sound. Finally, I’ll often speed up the pacing slightly and add some quick cuts or zooms to maintain a high level of energy that keeps viewers hooked until the very end.
The article suggests using lighter formats like Instagram Stories to test ideas. What specific metrics, such as poll engagement or completion rates, tell you that a concept is strong enough to be developed into a more substantial piece like a full article or video?
Absolutely, I treat Instagram Stories like a real-time focus group. The metrics I watch most closely are engagement and retention. For instance, I might test a concept using a poll, asking a simple question like, “Are you struggling more with A or B?” A high participation rate on that poll is my first signal of strong interest. Beyond that, I look at the completion rate for a multi-slide story. If I create a five-part story explaining a concept and see that a vast majority of viewers tapped all the way through to the end, that’s a massive green light. It tells me the topic has legs and is worth the investment to develop into a full-length article or an in-depth YouTube video.
Beyond just saving time, content repurposing is about extending reach. Can you share an anecdote or specific metrics showing how one core idea, presented in different formats, successfully reached and engaged entirely different audience segments on separate platforms?
It’s truly about meeting people where they are. I recall a project where we created a deep, long-form article on digital marketing trends. That piece performed very well on search engines, attracting an audience of marketing managers and business owners who were actively researching strategy—our “reader” segment. We then took the five key takeaways from that article and turned them into a crisp, visually appealing Instagram carousel. This reached a younger, more agency-focused demographic that prefers scannable, visual content. Finally, we clipped a 30-second segment from a webinar discussing one of those trends and turned it into a Reel. That single Reel reached an entirely new “video-lover” audience that would never have found the original article but engaged with likes and shares, proving that one core idea could connect with three distinct audience types just by changing its format.
Do you have any advice for our readers who are just starting out with content repurposing and might feel overwhelmed about where to begin?
My best advice is to start small and focus on your winners. Don’t feel like you have to repurpose every single thing you create. Go into your analytics and find your single best-performing piece of content from the last six months—it could be a blog post with high traffic or a video with great watch time. Then, choose just one new format to adapt it into. For example, take the three main points from that blog post and turn them into a simple Threads thread or an Instagram carousel. By starting with proven content, you’re already increasing your chances of success, and by focusing on one new format, you make the process manageable and build the confidence to do more over time.