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Recycling content for media publicity and social sharing

Weather is news when it is extreme. It generates a lot of word of mouth and sharing. And the last couple weeks have been host to some pretty crazy weather in Canada. Eastern provinces have been hammered by extreme cold. The west, Vancouver specifically where I live, has seen unseasonably warm with sunny conditions. Basically we have flowers and they have snow. This bizarre weather pattern has been of great interest to the media and the public at large.

CBC_weather_contrast_FBpostSo what better time to latch onto weather as a “media hook” with your content? That’s exactly what Terry O’Reilly, the voice of CBC’s radio program and marketing podcast “Under the Influence” did with his mid February show titled, “How the Weather Affects Marketing.” While not immediately obvious, if you listen to the episode it becomes apparent that it was actually created last year. He references “This years Super Bowl” being played in an open-air stadium in New Jersey. While I’m not much of a football fan, I do know that that game was played in 2014.

Terry recycled his content.

He used the weather hook to get further media interest and generate social sharing. This was brilliant marketing to further gain exposure for his personal brand and the show.

In a world where content is king, knowing how to leverage and potentially recycle it for media publicity and social sharing gain is really important.

But before we look at three insights to help you recycle your content, check out these facts from Terry’s show and how weather relates to marketing. It’s fascinating stuff. Or better yet, tune into the episode here.

  • When temps hit 21 degrees C (70F) BBQ sales jump 200%
  • When temps hit 21C hair removal products increase 1400%
  • Sunny and 22C (72F) is the busiest day of the week for motorcycle sales
  • Car battery sales soar after 3 consecutive nights of below 0C (32F), since many batteries older than 5 years will die in those conditions.
  • Anti frizz hair care product sales increase during humid weather, and volume-producing products increase in low humidity conditions.
  • Then there’s the “1 degree” phenomena of how sales are affected by only a slight change in temperature. 1 degree hotter leads to 240,000 more units of ice cream being sold each week in the summer, 4,875 more bug zappers being sold each week, and 2% more sandals being sold each week. 1 degree colder leads to 2% more soup being sold each week and 25% more mouse traps being sold. Who knew?

Here are three things you can do to leverage your existing content:

  1. Look up blog posts that generated comments or the most social shares. Come up with 4-5 new snappy headlines that could go with the content and share the link on your social channels. Keep the headline short and post an image with the link on Twitter and Facebook. I bet you’ll generate considerable views or more followers.
  1. Take a look at topics trending on Twitter or showing up in your Facebook feed. Check #hashtags, then go back into your content as see if there is anything you could creatively attach to that topic. Then re-post the link to your content, using hashtags of course.
  1. Read the paper and watch the news. Find out what is big news. Then try to attach your content to it. If the writer gave a Twitter handle in their article (most do) be sure to tag them in your Twitter post about the topic along with a link to your old content. The added benefit of this tactic is you will be viewed as an expert in your field, and the media might seek you out in the future for quotes or appearances.

In the spirit of this week’s theme, I’ve pulled 3 links below from previously published content on my blog, refreshed with new catchy headlines. Why not check it out?

Top 10 online marketing trends for 2015 

8 Trends to track in 2013 (Hey, why not see if they actually transpired?)

How Facebook found my luggage when Air Canada couldn’t (True story! For those who have heard me speak, you’ve likely heard this one as a signature story. For everyone else, have a read – truly this is social media at work and the power of word of mouth, or should I say word of mouse and mobile)

 

Mary Charleson

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