How to Repurpose Content for Twitter
The need to constantly have fresh content for our followers sometimes leads to a decline in the content’s quality.
How repurposing is done depends on the content we have on our hands and the idea we have for its transformation. It can be republished or transformed to cater to another group of people.
Not all content can be repurposed, and not all repurposable content will go through its second glory. Only evergreen-style posts can be successfully turned into something else, and even they might not do well for various reasons.
Although it doesn’t require much research, quality repurposing and other types of preparation still take work. Where we decide to send the content next also determines the format and approach we should choose.
Let’s see more about how to repurpose content for Twitter!
Repurposing Content for Twitter
Twitter is good for repurposing content because it offers content producers a different type of audience. It takes some adapting to adhere to Twitter’s formats and quality standards. There are limits on characters and how long the videos can be.
Shortening their content or separating it into smaller segments can be challenging for content creators because it means a lot of it will have to be left out. However, if done properly, the algorithm can be quite rewarding.
Threads are groups of connected tweets, and they are used to convey a longer message. Threads can also be used for videos and images.
All content can be repurposed into four different types of Twitter content: tweets (of text, imagery, and video), live streams, and Twitter Spaces.
Tweets allow for an article or a video to be turned into a thread. This method requires a good selection process for the key points of the original content, as well as writing clear and concise messages in the tweets.
Live streams allow for the original content to be elaborated by the creator or discussed with a guest in a podcast format. Twitter Spaces is an audio feature allowing the topic to be discussed publicly with the audience.
Twitter is a social media platform with a different design from other platforms, focusing on sending concise messages. Creating content or repurposing content on Twitter should follow this principle above all else.
Overall, we have recently published an in-depth article called “How to Repurpose Content - The Ultimate Guide,” where we dug into the gist of the matter, exploring all possible ways that content can be recycled.
How to Repurpose Content for Twitter
Like most social media, Twitter is apt for having repurposed content on its platform. Although Twitter differs from most platforms in design and in the type of content being shared, you can still utilize your material to reach new audiences there.
As a social media platform, Twitter is constantly evolving, and knowing all the features and types of content you can post is crucial. At the end of the day, you cannot create what you want; you can only create what is accepted on the platform.
Twitter doesn’t have the option to write long texts, so directly republishing articles goes out the window. The types of content you can post on Twitter are the following:
- Short texts of up to 280 characters
- Videos of up to 140 seconds
- Live stream
- Live audio conversations called Spaces.
Each of these is how your written or other content can be repurposed for Twitter. Some would require improvisation to make it work, and some are fine, just as they are.
Tweets and videos can be grouped into threads to convey a longer message, while live streams can be used for video podcasts.
What to repurpose for Twitter
The most important thing to consider to repurpose content for Twitter is the content’s nature. For example, the news is not the ideal choice because it quickly loses relevance. What you need is evergreen content or content that is general in its nature and can withstand the test of time.
Informative articles or videos on history, geography, science, how-to videos, and tutorials are a good place to start. Think of it as discussing a smartphone brand vs. a software update for its system. One will likely remain longer than the other.
What you need to do next is find the most popular evergreen content from your library. If you are a blogger, find the most visited article you wrote, and if you are a YouTuber, go for the video that had the most success with likes, comments, and shares.
Go over your content and think of ideas for how to reshape it to fit Twitter’s standards, not just format–wise, but how to cater to the average member of your target audience.
Repurposing written content on Twitter
Articles are the most prevalent and, thus, most repurposed content. It poses a different challenge to repurpose articles on Twitter compared to other social media like Facebook or Linkedin. Twitter is just built differently and requires a different set of marketing skills.
Article to thread
The limits on characters will have your brain working double time to find a way around the standards and still convey a lengthier message. One way to do it would be to organize tweets into a thread in which you can write more text.
This action groups the tweets into a longer message, and it’s a convenient way to go around the 280-character rule.
There is the danger that your tweets will lose order and confuse the reader. Make sure that you post the number of the tweet to maintain some structure to your content.
Having the option to post threads doesn’t mean you could republish the whole article. How this can help you repurpose your article is to have you deliver the key points and the core ideas from your original content. Theses, queries, arguments, and conclusions from your article will fit well into a thread.
You can further enrich the thread by adding relevant videos, infographics, and other designs to some of your thread’s tweets. Visual material will make your thread more enjoyable and informative.
Article to video thread
We already mentioned that Twitter videos are limited to 140 seconds long. If you are looking to repurpose an article into a video, then you will need to create a thread where the video would be split into smaller segments.
It is best to remember this when recording, as knowing how long one segment will last will allow you to adapt your content. You can utilize some clever transitions with your speech, speed up, slow down, or finish the sentences early.
It is best to have more concise material split into tweets of a thread than to have a long video with just cut-up (or butchered) segments. Just because you can, it doesn’t mean that you should post the entire material into threads. Be very selective because your priority is a concise message.
Editing the videos and preparing them to be used for a Twitter thread is advisable. Adding an order number on each segment will provide flow for the viewer and avoid confusion. Be sure to add a small caption in each thread tweet to make it as easy to watch as possible.
Article to video live stream
Live streaming is underutilized on Twitter. Not because it doesn’t work but because creators prefer other live-streaming platforms. You can successfully repurpose your article to a live stream on Twitter, and you can do it using a format of your preference.
It can be a classic live stream with just you and the camera, where you go more into depth about your original content. Or it can be a podcast-type stream where you would discuss the content more casually, preferably with a guest contributor.
While live streaming alone can be simple and easy, repurposing articles into a podcast format requires adequate equipment and a knowledgeable guest who will provide insight and context to your show that your viewers will appreciate.
It is good to have a written scenario for how the show’s dynamics would be in order not to go too far off-topic or stick to a certain point for too long.
Article to Twitter Spaces
Twitter Spaces is a feature that allows for live voice talks or presentations. The way it works is that anyone can tune in to listen or be allowed to participate in the discussion.
As host of a Twitter Spaces session, you can invite people to join, and followers will be able to see that you are holding a Spaces session at the given time.
Spaces is a convenient feature for users because they can use other apps when listening to it or even have their phones locked. Regarding length, there is no way to tell how long your session should be, but it can run up to a maximum of four hours.
Some ideas for how to repurpose an article for Twitter Spaces include hosting Q&A sessions, inviting guest speakers and having a podcast, hosting an interactive debate where people would be allowed to join in, etc.
Repurposing video content for Twitter
Repurposing videos for Twitter is very similar to text from a technical standpoint. You can repurpose your original video into a textual thread or a video thread, host a live stream and discuss the contents of the original video, and you can host Twitter spaces.
It’s important to choose an evergreen-style video from your library, and it should be one that has already proven to be likable for people.
Videos to video thread
The question here would be whether to edit out the old video into smaller parts or to record new ones, especially for the thread, and the answer is to do the latter. This way, you can adapt your shorter videos and their content to fit the requirements which algorithm rewards.
You can edit them by adding background music, and adding captions is a must. You can add a number to tell the order of videos to prevent confusion that often happens in threads.
Video to text thread
Detect the most important parts of your original video and paraphrase them into tweets. Take as many tweets as you need to convey a clear message, but don’t just retell the whole video. Part of bringing value with the repurposing is conveying a more concise message.
You can add image designs involving quotes, screenshots, and infographics to make your tweets more entertaining. Just be careful because too much imagery may cause your readers to become overwhelmed by it.
Video to live video stream
You can discuss the contents of your video alone on a live stream on Twitter or with another contributor in a podcast format. This is a good way to delve deeper into what the core ideas of the original content were, the challenges in creating the video, and all the research that went on before the production.
Video to Twitter Spaces
Twitter Spaces allows you to have a public conversation on the original video’s contents, enabling you to expose the material to a new crowd. It would help if you arranged to have guests for the session and if you created a concept for how the conversation should move.
Part of the fun of hosting Twitter Spaces is including random people from the audience to get involved and give their contributions.
Summary
Repurposing content on Twitter is most successful when the content is adapted to the platform’s standards. Twitter’s accepted types of content are short text, short videos, live video streaming, and Twitter spaces. All of these offer unique ways to display your content and expose it to a new audience.
Transforming your content from one format to another requires technical skills like writing, video editing, and buying equipment like microphones and cameras.
The most important thing to repurpose content for Twitter, whether it’s written or video, is to stick to the core ideas of the original piece and have it transformed without it losing value.
