Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Content creation is challenging and time-consuming. Therefore, you have to be strategic with your content planning and execution. Anticipate the topics and audiences you’ll need to support your business goals, and use this information to create your content accordingly. However, you need to remember: You don’t have to create more original content to win the content game. Instead, focus on repurposing your pillar, centerpiece assets throughout each quarter by using the Big Rock Content approach.
What is Big Rock Content?
Here’s a great description from LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions blog to help you understand exactly what Big Rock Content is, “The Big Rock Strategy involves taking a large, robust piece of content and breaking it down into smaller pebbles of information. These pebbles of content can be used to create a journey for your customers, moving them further down the funnel, one small piece at a time. The pebble-to-Big Rock framework doesn’t just break hefty concepts into readymade pebbles of content—it allows your brand to build and nurture a relationship with your potential customer.”
Repurpose. Repurpose. Repurpose. Break Apart Your Big Rocks.
Repurposing your Big Rock content is a great way to keep delivering relevant content in a variety of formats for your audience. While you do have to put in some upfront work on developing that Big Rock masterpiece, breaking off little chunks to repurpose into different types of content isn’t so hard.
Another great thing about focusing your content strategy on Big Rock efforts and themes is that you can break the bad habit of creating new content for the sake of creating new content. Yes, fresh content is terrific but if it’s not relevant and useful, then you’re wasting your time and your audience’s time.
When you use the Big Rock approach for your content marketing strategy, you are basically taking a major piece of content and using that as your ongoing content source for some period of time.
For example, you may choose a theme for a quarter, develop a white paper around that theme (the white paper = Big Rock), then break that content into smaller pieces to repurpose it in various forms. Each of those smaller pieces can lead back to your gated Big Rock content. Gate that rock—it is very valuable and should be used to generate leads.
There are new opportunities when you chunk it
What else can happen when you repurpose your Big Rock content? Believe it or not, you have new opportunities to capture your audience’s attention in different ways. Just like we all learn in different ways, there are different ways your audience wants to gain knowledge from your content. So, don’t force them into learning via only one form. Give them the opportunity to take it in via a method that is comprehendible to them that will stick with them. The more they enjoy your content and understand it, the more they will share it.
Are you going beyond written content?
When executed correctly, your Big Rock content can fuel your content plan for an entire quarter. This process will help keep everyone on the same page. With a focused approach, you can start enlisting the help of subject matter experts in your organization to help develop both Big Rock content and those repurposed “chunks.” If you build your quarterly themes around business goals and align them with department objectives, people will be more inclined to help you.
The Content Marketing Pyramid
Curata’s Content Marketing Pyramid is another way to think about the Big Rock marketing approach.
The premise is the same, but the pyramid concept may help you better visualize exactly how the Big Rock approach should work. Similarly, the top of the pyramid is the Big Rock. Curata shows how Big Rock gets repurposed in your content marketing strategy.
Here are just a few ways you can repurpose your next piece of Big Rock content:
Blogs – Break the Big Rock up into pebbles. Share long and short-form blog posts related to various pieces of the larger piece of content. Make it easy to digest in smaller portions.
Infographics/SlideShare – Make your story visual. Turn your content into a visual display. Use imagery to help tell the story in fewer words but still get the point across.
Webinars – Conduct webinars to engage your audience. Webinars can be great learning tools and give your audience the chance to engage with you by asking questions.
Videos – Create short videos about the different aspects of your Big Rock content. Make video series for sections of your content.
Social Media – Share insights, facts, stats, etc., from your big content in short posts on social media. This will drive engagement and leave the audience wanting to know more.
In short, remember this: You don’t have to reinvent the wheel with every piece of content your company creates. Keep it focused on your big content. Develop various ways to share it so that your audience will be more engaged.
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