How to Use a Video Editor to Repurpose Old Content
Repurposing old video content can breathe new life into your brand’s messaging, allowing you to maximize your existing assets and reach new audiences without starting from scratch. A professional video editor plays a crucial role in transforming older footage into fresh, engaging content by tailoring it to new formats, updating visuals, or targeting different platforms. Here’s how you can use a video editor to repurpose old content and extend its lifespan.
1. Reformat for New Platforms
As social media platforms evolve, so do their video specifications and audience preferences. A video editor can help you:
• Resize content: Convert horizontal YouTube videos into vertical formats for Instagram Stories, TikTok, or Facebook Reels.
• Adjust length: Trim longer videos into shorter snippets or teasers optimized for platforms like Twitter or Instagram, where shorter content performs better.
• Add captions or text overlays: Many social media users watch videos without sound, so adding captions or text can make your content more accessible and engaging.
Repurposing old content by adapting it to new platforms increases its visibility and helps you target different audiences.
2. Create Highlight Reels or Compilations
A skilled video editor can take multiple older videos and condense them into engaging highlight reels or compilations that showcase the best moments. This is especially useful for:
• Event recaps: Condensing long event footage into a short, dynamic highlight reel.
• Product demos: Combining several clips of your products in action to create a new promotional video.
• Best-of content: If you have recurring video content like webinars, interviews, or vlogs, a best-of compilation can highlight key moments from past episodes.
These short, compelling videos are perfect for catching the attention of viewers and summarizing your brand’s value.
3. Update Graphics, Music, and Visual Effects
Trends and aesthetics change over time, and older content may feel outdated. A professional video editor can:
• Refresh outdated visuals: Update old intros, transitions, or logos with modern designs that align with current branding.
• Enhance soundtracks: Replace old music or sound effects with fresher, trendier audio tracks.
• Add new visual effects: Incorporate modern motion graphics, text animations, or even color grading to give the video a polished, contemporary look.
These updates can make old content feel current, engaging a new audience while maintaining relevance.
4. Turn Long-Form Content into Social Media Snippets
If you have long-form content such as webinars, podcasts, or presentations, a video editor can extract key segments and turn them into bite-sized clips ideal for social media:
• Extract key takeaways: Pull out the most insightful or entertaining parts of a longer video to create multiple shorter, shareable clips.
• Repurpose for blog posts: Combine the video with text or graphics and use short clips to promote written blog content or newsletter articles.
By repurposing long-form content into short, digestible clips, you can continue to extract value from a single piece of content over time.
5. Create Evergreen Content
A video editor can help turn old, time-sensitive content into evergreen content that remains relevant year-round. This can be done by:
• Removing outdated references: Editing out mentions of specific dates, product launches, or time-sensitive details to make the content timeless.
• Revising the message: Updating the script or voiceover to reflect a more general, lasting message that can be used in future campaigns.
Evergreen content provides long-term value and ensures that your video assets can be reused well into the future.
6. Leverage Testimonials or Customer Stories
If you have older videos featuring customer testimonials, interviews, or case studies, a video editor can repackage these into new marketing materials by:
• Highlighting success stories: Pulling clips of customer praise or success stories and assembling them into new testimonial videos.
• Compiling case studies: Combining different customer interviews or testimonials to create a comprehensive case study that tells a compelling brand story.
These types of videos can be repurposed for product pages, sales presentations, or email campaigns, adding credibility to your brand.
7. Optimize for SEO
A video editor can optimize repurposed videos to improve search engine visibility by:
• Adding relevant keywords: Integrating SEO-friendly titles, descriptions, and tags to increase discoverability on platforms like YouTube.
• Updating thumbnails: Creating more engaging thumbnails with bold text, bright colors, and relevant visuals to encourage clicks.
SEO-optimized videos are more likely to attract organic traffic and improve your brand’s online presence.
Conclusion: Maximize the Value of Your Existing Content
Repurposing old video content not only saves time and resources but also ensures that you continue to derive value from your existing assets. By partnering with a professional video editor, you can adapt older videos for new platforms, audiences, and campaigns while maintaining relevance and engaging your audience.
At Viral Ideas, our team of skilled video editors specializes in repurposing content to help businesses maximize the impact of their video assets. Contact us today to find out how we can help you refresh and reimagine your old content for new success!
Alina
I'm the Director of Creative Operations at Viral Ideas. I'm passionate about marketing, writing, and social media.