Why great content should never be a one-hit wonder

Creating great content to promote your business takes effort. It requires time, creativity, specialist skills and often a considerable investment. Which is why it’s surprising how often businesses produce valuable material for one purpose, use it once, then let it gather dust.

This is particularly the case in bids, business development campaigns, and thought leadership work. Teams put their best thinking into documents, presentations and reports, but rarely consider how that information could be adapted to reach more people, win more work and strengthen their brand.

Repurposing is about working smarter, not harder, by taking the quality material you already have and reshaping it for different formats, audiences and channels. This approach saves time while ensuring your most important messages are seen in more places and remembered for longer.

Good content shouldn’t be a one-hit wonder; if you’ve invested time and expertise into creating it, it should continue to deliver value. Repurposing extends its lifespan, amplifies its reach, and helps you maintain a consistent message across all your communications, meeting your audience in the formats they prefer, whether that’s a LinkedIn post, an email in their inbox, or a flyer handed over in a meeting.

Looking beyond the bid

Bids, tenders, and award submissions are a treasure trove of potential business development and marketing material. They often bring together your best thinking, most compelling evidence, and clearest articulation of what makes you different. While certain commercially sensitive details must, of course, remain confidential, much of the narrative you craft in a bid can be adapted for public use if you approach it strategically.

Case studies are a great example. Already written to highlight your capabilities, track record, and results, they can be edited into engaging examples of your capabilities and used across lots of marketing channels. These case studies can also be shared in proposals, newsletters, or as handouts in meetings, giving prospects tangible proof of your experience.

Innovative solutions described in your methodology or delivery approach can be turned into blog articles, LinkedIn posts, or even conference presentations, positioning you as a thought leader in your sector. These pieces not only showcase your technical expertise but also demonstrate your ability to solve client challenges in creative and effective ways.

Social value and ESG commitments, which are often tucked away in a bid document, can be brought to the forefront of your brand story. They make powerful content for recruitment campaigns, where values matter to potential hires, and can also form the basis of your sustainability and community engagement communications. Highlighting these commitments on your website, in annual reports, or through social media gives your audience a fuller picture of your impact beyond just delivering the work.

By repurposing bid and award submission content in this way, you’re making the most of the significant time and resources invested in each submission. If you’ve worked hard to tell your story persuasively to a procurement team or judging panel, there’s no reason not to retell it to your wider audience. Doing so keeps your messaging consistent across all channels, builds brand credibility, and ensures your strongest material continues to work for you long after the bid or award submission deadline has passed.

Turning one article into many

If you’ve written an article for your website, that’s just the beginning; it should be seen as the foundation for a wider campaign rather than a standalone piece. The core content can be condensed into a punchy newsletter feature to keep your mailing list engaged and drive readers back to the full article. Key points and standout quotes can be broken down into a series of short, engaging social media updates, each with its image or graphic to capture attention and spark discussion. The article could also serve as the basis for a presentation or panel discussion at an industry event, where you can bring the ideas to life in front of a targeted audience.

You might even record a short video summarising the main insights, which can be shared across LinkedIn, YouTube, and your website, giving you a visual and more personal way to connect with your audience. For more impact, consider filming a short series of clips rather than one long video, each focused on a single takeaway from the article, to create a mini content series that can be drip-fed over several weeks.

The key to making this work is not to simply copy and paste the same text into different channels. Instead, adapt the tone, format, and emphasis so the content feels fresh and relevant to each audience. For example, a social media post might focus on a thought-provoking statistic from the article, while a conference talk could expand on the strategy behind it, and a video could highlight the most practical, actionable tip. By doing this, you extend the reach and lifespan of your original content while keeping it engaging and varied for the people you want to reach.

Making case studies work harder

A well-written case study is one of the most versatile marketing tools a business can own. It captures a real-life example of your expertise in action, backed by tangible results and, ideally, a client endorsement (quote). While it’s common to upload case studies to a website and leave them there, their value extends far beyond that. With some creative adaptation, the same story can be repackaged into a professionally designed PDF for your business development team to share during meetings, email to prospects, or hand out at events. It can be reshaped into an infographic that distils the key facts, figures and outcomes into a visually engaging format for social media. You might also produce a short video version, combining images, graphics and a voiceover and, where possible, incorporating a video testimonial from the client. Hearing directly from the client adds credibility, authenticity and emotional impact that written words alone can’t always achieve.

These same materials can be further adapted into slides for a conference presentation, a feature in your newsletter, or a blog post that expands on the project’s challenges and solutions. By making a few tweaks to tailor the tone or focus for different audiences, a single strong case study, especially one with a powerful client testimonial, can become a key piece of your content strategy, delivering value across multiple channels while saving time and maximising impact.

Thinking across channels

One of the most powerful benefits of repurposing is the ability to link your channels together. For example, a new contract win announcement could be shared on LinkedIn, expanded into a detailed case study for your website, featured in your monthly email newsletter, and condensed into a one-page flyer for sector-specific events. This creates a cohesive presence and makes the most of every opportunity to share your successes. For new contract wins, you should also consider how you could turn the news into a press statement that can be shared with local, business, and sector-specific media and press titles.

The easiest way to get the benefits of repurposing is to build it into your workflow. When you create something new, ask yourself where else it could be used. Keep a record of high-value content so it’s easy to adapt and share later. Over time, this approach saves hours of work and ensures that no good idea goes to waste.

The pay-off

Repurposing isn’t about cutting corners or recycling for the sake of it. It’s about maximising the value of the time and resources you’ve already invested. By thinking beyond the original purpose, you can extend the life of your content, reach more people, and strengthen your reputation without starting from scratch each time.

The next time you create something valuable, ask yourself, “where else can this be used?”
You might be surprised by just how far it can go.

If you’re not sure where to start or would like expert input on identifying and adapting content that will work across bids, marketing and business development, the Stephen Alexander team can help. We work with businesses to uncover hidden opportunities in their existing material and turn them into high-impact assets that save time, maximise resources, and support growth.