One piece of advice that I often give developers is to build your personal brand. No one can ever take that away from you so create that asset for yourself.
A common way that you can build a personal brand as a developer is to show up on the different social platforms.
But…
In order to grow on those platforms you have to create content.
This can be challenging, especially if you are afraid of repeating yourself.
Every time you get into content creation mode, you struggle to come up with ideas, so instead of creating and providing value to your audience, you close your computer and give up.
Your growth stalls and your audience dwindles.
Even worse, you no longer feel fulfilled as a creative developer.
What if you could recycle what you already created (without it annoying your audience)?
- You would always have something to say
- More opportunities for people to see your content
- You find your creative voice quicker with more reps under your belt.
You are doing your audience a disservice by NOT repeating yourself.
Put yourself on repeat.
Here is why repeating yourself works
- The lifespan of our content is not very long. That tweet you just sent will only have a lifespan of around 24 minutes.
- It strengthens your messaging and lets people know what you are all about.
- It gives you a chance to iterate on a topic and dig a bit deeper, exponentially increasing the value that you provide.
So say it. Then say it again. And after that, repeat.
How to put yourself on repeat without driving your audience (and yourself) insane.
Repeating yourself does not mean just posting the same piece of content 10 times a day, every single day.
That won’t work.
But here are 4 ways that you can strategically repeat your content:
- Let time pass (time in general, different timezones)
- Change the platform
- Change the format
- Create a 2.0 version
Option 1: Time
Not everyone is online at the same time that you post your content. Assuming so is not fair to your audience.
So, share that same piece of content at a different time.
Some of your audience might be more active in the morning, while others are night owls.
Find the times that work for you.
Another way to use time to your advantage is to let time pass.
Did one of your posts not get enough love 3 weeks ago? Share it again. 95% of your audience probably didn’t see it the first time.
Option 2: Platforms
It can be a challenge to show up on multiple social media platforms.
But not everyone you want to help is on the ONE platform you use.
You do not need to be on everything, but pick a few and share your content in those places.
Different types of content work better on each platform, so I spend around 3 minutes tailoring my content to what works there. This improves engagement.
Beginners tip! If you are just starting to build an audience, have a main platform and sprinkle in one more until you get into a good rhythm. Once you add a third, start to look for a social media management tool that works with your platforms of choice to help automate.
Option 3: Change the format
We all know that our content follows different patterns. Some pieces are long or shot. Some are listicles or stories.
These different formats resonate with other people.
In addition to resonating with different people in different ways, they also help you flex your creative muscles, which is always good.
Take some of your most popular content, change the format, and then hit publish.
Option 4: Create a V2
Instead of starting from scratch, open up one of your past pieces of content.
Now that some time has passed, what have you learned since?
Use that and edit the piece with your new knowledge.
You don’t need to change every word or sentence. Simply add or remove information that has changed based on new data.
Provide more value to your audience by repeating yourself
We have seen all the big names use this strategy. Look at any large account and scroll their content on any platform. You will notice a pattern in the content.
They reuse a lot of the same stuff; you probably didn’t notice before because you didn’t see it all at once.
This strategy works, and it allows you to produce a LOT of content and be consistent, so use it!
Hit repeat and provide value.