By: Danielle Jessup, CMP
You hear people say all the time that we, as a society, are being inundated with information. If so much information is out there, why not find a way to reuse it? Some people say thrifting can be overwhelming, however, I will break down a few ways you can use these resources available at your fingertips to help save you time and money. Let’s go thrifting for content!
- Industry News Alerts – If you have a magazine or a newsletter within your association, consider reaching out to other industry associations and organizations to sign-up on their news alert page. It’s a win-win for both parties. It will provide you with content that you can use and will provide the organization with another outlet for their information. Important note: always get approval from the publisher before using the information.
- Social Media Shares – We all know that social media is the most efficient way of obtaining information. Consider following other industry associations and organizations and share their posts on your page. Again, it’s a win-win for both parties. Not only does it keep your page current and allows you to have daily posts, but it also provides the organization with a share for their information. Consider referencing where you received the information or tag the organization on social media and verify it.
- Templates – Before you begin a project, consider other associations or organizations who have accomplished this project in the past. For example, one association that I manage recently decided to create a new process for board nominations. We never had a formal process in place, so I reached out to another association in our office to see if we could use their application form and scoring sheet as a template. Saved me time and money!
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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Google Alerts – This is a great way to monitor the web for interesting and current content. You can use as little or as many industry terms and key words as you wish. The more options you provide, the more information you will receive. https://www.google.com/alerts
As you can see, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to content marketing. If you have other “thrifting” ideas, please feel free to share in the comments below.
