How to Repurpose an Interview for Social Media

A single, insightful interview is a content goldmine, yet most creators and marketers publish it once and move on, leaving hours of valuable material on the cutting room floor. This guide unpacks a simple, repeatable system for turning that one conversation into a steady stream of engaging content for all your social media platforms. We'll cover everything from mining your interview for shareable moments to the exact formats that will grab your audience's attention.

First, Lay the Groundwork: Set Yourself Up for Repurposing Success

The best repurposing strategies start before you even hit the record button. A little bit of prep can make the content creation process dramatically easier on the backend. Think of this as putting a system in place to create great clips, not just a great long-form interview.

Prep Questions That Create Soundbites

While you want a natural, flowing conversation, you can subtly guide it toward creating repurposable moments. Go into your interview with a list of questions designed to get concise, powerful answers.

• "What's the biggest mistake people make when..." - This pushes for clear, direct answers about common pain points.
• "If you could only give one piece of advice on [topic], what would it be?" - This is a fantastic way to fish for a perfect, shareable clip.
• "Walk me through the three steps to..." - Step-by-step instructions are perfect for creating carousel posts or video clips.
• "What's one unconventional belief you have about your industry?" - Contrarian takes almost always spark curiosity and engagement.

Mind Your Audio and Video Quality

You can't create amazing content from a grainy, muffled source file. Even if the interview is for a podcast, record a high-quality video track if possible. Use a decent microphone for both yourself and your guest. Make sure your lighting is good and your background is clean. When a clip looks and sounds professional, its perceived value skyrockets, making people more likely to stop scrolling and listen.

Get Permission!

This may seem obvious, but always confirm with your guest that you have permission to chop up the interview into smaller pieces for social media. A simple line in your release form or a quick conversation beforehand is all it takes. Letting them know you plan to promote the interview heavily across social with bite-sized clips is usually seen as a positive, as it gives them more exposure, too.

The "Content Mining" Process: Finding the Gold in Your Interview

Once your interview is recorded, it's time to sift through it and identify the best moments to pull out. Don't try to create content while you're still reviewing, focus solely on identifying potential assets first.

Get a Transcript

Reading is faster than listening. Use an AI-powered transcription service like Descript, Otter.ai, or a built-in feature in your video editor. A transcript allows you to quickly scan the entire conversation, copy-paste great quotes, and spot recurring themes without having to scrub through the timeline repeatedly.

What to Look For

As you read the transcript or watch the recording, keep a running list of "golden moments." Organize them in a simple spreadsheet with columns for the timestamp, the quote or topic, and a potential format idea (e.g., video clip, quote card).

• Punchy One-Liners: Short, memorable sentences that neatly summarize a bigger idea. Perfect for quote graphics.
• Actionable Tips: Anywhere the guest says "Here’s how you do x..." or "The first step is..."
• Powerful Stories: Personal anecdotes are incredibly compelling. A 60-second story about a failure or a breakthrough makes for a fantastic video clip.
• Surprising Stats or Data Points: Hard numbers and surprising facts make people stop and think.
• Emotional Moments: Laughter, vulnerability, or a passionate declaration can create a very human, shareable piece of content.
• Contrasting Ideas: Look for a "myth vs. reality" or "what people think vs. what actually works" moment. These are excellent for creating engaging hooks.

10 Actionable Ways to Repurpose Your Interview Right Now

Okay, you've identified the best parts of your conversation. Now it's time for the fun part: turning them into a variety of social media assets. This is where you transform one piece of pillar content into dozens of different posts that can fill your calendar for weeks.

1. Create Short & Sharp Video Clips

Why it works: Short-form video is the king of engagement on almost every platform. Raw, candid conversation clips feel authentic and are easy to consume.

How to do it:

• Keep clips between 30-90 seconds long. Focus on one single idea per clip. Don't try to cram too much in.
• Burn in captions. The vast majority of people watch videos without sound. Captions are not optional, they are a necessity.
• Add a catchy on-screen headline, like "The #1 Mistake All Beginners Make" or "Her Hot Take on AI is... 🔥". This is your hook to stop the scroll.
• Optimize the format. Edit your video to a 9:16 vertical aspect ratio for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. For in-feed posts on platforms like X, Instagram, and Facebook, use a square (1:1) or portrait (4:5) format.

2. Design Shareable Quote Graphics

Why it works: Quote graphics are visually appealing, easy to read, and highly shareable. They're a simple way to pull out an inspiring or thought-provoking line.

How to do it:

• Use a branded template in a tool like Canva to ensure consistency. Use your brand's fonts and colors.
• Keep it minimal: the quote itself, the speaker's name, and maybe your logo or brand handle.
• Don't clutter the graphic. Let white space help the quote stand out. A high-quality photo of your guest can also add a nice touch.

3. Produce "Audiograms" to Spotlight Great Sound

Why it works: If you don't have video but your audio is amazing, audiograms bring that audio to life on visual platforms.

How to do it:

• An audiogram is simply a static image (like your guest’s headshot or podcast art) paired with the audio clip and an animated soundwave.
• Tools like Headliner, CapCut, or Descript can generate these automatically.
• Just like a video clip, add burned-in captions to make it accessible to everyone. Audiograms are perfect for sharing podcast-style insights on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.

4. Write a "Thread" or Tweetstorm

Why it works: Text-based threads allow you to expand on a concept from the interview, breaking down a complex idea into easily digestible chunks.

How to do it:

• Find a segment where your guest explains a process or lists several key points.
• Craft a strong opening tweet or post as your hook. For example, "I learned more about [topic] in 5 mins with [Guest] than in 5 years on my own. Here are the 4 main takeaways: 🧵"
• Dedicate each subsequent post in the thread to one individual takeaway, using numbers or emojis for clarity.
• End the thread with a link to the full interview. This is a primary strategy on X and LinkedIn.

5. Build Educational Carousel Posts

Why it works: Carousels (or sliders) on Instagram and LinkedIn are engagement powerhouses because they keep users swiping. They're the perfect format for teaching a concept from your interview.

How to do it:

• Turn a "how-to" segment from your interview into a series of slides.
• Slide 1: Catchy title & hook.
• Slides 2-5: Each slide explains one step of the process. Use a mix of large text, key icons, and images.
• Final Slide: A summary and a call to action (e.g., "Listen to the full interview for more! Link in bio.").

6. Share Provocative Pull-Quote Teasers

Why it works: A text-only post with a single, compelling quote can generate immense curiosity and drive traffic back to the original content.

How to do it:

• Find a quote that is slightly controversial or questions a common assumption.
• Post it in your feed with quotation marks and proper attribution.
• Use the caption to provide brief context and ask your audience if they agree or disagree. Add a link to the full interview.

7. Post "Behind-the-Scenes" Material

Why it works: This content humanizes your brand and provides a glimpse into the creation process that people love to see.

How to do it:

• Share a screenshot of you and your guest laughing during the pre-interview chat.
• Record a short video of your recording setup.
• Post a funny outtake or a moment when things didn't go as planned.
• Instagram Stories and TikTok are perfect platforms for this type of casual, authentic content.

8. Turn a Key Insight into a Step-by-Step Graphic

Why it works: Sometimes a brilliant point has a few sub-components that are best illustrated visually.

How to do it:

• Take a tip or method explained in the interview and break it down into an infographic-style image.
• If the guest mentioned "My 3-part framework for better pitches," create a visual that illustrates those three parts.
• This highly shareable format provides instant value and establishes your brand as a helpful authority. It's especially effective on LinkedIn and even Pinterest.

9. Repackage Advice for LinkedIn Articles or Newsletters

Why it works: A detailed answer can serve as the foundation for a longer-form post that offers richer context than a simple social media update.

How to do it:

• Take your transcript of a particularly insightful answer (500+ words).
• Clean it up, add some section headers, and maybe a brief personal intro.
• Publish it as a LinkedIn article, a company blog post, or a segment in your newsletter. This extends the life of a single answer into a whole new content asset.

10. Use the Best Clips for Social Media Ads

Why it works: A clip that performs exceptionally well organically is a perfect candidate for a paid ad campaign.

How to do it:

• Identify a 30-60 second video clip that got high engagement (shares, comments, saves).
• This clip has already been validated by your audience. Run it as a video view ad or a traffic ad to drive new audiences to your profile or website. Authentic, value-driven content almost always outperforms slick, overly produced ad creative.

Final Thoughts

This process transforms one piece of cornerstone content into a diverse and multi-faceted social media campaign that can run for weeks. By looking at a single interview not as a final product but as a reservoir of raw material, you maximize your creative output, save precious time, and serve your audience with the best insights from your conversation in formats they love.

After you've created all those amazing video clips, quote graphics, and audiograms, you have one final challenge: getting it all scheduled and published without spending your entire day in different apps. As we were building Postbase, we designed it from the ground up for exactly this kind of modern, multi-format content strategy. Handling short-form video, Reels, carousels, and stories is part of our DNA, allowing you to upload your repurposed assets once, customize them for each network, and see your entire campaign on a simple visual calendar. Our entire system is here to reduce friction in bringing all of these great ideas to life across your social platforms.