Many times businesses, when it comes to their marketing strategies, will only think in immediate terms and create content that only addresses current events, debates and specific issues. Usually choosing to only cover topics that audiences are focused on at that particular moment in time and producing content that is reactive in nature. As a result, most of their marketing campaign becomes focused on immediate goals, which could be the need to promote or support an event or advertise the launch of a new product or service.
This is by no means an incorrect marketing strategy as it does, no doubt, produce successful short-term results. But it may be worth also considering the possibility of adding content that is specifically designed to span a longer timeframe. A marketing strategy that works for you for months and even years.
This is where evergreen content comes in. Creating content that is evergreen and relevant for years will help your business to continually reach and engage new audiences and ultimately grow your business. Evergreen content is designed to introduce audiences to your brand and generate leads for long after it was first produced.
When you choose to create content that centres around the core of what your brand is all about, you choose to stay relevant to your audience. This allows you to maximise the return on your investment, the investment being the content that you paid someone to produce.
Producing great thought leadership content that can be repurposed again and again is the clever and cost-effective thing to do. Owning great pieces of content that can be used again and again just makes sense because they contain a valuable core message that will educate your audience for years to come.
An evergreen marketing campaign should have an enduring authority to it and should include content that will remain relevant and impactful. It must be compelling and pertinent in any season of any year, hence the name ‘evergreen content’.
When writing evergreen content, make sure you provide a definitive and authoritative take on the issue. Don’t hesitate to go into detail and dive deep into the subject matter that you are covering, even if you feel that your content seems a bit long. This kind of content becomes a great asset and will serve as a guide to your audience.
It is also effective in generating engagement and leads as people download it and share it organically for years. A great example of this type of content is LinkedIn’s The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn which is now six years old and still relevant today, believe it or not.
Long-form blog posts are recommended over anything else for evergreen content because they tend to generate significantly more organic sharing and backlinks as opposed to shorter posts. These long-form posts also remain in the search results for years. People find and share them organically, long after these blog posts have been promoted by your business.
It’s clear that people have developed an appetite for authoritative content, so leverage it and choose to promote this type of content so that it is easily found and accessible to your audience.
When producing evergreen content, edit out time-sensitive details. This is what will make your content feel dated and irrelevant. Make sure your content always feels fresh and it will continue to generate traffic, even long after it was posted.
Another thing you can do is take a look at your blog archives and see which pieces of content your audience is still finding valuable. Update the details of your post such as time-sensitive information to repurpose and give it an evergreen makeover.
When creating a marketing strategy designed for the long term, maximise the value of your evergreen content, this is your most valuable asset. Take your time to promote your content slowly and over time, choosing instead to spend your allocated marketing budget over months rather than all in one day.
There is really no need to spend your budget all at once if the content you are promoting isn’t time-sensitive. Sticking to a long term promotional strategy will aid in the sustainable promotion of your ongoing evergreen content.
And when the holidays roll around, don’t do what other businesses do and put your foot on the brake by pausing your promotional campaigns. Do the opposite, continue to promote your evergreen content, as this is the time when people will be online the most, due to the extra free time that they will have available.
While other businesses may slow things down, now is your chance to speed things up, thus giving your brand a chance to grab the attention of your not so preoccupied audience. This will also work to attract new audiences who will discover the value of your evergreen content.
Contact us via email, janine@themustardflower.co.za or our contact page to find out how we can help you put together an effective, evergreen content marketing strategy designed specifically for your business.
