Question: We keep hearing that we should strive to create “Evergreen” content.  What is Evergreen content and how can we create it?

 

Viral is the word of the day these days.  Marketers want to create content that will get picked up fast and then “Go Viral.”

This concept is great for visibility as content that truly does go viral will be shared thousands if not millions of times in a really short period of time.

Want to know something interesting about viral content.  Many of the best viral pieces of the past year didn’t necessarily lead to a sharp increase in sales.

For instance, the Van Damme video that saw 57 million views in short order.  How will this help Volvo sell more trucks?

I digress, but there is a point to what I am saying here.

Evergreen content is sort of the distant and perhaps more sales friendly cousin to viral content.

As a quick definition, evergreen content is made up of posts that are not only relevant when they are posted, but they stay relevant for the time to come.

The great thing about the timeless nature of evergreen content is its potential to connect and engage to your audience for the long term.

For a B2B, an evergreen piece of content may be a “How To” or a “Best Practice Guide.”

Realistically speaking there is very little content that will truly stay relevant in perpetuity, however, good “Evergreen” content can often stay relevant for months or even years beyond its original posting date.

Whereas, right now many companies are posting new year and holiday related content that has to be quickly absorbed in a matter of days or it loses relevancy.

 

How To Create Evergreen Content

 

Unfortunately there is no post entitled “follow these 3 steps to create a piece of content that your audience will love forever.” (Perhaps there should be)

However, when creating content there are a few things to consider to give it a greater chance of extending its lifespan.

Here are a few things to consider.

  • Don’t time stamp the content if you don’t have to. For instance Learn Twitter in 2014 could be a title, but what about Learn Twitter Now? (The latter is more evergreen friendly)
  • Focus on answering questions that many of your customers/clients have about your products/services.
  • Tie your content around timeless lessons and morals (if applicable).
  • Continue to promote your content through Social Channels for new readers to see it for the first time.

 

Lastly…Why Create Evergreen Content? It is This Simple!

 

Why Evergreen Content
Image courtesy of Business2Community – All Rights Reserved

Creating Evergreen content that will continue to be read, valued and engaged with is a terrific way to get a better return on  your content creation investment!

 

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