By Niki Vriens, Guest Blogger, Freelance Creative Communications
Summer is a great time for binging podcasts, isn't it? Between a few road trips to the beach and yard work, I recently finished Wiser Than Me, a show hosted by the hilarious Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In it, she interviews female legends over 70 years of age, ranging from Jane Fonda to Amy Tan (one of my personal favorite authors). The production so beautifully weaves through the important–but often neglected–topic of aging gracefully. Through her candid but thoughtful questions, Julia elicits raw honesty from guests, all of which collectively squash the notion that aging decreases one's value. In fact, it becomes clear that aging can do the opposite.
In a society that often praises relevance, trends, and newness, I found this all to be a refreshing take. In the marketing world specifically, it's easy to get caught up in the idea of "fresh" and "staying current". And while, yes, this is an important component of a marketing strategy, I do think it's worth considering how some content should stand as timeless pillars–content assets that age gracefully, if you will.
Evergreen Content
In a content marketing strategy, this is referred to as evergreen content. To clarify, evergreen content does not tie directly to something current and will not become dated quickly. This type of content, in other words, has a long shelf life and can serve your brand for a longer period of time (think months or even years). Essentially when you're planning evergreen content, think to yourself, will this sentence or reference timestamp the content? In my opening podcast anecdote, for instance, I referenced a popular spring 2023 podcast. Being mindful of dates and trends can keep your writing evergreen.
Producing evergreen content should definitely be a focus for content creators within a brand or organization, simply for the fact that it reaps benefits for longer, without multiplying the work. Doesn't that sound great? Of course, one of those benefits would be a boost in SEO, Search Engine Optimization.
Understanding the mechanisms of SEO continues to be a vital part of content marketing. In practice, SEO typically involves creating high-quality content, building backlinks, and maintaining the health and usability of your site. Through content creation and dissemination, a brand can continuously move up search engine rankings to drive organic traffic to their site. Evergreen content, when produced thoughtfully, positions you as authoritative and valuable, which can ultimately boost your rankings.
Types of Evergreen Content
Content marketing, most often informative and educational in nature, aims to build loyalty and brand trust. Depending on your service, mission, or goals as a brand or organization, you can choose the type of evergreen content to produce that will provide the maximum value to your potential customer.
Here are some of the main genres of evergreen content:
How-to guides
Break down the complicated. Help your customers through a difficult process. How-to guides can educate while subtly revealing how your product or service may enhance the process.
FAQs
An FAQ doc inherently anticipates what search engine users will be asking, which is stellar for your SEO.
Listicles
From "10 Game-Changer Cleaning Hacks" to "5 Reasons Why You Should Have Houseplants", readers love a concise and easy-to-read list.
Interviews
As long as an interview isn't focused on a time-stamped event, interviews with experts or thought leaders tied to your organization or brand make compelling content.
Checklist
Break down a multi-step task for your reader by creating a checklist. They'll find value in your organization or chronology of something that requires a lot of brain power.
Other Tips on Producing Evergreen Content
Don't skimp on the graphic design and overall composition of the content. If you want the piece to have a long shelf life and truly be high performing, invest more time in its design and align it with your brand aesthetic.
Remember that you can always refresh your content, rewrite some sections or spruce up some images. Our world changes rapidly, and even though it's evergreen, that doesn't mean that it won't need a reboot every quarter or so.
Research, research, research. What are your competitors putting out there? If they're focused on case studies, perhaps choose another form of evergreen content to ensure you're adding value.
Closing
Aging is not a bad thing, as you can see! Just because the content was not published within the past week does not mean it will rank lower or be viewed as stale by current or potential customers. Conversely, pillar, non-time-sensitive content can serve as a major branding asset.
About the Author: Niki Vriens is a local communications freelancer who recently finished her master's in media communications, her thesis focusing on content marketing strategy. As a creative writing teacher for the past decade, she's an admirer of storytelling and all that it can accomplish.
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