How To Create and Repurpose Evergreen Content

When it comes to digital marketing strategies, producing quality content is an essential part of the plan. You put so much work into what you're posting so you don't want to post it and have it buried in a sea of other posts never to be seen again! What is the solution? Create evergreen content and learn the best ways to repurpose that content time and time again! We posted about repurposing content last year so go check this blog out to refresh your memory then come back here and let's expand upon what you learned!

Let's start with the question, what is evergreen content? Evergreen content is any content that can keep a constant level of interest no matter the time of year. It doesn't experience any periods of peaks in demand and there are always people who will want to consume content about these topics. It is called evergreen for this exact reason!

If you are not using evergreen content in your current marketing strategy for ongoing growth, you are missing out on a very valuable piece of search traffic! Don't just take our word for it though, according to SEL, it has been confirmed that content is a MAJOR part of your SEO strategy and is one of Google's top 3 ranking factors.

What Is Evergreen Content?

What this type of content does is help deliver traffic to your website and helps you to achieve a valuable position in search engine rankings for months or even years after when it is published! If you are able to utilize evergreen content as part of your SEO strategy, it can help you become a powerhouse and drive more and more growth from every piece you publish.

Some examples of evergreen content would be how to start a blog, best ways to budget, or even how to organize your pantry. Think about topics that can be easily searched at any time throughout the year. On the other hand, some examples of non-evergreen content would be seasonal recipes, super bowl results, or how to prepare for tax season. These topics can peak year after year but they will still have downtimes since they are more seasonal in their information.

An easy rule of thumb to follow when asking yourself if something is evergreen or not is to check if it falls into one of these categories:

• How-To Guides
• Listicles
• Top Tips
• Product Reviews
• Informational Long-Form Guides
• Pillar Pages
• Video
• Interviews
• Buying Guides
• Glossaries
• FAQs
• Case Studies
• Research Studies
• Checklists
• Testimonials
• Tools and Calculators

Evergreen Content and SEO

What evergreen content does is help you to implement a strategy that ranks for competitive keywords on search engine results pages and helps you earn sustained traffic. There is a level of patience needed though! Remember that it takes time to rank a piece of content on the SERPs and simply great content on its own is usually not enough to get a top ranking.

For most, you also need to be actively building backlinks to your content and promoting it to your audience! Evergreen content will typically earn more backlinks due to the fact that you are continuing to promote these pieces over a long period of time. Marketing Insider Group summed it up by saying that "useful, valuable content will stay relevant over time, and will continue to generate traffic and leads past their publication date."

Why Do You Need to Repurpose Your Content?

Now that you have an understanding of what evergreen content is, let's dive into why you should repurpose your content and some of the benefits that come from it!

To start, it can take a lot of time and energy to be constantly creating new content. We all have busy lives and creating content takes serious time! When we aren't putting the time or energy into our content, the quantity and quality can decrease drastically which results in a suffering marketing strategy. Repurposing content allows you to:

• Easily brainstorm new ideas
• Saves you time in the long run
• Helps you to establish cohesion amongst your businesses marketing efforts
• Easily expand to other content platforms

The best types of content to repurpose are blogs and webinars. This is because of their long-form format and the research requirements that come along with them. Long-form content is a great source for ideas because it provides the starting point for repurposing smaller sections into larger pieces of their own! In addition to this, some additional benefits to blogs are their SEO capabilities, their linkability, the information within it is very sortable, and you are able to put a lead capture at the bottom of the piece. Some additional benefits to webinars are that they are interactive, there is a more personal approach to them, there is a sense of urgency behind it, and that leads are captured prior to viewing.

So, What Are Your Options?

The key here is to make sure that you are reformatting your material so that it is adhering to the best practices of each platform you choose to post to. Keep in mind that every platform is used for a variety of different reasons and achieves different results so keep that in mind when posting! When someone is on Instagram for example, they are more than likely looking for something that doesn't require much reading and they just want to consume their content in a visual way. For this audience, a simple infographic would be beneficial. On the other hand, someone on Facebook is more open to clicking on a link and going back to read a blog or something that is more long-form. Keep this in mind when coming up with your repurposing strategy! Now let's deep dive into some of your best options for repurposing your content.

1 - Video

Video is one of the best options for repurposing content. This is because videos are often more entertaining than traditional forms of communication, making them the most preferred method for distributing content! It's also an ever-growing medium and one of the most popular platforms for users and marketers. In fact, 88% of marketers believe that video has a positive ROI!

Using videos is a great route to take! Video content is easy to distribute, and often enhances the quality of your content. They can be added to blogs, in your social media plan, and even shared through email, where other forms of content are often isolated. Don't be afraid to try out an animated video too! These can be quick and take on a less personal approach which is sometimes needed.

2 - Infographics

An infographic is a great way to summarize information without taking the time and energy of video creation or blog writing. Infographics often have more present data, with statistics and sources readily available. When it comes to using infographics, just keep in mind that their summarized and eye-catching quality makes them incredibly shareable, a useful trait for social media! An infographic is excellent for information that is new or not widely known, though it could also be used to reframe previous information under a new context. Remember though, that you should include more data and sources to increase the credibility of the infographic and that colors and imagery can be used to separate the data points while bolding things are good for highlighting important percentiles.

3 - Social Media

When we use social media, we use it in a very specific way. People turn to social media out of boredom or to seek out entertainment. Social media is an escape and your content needs to be adjusted to respond to user intent.

Here are some things to consider when repurposing content for social media:

1. Always provide context: A blog may cover multiple tips under one subject. But a broad approach isn't necessarily the best. It may reach more users, but those users already have plenty of content to scroll through, so it needs to catch their attention. Consider making your post more personal. Is there anything specific that you can relate to in this post? Connecting with your audience initiates interest in your content.

2. Promote engagement: Engagement enhances the quality of your post but is also viewed positively by many social media algorithms. There are several ways to promote engagement, including asking questions, building awareness, and discussing recent events.

3. Include imagery: This includes pictures, videos, and infographics. It's the material that will catch the eye and make a user interested enough to continue reading or to click a link. Imagery should be high quality and add to the post, not distract from it. Just make sure you're following the best practices for the images on each social channel, as the audiences on each platform respond differently to certain imagery.

4. Use Hashtags properly: Most social media users include a hashtag to add their post to an ongoing subject. This helps make your content discoverable when searching a hashtag, but there are other beneficial ways advisors can use hashtags, including to establish branding or demonstrate awareness. As a quick tip - avoid using hashtags that relate to your industry. Rather, include hashtags that target the interests of your audience.

5. Schedule posts at a good time: A social media schedule establishes a deadline for content creation and assures your content appears in front of your audience at the right time. Just make sure to research or analyze your own data to determine an appropriate posting time.

To wrap things up, some of the top benefits of repurposing your evergreen content include:

• Enables You to Achieve Multiple Goals
• Gives You a Chance to Redeem Less Successful Content
  
• Helps You to Reach New Audience Members
  
• Expands Your Reach
  
• Diversifies Your Content
  
• Enables You to Target Buying Stage
  
• Maximizes Time and Effort
  
• Increases Your Online Presence
  
• Improves Your SEO
  
• Provides More Backlink Opportunities
  
• Strengthens Your Messaging
  
• Enhances Your Knowledge and Skill Set
  

There are so many other ways to get creative with repurposing and we would be happy to help! So what are you waiting for? Schedule a call with us today and let us handle the behind the scenes of your marketing strategy.