Every marketer worth their salt knows that trends will reshape how you approach your content strategy and what you will post about in order to get ample traction and engagement in your industry. That, however, doesn’t negate the fact that there is such a thing as evergreen content – topics, truths, and vital tips that never go out of style or diminish in relevance.
You’ll notice that some of your blog content or your most popular expert interviews have such an impact that you can easily dub them timeless. Still, content formats change because audiences today want novel ways to consume ideas. Videos are more popular than ever, podcasts as well, while visualizing content in the form of charts, infographics, and animated visuals helps make the content more engaging and brings dull topics to life.
What you do with your evergreen content can help you implement that “reuse, repurpose, recycle” mindset in your content strategy. Here’s what you can do to win over your audience time and time again with content you already have!
Use your own research for case studies
For your own business to run smoothly and to grow properly, you need to test your data, strategies, and evaluate the performance of all your ideas to make sure you’re on the right track. All that research and analysis means that you have access to piles of useful industry data that can be transformed into case studies showcasing your own success and allowing others to learn from your mistakes.
Building effective case studies out of long-term data allows you to build up your brand reputation, as it helps establish your authority on various topics, and single out your most successful projects. The beauty of case studies in your portfolio is that they can come in various formats: video overviews, infographics, charts, and of course, longer exposes that will further strengthen your position in the field.
Turn AMA sessions into blog posts
Those “ask me anything” live streams and shows are wonderful, but they do quickly get replaced by fresh video content that will attract fresh views. Even if you keep those videos on your YouTube channel, chances are that many people will get interested primarily in your latest, freshest content. However, the substance of your AMA conversations can serve a great purpose for creating long-form articles.
Even though the evolution of content marketing calls for introducing new formats, long-form content has remained the pillar of SEO, engagement, and industry relevance. With that in mind, you should always strive to create meaningful, value-driven articles that will portray you as the industry leader, but also give actionable, practical advice to your readers. Add to that, keyword optimization will help you rank higher. That is why modifying your video conversations into articles can help your content remain relevant.
Transform interviews into podcasts
Many experts tend to become more relevant and popular over time. Perhaps you’ve interviewed someone in your industry who has become somewhat of a star in your field of work, which means that you can leverage that interview and make it a more substantial piece of content for your website. Why not invite that person for a second conversation to review what you’ve covered in the first interview, thereby getting more attention to your earlier piece, and then expanding upon the topic during the podcast?
Easy to consume and create, podcasts have become one of those favorite content formats for the modern person to enjoy on route to work, while traveling, or while doing something else entirely. It helps bring your content to life and give voice to your views in a more appealing way.
Make videos out of “how-to” posts
On the other hand, that same process of evolution has led to a greater need for visual content: images, GIFs, animations, videos, cartoons, you name it, people love visuals. In fact, visual search will become more significant in the times to come, elevating the importance of visuals for your SEO, too.
So, if you have long-form articles that are old, but timeless, you can turn them into visually striking videos and tutorials that will help your audience consume the content in a more convenient way. In time, visuals will become increasingly more relevant for your marketing strategies, so repurposing existing content and turning it into videos will help you get better at the practice while preserving your brand’s impact and relevance in your industry.
Although creating new and fresh content is always necessary, for your SEO growth as well as your reputation, going back to your old-but-gold pieces will allow you more flexibility in your digital marketing. Put all of your content to great use by repurposing it, changing formats, and transforming outdated pieces into refreshing conversations that need repeating. No matter how far your advance with your content output, remember to look back and dig out those forgotten, but timeless pieces that can elevate your strategy as a whole.
Carl Torrence is a Content Marketer at Marketing Digest. His core expertise lies in developing data-driven content for brands, SaaS businesses, and agencies. In his free time, he enjoys binge-watching time-travel movies and listening to Linkin Park and Coldplay albums in the loop.