What Is Evergreen Content? (Plus Content Ideas)

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If you live in the Midwest like me, you know that the leaves on many trees fall in the Fall (we Americans basically renamed a season after this phenomenon lol). Trees go through this transformation every year as the seasons change.

But, not the evergreen tree— the evergreen tree retains its leaves throughout the year. It doesn’t change with the seasons.

Evergreen trees, where the word “evergreen” comes from

This is where the word “evergreen” comes from. Something that’s “evergreen” is always fresh and unchanging.

What Does Evergreen Mean in Marketing?

Though the word can be applied to many topics, it’s abuzz in the marketing world—evergreen content.

Evergreen marketing is the overall, long-term strategy for making marketing materials that are timeless and always relevant. Evergreen content, in today’s online world, is how you’ll execute that strategy.

In this article, I’m going to cover what “evergreen” means in marketing and content so you can make it part of your marketing strategy!

What Is Evergreen Content?

Evergreen content is content that remains relevant to an audience over a long period of time. Think of it in contrast to trendy content, which is relevant to a certain time or event (and not the long term). That’s implied in the word “trend”—it comes and goes.

There are two ways to think of evergreen content:

1. The content itself is evergreen & relevant for a long period of time

2. The platform on which the content is published keeps the content relevant for a long time

Ideally, you want to hit both: a piece of evergreen content that is published on a platform that will retain its longevity.

First, we’ll start with platforms.

Best Platforms for Evergreen Content

Did you know that content on social media platforms has a lifespan? Content lifespan is how long a piece of content remains relevant before fading into obscurity.

The table below shows average content lifespans for popular social media platforms.

Popular social media platforms and their content lifespan

As you can see, Pinterest and YouTube (both long-form and short-form) are the best social media platforms for content longevity.

Both of those platforms function more like search engines than social media platforms, so it makes sense. With a little SEO (Search Engine Optimization) knowledge, you can create pieces of content that are highly searchable and that live almost indefinitely on those platforms.

I would advise choosing one evergreen platform and one “trendy” platform.

If you plan to use video, creating short videos for YouTube as Shorts and Pinterest as Idea Pins is a good strategy. Of course, you can post those to any other platform too. More content, less stress, and you hit both the evergreen and trendy platforms!

Learning about content lifespans helped me decide to be a YouTube Shorts and Pinterest creator instead of a TikTok creator. I wanted my content to live longer.

But, evergreen content doesn’t need to live on social media. Your website is also a place to publish evergreen content (If you don’t have one yet, you can build a simple one with Carrd!)

Evergreen Content Ideas

Here are several types of evergreen content that can stay relevant for months or years (or indefinitely!):

• Blog posts (like this one!)

• Whitepapers or infographics

• Email sequences (like a welcome sequence)

• E-books

• Reports

• FAQs

These are the types of content that always work for you, even when you’re not creating content.

Here are a few examples in different industries:

• A chiropractic office writing a blog post about keeping correct posture at the office

• An online clothing shop creating an email sequence that gives new customers 10% off their first order

• A real estate agent writing an e-book for first-time home buyers

These types of evergreen content can work for any industry, so I hope these examples help you think creatively for your own business!

Evergreen Content Strategy

Now that you know what evergreen content is and where you can publish it, it’s time to create a strategy.

As I mentioned, evergreen marketing, whether on YouTube, Pinterest, or somewhere else, is closely tied to SEO. You’ll want to remember to:

1. Make sure relevant keywords for your industry and business are naturally placed in your content so it’s searchable.

2. Think about your target audience’s frequent questions and concerns and create content around that.

3. Use stories and anecdotes to connect with your customer emotionally.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to have evergreen content in my marketing?

Yes, evergreen content is an important way to give your content longevity and timelessness. That said, you don’t only need to make evergreen content!

How much evergreen content should I post vs trendy content?

This varies from business to business, but I recommend coming up with a general ratio. For some, 50/50 works great. Others may prefer to create mostly trend content and a few pieces of evergreen content—80/20 one way or the other. Start with your business goals and come up with a ratio that seems feasible to you.

I can’t come up with evergreen content ideas. What should I do?

Think about your core values and messages. How can you get those across to your target audience?

Also, content repurposing! You can make any piece of content more evergreen by repurposing it. Expand an Instagram post into a blog post, put your Instagram posts on Pinterest, or build an email sequence and a lead magnet. Sometimes, you need to get a little creative with what you have!

Now that you know what evergreen content is, you’re ready to create it! What are you waiting for?