When you create content for your responsive website, you want it to go viral and maintain some relevance for a period of time — that’s one method of approach for content creation.
There’s also the argument that audiences may be more interested in more topical material, meaning content that’s relevant now, as opposed to some recycled, general, or abstract type of writing that may attract a significant number of readers to your blog over a long period of time.
For the sake of staying competitive and producing effective content, though, which of these avenues do you think fits well into your overall digital marketing campaign?
The following is a description of Seasonal vs. Evergreen Content, and the impact each of these methods has on today’s audience when attempting to create a sustainable platform to engage potential consumers.
Let us examine the distinct features of these two forms of content.
The case for seasonal content
Seasonal content can easily lead to a spike in traffic and it has a higher chance of going viral. However, it also tends to burn out faster since the subject matter is solely focused on current events.
This type of content has a few key advantages. For instance:
It presents less competition. One can argue that topical content is far easier to create and hypothetically holds more value to your audience.
As a matter of fact, the majority of businesses today opt for an evergreen-only strategy, which leaves seasonal content creators a larger creative field and significant leeway when coming up with specific angles for presenting topics.
News-based content and fads get more attention. It might be difficult to show exactly how news and trends gain prominence over evergreen content but there’s proof that audiences respond more eagerly to fresh information than they do to a topic they’ve seen countless times on other media and web platforms. This element of freshness and relevance makes seasonal content more valuable upon publication.
When your brand is associated with trendy, up-to-date content, it presents you as an informed authority on select topics.
For instance, blogging about fedoras and other sunhats during summer, or roof gutter clogging during fall or the wet seasons can set you apart as an authority since most of your content is believed to be applicable now. The same applies for industry news and trends on food, fashion, travel, entertainment, etc.
The case for evergreen content
It should be noted that in terms of per-piece value, evergreen content proves superior.
Consider a written piece that earns $1 per week, every year for the foreseeable future.
This same article earns a minimum of $52 a year with no cap to its growth, which potentially gives it more financial value provided all elements of good writing are employed.
Compare that with a rotating topical news article that only earns about $15 a year and has a hard limit: one of these is objectively superior in terms of earnings.
Evergreen content remains relevant to different audiences throughout its lifespan. Consider an article that describes how to wear a tie, or write a business resume; these would be applicable to people of different backgrounds, age groups, etc., and it wouldn’t require any element of trend or freshness.
From a production standpoint, evergreen content doesn’t present too many challenges or require sharp creativity. Much of the information is already available online, so the challenge may lie in presenting an old topic in ways that people will find useful and applicable.
So which is better?
A hybrid approach to content creation
Both of these methods have inherent merits and demerits and sticking to one single method can prove to be restrictive in the long run.
Some marketers prefer to use a model that takes advantage of both forms of content as an effort to reach different audiences.
The trick lies in finding a balance between these two models.
For instance, you may choose to dedicate about 70% of your content to seasonal topics and still create a few useful evergreen articles and related content that delves into some of the more common issues affecting a wider audience.
This is only a rudimentary example. How you choose to split the content depends entirely on the nature of your brand and the type of audience targeted in your marketing campaign.
Refer to your audience preferences and pay attention to how they respond to specific topics; that will guide you in creating an editorial plan that incorporates both elements of content to support your campaign and bring traffic to your responsive website.
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Originally published at www.bookmark.com on October 25, 2016.
