6 ways evergreen content can work for you while you are on vacation
Social media never takes a vacation. Working in this industry doesn’t mean you have to adopt the same relentless schedule. While you’re not there to catch the news cycle, you can still fill your feed with sector-relevant content by investing in evergreen material.
Just as that palm tree that you might soon be sitting under never loses its leaves, evergreen content stays fresh all year round. Here are 6 reasons why it can keep social channels growing while you’re away.
It shows audiences you care
Helpful content - how-tos, answers to questions, in-depth explainers - provides value. This Cyber Glossary by the Cyber Peace Institute remains useful over two years after publishing.
Producing this type of content isn't entirely charitable. Strong evergreen articles, videos or graphics are a standout way to boost recognition and credibility. Regularly giving something back builds a relationship with audience members and means they will be more likely to listen when you have an important update to share.
2. You can get to know your current audience better
Evergreen stories are a great way to explore areas around your mandate. It creates vital data points that signal what an audience likes and dislikes. This video by Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance capitalises on an interesting partnership and enters the world of gaming, a topic that you might not expect to see from an organisation that has helped to vaccinate 1 billion children.
The video also introduces the brand to a new audience, helping to tap into new networks and expand reach.
3. It’s highly shareable
Content on trending topics passes around the internet for a short period of time, while high-quality evergreen material can capture people’s attention no matter what is going on in the world. Backlinko studied 3.6 billion articles and found that a large proportion of those that were shared on Reddit were ‘evergreen’. This video by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction on how AR can help children prepare for flash floods received 50,000 views when it was first published in summer 2021. Replaying the video for months afterwards has resulted in over 2 million organic views. Strong evergreen content can be enjoyed time and again.
4. It’s sustainable content creation
If you want to see real return on your content investment, why create something that you can only post once? Evergreen content is a long-term investment. Put the effort and resources in now and get a boost in metrics all year round. Evergreen content is the gift that keeps on giving. Which is also linked to…
5. SEO
Evergreen content is likely to be loaded with key words that help search engines and social media platforms understand what your organisation is about and who your content should be visible to. Because the nature of the content is ageless, time and again people will find this content giving you regular clicks and views.
This Holcim animation published on Environmental Product Declarations does a number of important things. First, it adds depth to a key webpage that can be found on a search engine. Second, posting on YouTube with meta-data increases its visibility. Third, optimising it for social will help the video appear on in-platform sustainability searches. With 29% of
Millennials and Gen-Z opting to use social media to find information instead of Google, it’s crucial to ensure that well-tagged evergreen content is across your digital real estate.
6. It can be a form of digital networking
Working with an organisation or individual to tell a story can produce rich results. GESDA published this thought leadership video on organoids - mini organs grown in a dish - that included footage taken by the University of San Diego. This collaboration helped to build the authority of both establishments and allowed the content to reach both audiences. The creative process also enables opportunities for two teams to work together. Plus, the continued replaying that is possible with this kind of video serves as a reminder of the partnership for all those who were involved.
Before you set an Out of Office, which stories could your organisation tell again and again, no matter the season?