Imagine you’re in the middle of planning content for your business’s blog. You’re starting to cultivate a few topic ideas that will interest your target audience, just as you always do. But this time you feel defeated before you even begin to write.
Your last blog didn’t do well. When you start to think about it; your blogs never gain much engagement.
What are you doing that isn’t working?
First of all, go back. Think about the type of content you’re writing. Is it topical? Evergreen?
It’s alright if you’re unsure. We’ve all started a piece of content thinking the idea is game-changing. But when we read it over, realise it’s just not going anywhere.
This is a brilliant reason for you to plan the type of content you’re going to write.
Different types of content can help you achieve different goals. And once you know the type of content you want to write – out of topical and evergreen, you’ll be able to form a better content strategy.
Not sure what topical or evergreen content is? That’s fine too! We’re about to explain exactly what they are and how both types of content can help you engage your audience.
By the end of this article, you’ll understand how to use topical and evergreen content to achieve your goals.
What’s topical content?
As the name suggests, topical is all about writing articles on hot topics. Stuff that’s gaining a lot of buzz.
Topical content is great for achieving fast likes and shares, but it can rapidly become irrelevant due to hot topics switching up fast. New topics quickly gain all the attention.
“While topical content can generate immediate buzz, it’s evergreen content that truly builds lasting connections with your audience. Balancing both is the key to sustained engagement.” says Steve Goldstein, founder of LLCBuddy.
Our previous blog post on Kylie Jenner’s tweet which has cost Snapchat money in shares is a great example of topical content. Why? Because at the time it was getting a ton of attention. The downfall of this is that after a week or so, the subject had been almost forgotten about as the newest and juiciest news has come around.
Here’s another brilliant example of topical content that our graphic designers created – an infographic about Brexit.
What qualifies as topical?
- News-related articles
- Statistic-based content
- Current industry developments
- Latest events
Benefits of topical content
- Instant exposure
- Fast traffic
- Your brand is seen as up-to-date
Downfalls of topical content
- Loses relevancy fast
- Becomes useless for you and your readers
- Doesn’t gain as much engagement over time
Explaining evergreen content
Again, the name of this type of content says it all – evergreen is a tree that keeps its leaves throughout the entire year, so as expected, evergreen content stays relevant for a long time. Think of it like this, evergreen content is forever green, forever fresh, forever relevant.
How do you create captivating evergreen content? You want it to be just as useful to someone who finds it the day you put it live, as someone who finds it months later.
Take a look at our blog post ‘User-focused content’ a perfect example of an evergreen content topic. Content writers and digital marketers are always going to be interested in bettering their content strategy because content marketing has been and will be an effective way of marketing, for a long time.
Even if the tips on the article become useless as years go by and the way to create shareable content changes, we can simply go back to it and update the points that need any necessary changes. Then, it’s content that just keeps on giving.
Our infographic of the most educated footballers is another great example of evergreen content.
What qualifies as evergreen?
- How-to guides
- List articles
- The history of *insert topic
- Top tips
Benefits of evergreen content
- Remains useful for a long period of time
- Gains more engagement over time
- Boosts your brands’ authority
Downfalls of evergreen content
- Doesn’t gain likes and shares instantly
- Usually takes longer to write
- End up finding it harder to find new topics you haven’t already got a blog on
Which is better: Topical or Evergreen?
Although it seems like a feeble answer, it’s true; it depends on a number of things…
For those who want engagement now
Your best bet is topical content as it’s a fast way to gain a load of traffic in a short amount of time.
With this type of content, the article will lose its topicality relatively quickly. However, it does show readers that your brand is relevant and up-to-date with all the current news and trends. This all leads to more trust because it proves your brand is capable of staying on-the-ball.
For those who want long-lasting engagement
Of course, evergreen content is going to bring you a longer-lasting effectiveness for achieving likes, shares and comments. Hence why it’s the type of content that is usually used as the bulk of any website blog.
Contrary to topical content, evergreen is less likely to achieve lots of engagement quickly. With this said, it will gain more engagement than topical content over time.
Using both evergreen & topical
In conclusion, both types of content are useful to have but for a long-term content plan, Evergreen content seems to rule. What type of content gets the most engagement for your business?
If you want more advice on content marketing, you can contact us today. We look forward to hearing from you.
