Last week, I met with my in-person mastermind … and due to the social distancing for coronavirus, instead of meeting at our local library, we connected via Zoom to discuss how our marketing efforts have shifted.
The biggest shift came for Andrea, a hair salon owner & curl specialist, who wants to spend the time her salon is closed building her online presence for her curly haired audience. Because she’s grown her Rochester-based business on instagram, she wanted to take the same approach for her online business … but the content marketers in the (virtual) room had a different suggestion:
The key to maximizing your marketing time? Create evergreen content on an authority platform.
Ok, so let’s define what the eff that means …
What is “evergreen content”? “Evergreen content” is written, audio or video content that isn’t time sensitive.
What is an “authority platform”? An “authority platform” is a pre-established way to connect with your audience that expands your influence & expertise. Think: blogging, podcasting, video producing.
If you have limited marketing time, spend it on content that is searchable, forever.
“A blogger, podcaster & YouTuber walk into a bar …” sounds like a bad joke, doesn’t it? But our mastermind has one of each — I’m the blogger, Jaclyn podcasts, and Cathrin is building a YouTube channel — and we all agreed that the best way to grow a business quickly is to create original, high-value, searchable content on a platform where people are looking for your expertise.
So what does that really look like?
Your 5-step process to create search-friendly evergreen content
- Decide what kind of content you want to make. If you love chatting with friends & sharing your voice, podcasting is a great choice. If you love being in front of the camera, YouTube is a great way to grow an audience. And if you’re a great writer, consider blogging.
- Figure out what people are looking for. Time to do some keyword research! Discover what people are looking for, and begin creating your content of choice (video, audio, written) to display your expertise.
- Drive traffic to your website. If you’re blogging, this part is built-in. If you’re podcasting, add show notes to your website and direct people during the show to check out your website. If you’re on YouTube, create a post for every video, include a link to that post in the video description, and embed your video in the post.
- Optimize your post for Google. Download my free checklists for Google, iTunes & YouTube to know exactly how to format your posts. [convertkit form=5264406]
- Promote to your audience. Content marketing isn’t only about search — it’s also great to promote your content to your existing audience. So send a love letter to your email list to share your amazing content, include a link to your new post on social media, and include social sharing links on your website so that your raving fans can share your brilliance.
Aim for a longer content shelf life
Facebook posts generally receive 75% of their impressions within 2.5 hours. Instagram content usually stops being shown after 48 hours. Tweets last about 18 minutes and Snapchat’s literally meant to disappear. (Source)
If you only have 2 hours a week to spend on your marketing, invest it in something that can be found forever.
Need help getting started with your evergreen content plan? Download my SEO Starter Kit: