Building Authority with Evergreen Content
The game that’s played today requires manufacturers to have more than just a strong product offering. For the first time in human history, we can officially say that companies NEED an online presence. The best have planted their flagpoles of thought leadership with ubiquitous brand recognition. The worst are still figuring out how to get their heads out of the sand.
A powerful online presence means you’re respected in the industry – people go to you for information because they trust you, not just to buy ‘stuff’ from you. The best way to climb this content ladder is by starting! Put pen to paper and start actually creating some SEO-rich content on topics you like talking about. When the content is evergreen it never goes out of style. Deliverables like product guides, FAQ sections, and case studies are ripe for the picking and help provide the long-lasting value that your audience craves. When done right, this type of content drives traffic and builds trust.
Passions and Pain Points
The key to successful evergreen content? Listening to, digesting, and fully understanding the passions and perhaps more importantly, the pain points, of your audience. What’s their day-to-day life like? Where could they use a helping hand? A break? An insight? A nugget of knowledge they can put in their pocket and save for later? Think product tutorials and troubleshooting guides. Think industry news and how it impacts you and your business – and in effect theirs! Address real-world challenges and your content should see a bump in engagement (likes, comments, bookmarks). Keywords play a large factor here. The more on-target you are with your search terms, the better leads you’ll get to your website. With the right string of keywords, you’ll have qualified leads knocking down your door asking for more information.
Crafting Confident, Collaborative Content
Collaboration is key. Nobody succeeds by themselves on an island. Be sure you’re crowdsourcing your topics from your audience and your team, making sure you’re covering all the important bases. Be confident in your approach! Use clear, concise language to help break down more complicated concepts. Use diagrams and visual aids to help tell your story. Don’t shy away from specifics – manufacturers love deep dives; the more detailed and the more nuanced, the better. And be super bold and aggressive with your titles and headers…puns and idioms are your friend.
All these things contribute to a confident tone of voice – one that lends itself well to being an industry thought leader. Don’t forget to make your content actionable with solid Calls-to-Action. Perception is reality, so let users exit your website thinking, “Now that was an all-encompassing, unbiased resource. How refreshing!”
Keeping Things So Fresh and So Clean
The development of good content is an investment. Don’t let things get stale; keep your content fresh. Just because content is evergreen doesn’t mean it can’t be updated – in fact, small tweaks are a great way to bring past topics back into the limelight. Like any other marketing initiative, you’ll get out what you put in. It’s been proven time and time again: well written, engaging, evergreen content is as good as gold.
