Evergreen content refers to a piece of content that remains relevant and valuable over an extended period of time, such as a comprehensive guide or market report.
This content works by focusing on topics that are not time-sensitive but rather universally appealing and consistently useful. Think of evergreen content as something that you can promote again and again, creating a steady stream of traffic, leads, and engagement. When used effectively, evergreen content can become one of the cornerstones of your digital marketing, contributing to enhanced brand authority, long-term audience trust, and a continuous flow of new leads.
What is the Difference Between Your Blog and a Guide Creator?
A blog offers a versatile way to cover a broad array of topics that may vary in depth. It is designed for frequent articles and can provide timely information, such as upcoming events, lifestyle topics, local school spotlights, and community & business highlights. Blogs work best for engaging your audience with new content every week, driving consistent website traffic, and supporting SEO.
In contrast, Guide Creator serves a more targeted purpose. It is designed to create educational resources and offer a more in-depth focus on a particular topic. These "guides" are meant to serve as a reusable marketing tool, making them ideal for addressing particular buyer personas or specific stages in the buying/selling journey. A well-structured guide provides deeper insight and helps audiences make informed decisions.
How To Create an Effective Guide
Creating an effective guide involves taking a deep dive into a specific topic that provides educational value for your audience. Guide Creator allows you to visually customize guides and include features like lead-gating that require visitors to opt-in in order to access the content.
Although you do have the ability to easily create guides of your own, Guide Creator also includes ready-made guides, such as "Top Strategies Buyers Can Learn From Real Estate Investors" and "Unlocking Maximum Value From Your Home Sale". These guides offer curated content that helps target different audience personas. The importance of audience-specific content cannot be overstated—guides that speak directly to an audience's unique needs foster stronger engagement.
These ready-made guides are continually updated to reflect the latest trends and best practices, which is important for maintaining their evergreen status.
Using Market Reports as Evergreen Content
Area Guides and AMRs (Area Market Reports) are another effective form of evergreen content to attract both potential buyers and sellers.
These pieces of content provide critical insights into local housing trends, sales data, and neighborhood statistics that are highly valuable for prospects actively looking to buy or sell. The key is to present these reports in a way that is easy to understand, with visual elements such as graphs or charts to highlight significant trends. The more effectively you can communicate this data, the more valuable your audience will find it.
Just remember, when dealing with non-disclosure states or markets where specific data isn't readily available like Canada, alternative approaches are necessary. For these cases, using PDFs with manually updated information can serve as a reliable workaround. It may require additional work, but this allows you to maintain an authoritative presence while keeping your content fresh and informative.
Integrating Evergreen Content Onto Your Website
To maximize the impact of your evergreen content, integrating them strategically into your website is crucial. Here are a few effective ways to do so:
- Inline CTAs: Make use of inline Calls-to-Action (CTAs) within relevant pages, such as a buyer or seller page. These CTAs should naturally align with the content, encouraging readers to access a guide that provides further value. For instance, if you have a specific page about buying a first home, include a section for a comprehensive "First-time Home Buyers Guide".
- Dedicated Lead Pages: Use our Lead Page templates to create dedicated landing pages for your evergreen content. These pages can include a brief overview or sneak peek, encouraging visitors to provide their contact details to access the full guide. These Lead Pages are perfect to share off-site, for instance in PPC campaigns.
- Pop-ups and Sticky CTAs: Use Engage CTA to create effective call-to-actions targeted on high-traffic pages where visitors may benefit from a related guide or market report.
- Social Site Locks: You can also use social site locks for particular guides or market reports, requiring users to share the page on social media or provide an email address before gaining access. This strategy helps increase your social reach while simultaneously capturing leads.
Deciding between gated vs. ungated content:
- Gated Content for Lead Generation: Requiring users to provide their contact information in exchange for access to a guide or AMR can be an effective way to generate leads through PPC or to provide organic visitors full access to a piece of valuable content.
- Ungated Content to Build Trust: On the other hand, offering some of your guides without requiring contact information helps to build trust with new visitors. They will appreciate the value you provide upfront, which may increase the likelihood of them engaging with you further down the line.
- A/B Testing: Experiment with different approaches for placing your guides and market reports on the website to determine which ones are most effective. You might A/B test different versions of CTAs, pop-up timing, or gated vs ungated techniques.
By thoughtfully integrating guides and market reports into your website, you enhance your ability to generate leads, build authority, and engage different audience segments effectively.
Promoting Guides Off-site
To extend the reach of your guides, share them off-site via social media, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and email campaigns. If you're linking guides on social media, consider whether the content should be gated to capture new leads, or if providing free access might be more effective in driving engagement.
To promote guides effectively on social media, consider creating eye-catching graphics or videos that summarize the key points of the guide and entice users to click through. Tailor your messaging for each platform—what works on Facebook may need adjusting for Instagram or LinkedIn. Additionally, scheduling posts consistently can keep your audience engaged, reminding them of the value your guides provide.
As mentioned earlier, creating Lead Pages that include sneak peeks of your guides or AMRs is another effective way to attract new leads through PPC.
Lead pages should clearly communicate the value that users will receive, incorporating compelling visuals, bullet points summarizing the guide’s benefits, and testimonials if available.