Whenever I sit in front of a keyboard and write a blog I have 2 aims
1. To add value to my audience and help as many businesses as possible
2. To make it timeless
The latter is key to our blogging success.
It’s what’s known as Evergreen Content and as a business Evergreen content should be part of your marketing strategy
“Evergreen content is that which is still interesting and relevant weeks, months or even years after its initial publish date. It doesn’t date like news, and the value is that it can deliver traffic, leads, social shares and can occupy valuable search positions for a prolonged period of time” E Consultancy
So what do we do that can inspire your evergreen blogging and what examples can you look at
ANGER IS AN ENERGY
John Lydon talks about Anger Is An Energy
A lot of our blogs come from negative places, we sprinkle sugar on it and turn it around into a positive
It’s called making the most of a bad scenario and often those scenarios can be the ones that you face in business every day
– The Misconceptions
– The difficult conversations with clients
– The wrongs of your industry
– The idiotic things that people say
If you can turn all those experiences into positive blogs that help people, then you can let go of the past and use that experience to help more
Example Blog: “Is Social Media Management And Family A Good Combination?” was a blog written from exactly that place. We were talking with a startup business who explained they didn’t need Social Media Training as a family member was going to be running it. The family member has since posted 4 times in 6 weeks. So we wrote a blog on all the points of why a family member running your social media can be good and why it can be a bad fit
THINK OF MULTIPLE TOUCH POINTS
The biggest mistake people make with content is lack of distribution
They spend an hour writing and insightful piece and then share it once on Social Media and within minutes is disappeared on the feed
Distribution should be a key part of your blogging strategy and none come better than an evergreen blog that has multiple touch points to revisit
* Monday Motivation, Charity Tuesday, Wednesday Wisdom, Thursday Thoughts, Friday Feeling – all those things trend on twitter every single week
* National Awareness Days, Weeks, Months – content that be shared annually for a period
The above are just perfect examples that if you have a piece of content related to – can be massively valuable
Example Blogs: “5 Business Takeaways from Jose Mourinho’s Arrival At MUFC” was based on Jose Mourinho’s 1st press conference at Manchester United. We’re based in South Manchester, many of our clients are interested in football and it’s something we can repost every time MUFC play https://www.altrinchamhq.co.uk/5-business-takeaways-from-jose-mourinhos-arrival-at-mufc/
“5 Mistakes That Charities and Voluntary Groups Make (and how to fix them)” was based on our great experience of charity fundraising and comparing it to bad examples we see smaller charity / voluntary groups do. We wanted to educate those in the charity sector and it’s also something we can post every Tuesday for #charitytuesday https://www.altrinchamhq.co.uk/5-mistakes-that-charities-and-voluntary-groups-make-and-how-to-fix-them/
LOOK AT THE WIDER PICTURE
Not all of my blogs are about Social Media
Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture than what you specialise in and offer some real insights
We’re B2B so although digital marketing is what we do, a business is what we operate so a lot of blogs touch on the things that connect with marketing in general. Customer Service, networking, awards and a whole host of areas we’ve spoken about in blogs
Don’t think too narrow. Don’t talk about the same subject in every blog. Look at the wider picture
Example Blogs: “20 Questions You Should Ask About Your Life At The End Of Each Month” was a follow up to the ”
20 Questions About Your Business You Should Ask At The End Of Each Month”. It was based on the idea that as business owners we spend so much time focusing on our business we forget about the very questions that make us a human being. Itwas relatable to many small business owners and also the title as it suggest means we can distribute at the end of each month https://www.altrinchamhq.co.uk/20-questions-you-should-ask-about-your-life-at-the-end-of-each-month/
SHARE EXPERT TIPS
Expert tips are often timeless
Even in the world of social media marketing – the platforms and delivery have changed, but the marketing principles remain the same as when I was back at school in business class 20 years ago.
Your industry is probably very much the same. Products and Services may change slightly, but the core of what you do remains the same
What we often do as business owners is over-estimate how much people actually know about our specialist field so we resist putting those thoughts down in blogs
Looking back at our stats – it’s actually our basic level blogs that have received more views than the higher end stuff
Example Blogs: Our 10 Mistakes Series of blogs were some of our most popular this year – mainly because people like to keep revisiting them for a recap
SHARE A CASE STUDY / SUCCESS STORY
This is your social proof and the sweet spot for you blog
Tell a success story – frame it with an narrative that showcases the stats in an interesting way and you will win business from these types of blogs time and time again
The British mentality is to be shy and retiring and not boast about the great success you have
It’s something many small businesses need to get over
Often the way to do this is to co-author it with the client you’re doing a case study with as they will often do the boastful parts you’re too shy to do
Example Blogs: We’ve got loads of these across Altrincham HQ – but here is one of our original case study blogs that still drives massive interest today https://www.altrinchamhq.co.uk/phanthong-number-1-restaurant-in-altrincham-on-tripadvisor-in-less-than-a-year-of-opening/
IF YOU NEED ANY FURTHER HELP
Altrincham HQ run Blogging Workshops which focus on Idea Generation and Analytics Workshops which focus on measuring the success of Social Media and Blogging
Chat to Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk