Figuring out what kind of content to include in your strategy can be tricky. Jumping on timely and hot topics can absolutely help bolster your overall content marketing strategy at different times – holidays like Christmas and Valentines Day, or popular events like the Super Bowl and World Cup can give you the opportunity to craft engaging content. But for the most part, you’ll want to focus on creating content that’s valuable and relevant long after you post it.

While the timely content might net you a lot of shares in the moment, evergreen content has the potential to generate engagement long after it’s been published. This means your work goes farther, and you’ll have a constant stream of traffic coming in off something you did some time ago.

Check out these 5 tips for creating timeless content that viewers will be consuming long after it’s posted.

Create Infographics

Many people are visual learners, and on the internet, visual content tends to stand out from the crowd. So create infographics that educate your audience about important industry topics.

Mike Murray, a marketing strategist, shares this tip, “To design infographics for an evergreen impact, ensure that you demonstrate the timeless theme at the top.”

For example, National Geographic shares many eye-catching and informative infographics that educate their audience on topics they’re likely to be interested in. The timeless topic is always clear at the top, even if some statistics aren’t from the current year.

Spark Conversation

Give your audience something to talk about. Whether it’s silly or serious, comments and conversation help improve your organic reach. The Brits R U.S. store sparked a bit of controversy and encouraged discussion by posting what many would consider a disgusting popsicle, and asking the audience’s opinion on it.

Write a Guide

Guides that feature points of interests or timeless facts are likely to remain relevant for a long period of time.

Here’s an example of a guide that’s both evergreen and timely. During the World Cup, Travel Chanel published a guide detailing the best places to watch soccer across America. Because it was during the World Cup, more people were interested in the topic than usual, but the guide provides evergreen value for those who are interested in the sport year-round.

Stay Away From Trendy News Stories

If something major happens relevant to your industry, it may very well be appropriate to share the news on social media or even discuss it in a blog post. But generally speaking, the news is a very in-the-now subject that won’t help you long term. So if you do choose to cover hot topics that are unlikely to be of much interest to anyone by next month, do so sparingly. Instead of covering each news topic individually, you might even consider doing a monthly or weekly wrap up style post where you touch on relevant bits of news – this allows you to keep your followers up to speed and make sure you don’t look out of touch.

Unless your website’s focus is on breaking news like BBC, you’ll want to avoid putting your effort into articles like these that are not likely to generate much interest beyond the now.

Publish Lists

Audiences love consuming content in short, consumable bits. Bullet lists that highlight the main point and provide a few sentences of detail can be the perfect way to present this to your audience.

Take a look at how Us Magazine published a list detailing the most iconic VMA performances of all time. It was published just before the VMA’s aired this year, making it timely and relevant to what people are interested in, but it also provides interesting insights that span several decades, making it evergreen. And if something iconic happens in 2018, Us can update the list for next year to include the new information. You can create lists for just about any topic – from a list of tips to a “best of” rundown.

Creating evergreen content might require more research now than other popular topics, but you’re sure to see your work pay off in the long run. Creating timeless and valuable content will attract an audience long after the content is published and help you find long-term success with your content strategy.

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