Evergreen Marketing Strategy 101
Everything you need to know about evergreen marketing strategy - AKA the most introvert-friendly marketing method for cultivating a freedom-friendly business
I’ll give you two options.
Option 1: Curling up in a blanket, with a cuppa to write a blog post, record your podcast in your dressing gown, or screen record a video for YouTube - knowing that this content is going to serve you for months [scratch that] YEARS to come.
Option 2: Scrabbling to create content that only lasts 24 hours. Strapping yourself onto the emotional rollercoaster that is the launch cycle. Hustling to stay ‘visible’ and ‘present’ for fear that people will forget you. Feeling exhausted by the content treadmill.
Yeah. I know, I didn’t write those options from the most neutral standpoint. Buuuut… option 1?
Yeah. Thought so.
You’ve chosen Evergreen Marketing.
If you’re done with relying on mentally draining launches, and done with feeding the hungry social media beast for your sales…
It’s time for you to embrace Evergreen Marketing.
And I’m so bloody pumped that you’re here because you’re clearly figuring out how you can grow your business in a more sustainable, gentle way without having to hustle for every click, sign up and sale.
*Welcome friend.*
I feel like I’m taking you under my wing to let you in on a secret that social media platforms really DON’T want you to know about - EVERGREEN MARKETING.
What even is evergreen marketing?
Before we get into the evergreen bit, let’s backtrack. What even is marketing!?
Marketing is the *things you’re doing* in your business to intentionally take your audience along the buyer’s journey. I’m talking about taking them through the journey of…
Newbie to your brand
Getting to know, like and trust you and your brand
Becoming a paying client
Bonus step - becoming a loyal, raving, repeat client
Now, there are LOADS of different ways you can do marketing.
But evergreen marketing is special (well I think so anyway) because when you build up a bank of evergreen content that can be found across Google, Pinterest, Podcast apps, YouTube… you don’t have to BE THERE 24/7 hustling for clicks, engagement and sales.
What’s more, evergreen marketing grows organically over time. The more content you add to your website and blog, the more traffic you’ll get each month. (Sure with some strategic optimising here and there - but that’s what I’m here to help you with).
That’s why evergreen marketing is the sustainable, nurturing, freedom-friendly AND introvert-friendly way to grow your business.
Sounds good huh?
Evergreen marketing is officially the BEST and I will. Not. Shut. Up. About. It. (sorry, not sorry).
Gimme some examples of evergreen marketing channels and content
Evergreen marketing is all about nurturing your home on the internet - your website. That’s where you want to attract people over to, nurture your audience and invite them to buy from you.
If you’re creating written content - stick it on your blog as a written blog post (with images too)
If you’re creating a podcast - stick the show notes on your blog and embed the podcast episode there so people can listen form your blog
If you’re creating video content - stick it on YouTube and then embed that video into a blog post on your website
And with all of this content - create images for each blog post that you can pin on Pinterest.
The more you add to your blog on your website, (AKA the only platform on the internet you have full control over) the more you build on your evergreen bank of content - and the more traffic you’re going to attract through search, the more your audience will grow, and ultimately, the more sales you’re going to make.
Okkkkk, how does evergreen marketing work?
We’ve covered the buyer’s journey, from newbie to your brand, to growing that know, like and trust factor with you, to becoming a client.
In order to take your audience along that journey, there’s three jobs your evergreen marketing needs to do.
Help the right people DISCOVER you and your brand
NURTURE your people from just discovered you to becoming a raving fan of your work
Inform your people of what you do, how you can help them and INVITE them to buy from you.
Bonus step - DELIGHT your clients with excellent service so they keep coming back
To do each of those jobs, your evergreen marketing is going to look a little different at each stage.
How does evergreen marketing help people DISCOVER my brand?
One word - search.
You want to be appearing in search (across Google, Pinterest, YouTube, Podcast apps etc) for the types of topics your ideal audience are looking for.
If you have content on your website that’s relevant to those search topics, people click on those search results and find their way to your website.
In order to appear for those topics in your ideal audience’s search results, you need to create evergreen content.
I’m talking, blogging, podcasting, video and Pinterest content. The more content you have on your website that’s optimised to people’s search terms, the more traffic you’re going to drive to your website.
For example, for my business, my ideal audience might be searching ‘how to create an evergreen marketing strategy for my small business’. So I wrote this post, with those keywords included in it to help my content start popping up in those kind of search results.
Evergreen Marketing at the DISCOVER stage is essentially a process of creating content that will be relevant to your audience for months, and years to come. It lives on your blog and drives traffic to your website without you having to be there hustling for attention all the time.
How does evergreen marketing help me NURTURE my audience?
So far, your content has helped your audience discover you through search, and click over to your website. YAY!
From there, on your website, your content’s next job is to nurture your newbie audience into adoring fans.
The same content that people found you through, can also be your nurture content. First, it helps that person find you, then when they get into the blog post, podcast episode, or video, they take away value in the shape of…
A how to
Lessons from your own experience with practical takeaways
Your thought leadership, ideas, musings, opinion pieces
A confidence boosting pep-talk
Stories you share that educate, inspire and entertain your people
They start to think…
I’m going to bookmark this post and keep coming back
WOW, I’ve never thought of it like that before
I’m going to implement these actions for myself and see if it helps me XYZ.
In other words, they are getting super impactful, juicy VALUE from your content. And that’s making them want to hang around.
The last, vital ingredient in the NURTURE phase is emotional connection.
A buying decision is always an emotional decision. Before anyone is going to buy from you, they need to have an emotional connection with you.
This is where your more emotive content comes in.
Perhaps you get a bit vulnerable and share a mistake you made (that they can relate to) and what you learned from it.
Maybe it’s sharing your story that explains WHY you do what you do and why you care so much about it.
Perhaps this is about letting your audience in on what you’re into outside of your business, so they can see you as a whole person.
Maybe it’s sharing what’s going on behind the scenes in your business so your audience feel a closer connection with you.
To strengthen that emotional connection you can also create video content, and podcast episodes - where people can see you and hear you and get to know you better as the person behind the brand.
While they’re going down rabbit holes on your blog (HELLO - lots of internal linking in your posts ;) perusing and consuming your content across and taking this all in, they’re growing that all important know, like and trust factor with your business.
This is the phase where you want to be inviting your audience onto your mailing list and also nurturing them through your evergreen funnels as well.
There’s no rule to how long this phase might take. It could be an hour for one person, and a year for someone else.
But as they progress through the NURTURE phase, and they like what you’re sharing, they will naturally progress into being curious about how you can help them, and how they can buy from you.
How does evergreen marketing INVITE my audience to buy from me or work with me?
The final job of your content and website is to INVITE your audience to buy from you. This is where the teamwork on your website comes into play.
The content your people are consuming across your blog needs to lead your audience onto different avenues. Your blog content needs to:
Include more sales focussed that has a more direct sales message and links through to the sales page for your offer:
3 ways working with me can help you XYZ
When is the right time to invest in working with an XYZ
Are you struggling with [pain point]? Here’s the solution
Mention and link to your offers in blog content
‘Sell’ your mailing list or free lead magnets and invite people to sign up for them (and therefore join your mailing list and perhaps opt-in to a sales funnel.
Internally link through to other pages on your website
Then the batton gets handed over to your sales funnel and your sales pages (and perhaps your discovery calls too) to Invite them to buy from you.
How do I create an evergreen marketing strategy or run an evergreen marketing campaign?
OK. Now things are getting tasty...
With evergreen strategy, it alllll starts with mapping out what I call - your evergreen flow (or customer journey).
Your evergreen flow is an intentional journey that leads your audience through from discovering your brand > to bingeing your content and getting to know you > to finding out more about your offers and buying from you (perhaps going via a free offer, lead magnet and funnel along the way).
This comes from knowing your audience - what their pain points/ challenges/ struggles are, as well as their goals/ wants/ needs/ aspirations. And matching those needs up with your content, and offers.
When you’ve got a clear evergreen flow, you can get planning your evergreen marketing content, creating it and sharting it.
THAT’S when you’re evergreen marketing.
Some next steps for developing your evergreen marketing strategy:
Wanna tuck this in your pocket for your next marketing strategy sech? Pin it for later:
