In need of content? Go evergreen

Realize that content is more than marketing and sales

Time over time, I hear marketers saying they’re in need of content?for?social or newsletters. Urgently they push out some subpar good-enough assets of an already old crappy campaign. Or even worse, they repeat what they pushed last week.

The content you’re looking for to fill in the gaps is already there.?

Go evergreen.

All you need to do is be inquisitive, open your eyes. And above all, realize that content is more than marketing and sales.?

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Why it matters

Honestly, I don’t really know where to start my rant. Yes, campaigns matter. However, the brand behind your products matters more than ever. Not only for Gen Z, also for me, the almost Boomer.

Your sustainability, circularity, diversity, inclusion, women on the board, giving young talent a chance, you do good, you have a heart, and you’re more or less ethical, and not only in the game for the money. It all matters. If you’re a shitty company and not doing good, I don’t want your products.

It looks like marketers are so busy with sales and promotions they forget about this brand-building sh*t. Even when there’s a quest for social and newsletter content, this type of content gets overseen.

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Evergreen?content

WTF is it? It’s like artificial turf. It’s always green, has no maintenance, and can be used anytime, anywhere.?

There are three big chunks where you can find evergreen content

• Mission, vision, and values?of the brand. Your license to operate and why you are here.
• Sustainability. Every brand has some stuff about this sh*t. Immensely popular topic and (over) exploited.
• Circularity. Rising trending topic. If you can tell a transparent story about your circularity efforts, you’re?the?king and can differentiate from your competitors who’re stuck with sustainability content.

If you can’t find it on the corporate part of .com, try the employer branding .career. As HR also needs to sell the brand to talent and potential employees. Or download the annual report and sustainability report and unravel those.

Where?

• The corporate part of the .com
• Check out the sustainability section
• Download the Annual report and sustainability report
• Don't forget the .career

Prerequisites for evergreen content

• Not for sales, no marketing. It’s about pride and passion for your brand.
• Timeless. You can publish it over and over again; there’s?no link to seasonality, events, product?launches,?or campaigns.
• Transparency. Be upfront and open; no marketing bullsh*t, buzz, and jargon.
• Strong visual. As this content usually is produced by corporate comms, the visuals tend to be a bit on the lame and stocky side. It’s up to you to replace it with something better ;)
• Easily written?in accessible normal human language, in line with transparency, being upfront and open.
• If it’s a?video, don’t use it if that’s ‘talking heads’ and f’ing boring to watch.?Mostly, if the video is produced by corporate, it’s not usable for social or newsletters without adjusting and editing. Sorry corp comms.

In short, it’s corporate comms content in a marketing-sexy way.

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Realize content for social is more than campaigns, marketing, and sales. The brand behind your products matters more than ever. Not only for Gen Z, also for me, the almost Boomer.

Your sustainability, circularity, diversity, inclusion, women on the board, giving young talent a chance, you do good, you have a heart, and you’re more or less ethical, and not only in the game for the money. It all matters. If you’re a shitty company and not doing good, I don’t want your products.

Example: C&A

Looking for content for the social and newsletter? I got you! There’s such an amazing and hidden world of?sustainability?and circularity behind this brand; you have no idea.?

To give you an idea?of?where you can dig for content:

• Culture and values: up to five social and newsletter content items about ‘we care…’, ‘we love…’, and ‘we keep it simple.’
• Sustainability: over ten content items about the claim, circularity in fashion, golden level in Cradle-to-Cradle, the policy, animal care, supply chain care,?and?being a sustainable employer for employees.
• #wearthechange?(sustainability program): Here’s the real gold and where C&A differentiates from others; I?have easily over twenty content items about how they implement this in the products and designs, from bio cotton, denim, viscose to extended upfront?explanation?on their circularity efforts and partnership with ‘Fashion for Good.’
• We take it back program: at least five items, from the general claim to the how-to.
• Diving further into the .com and?sustainability report 2021, over fifteen more content items, varying from the CEO statement to explaining the FIT innovation program and reducing plastics.

Above is the result of just a few hours of clicking and reading, resulting in at least fifty content ideas with assets you can re-work into something sexy.

Example: PostNL

The Dutch postal company they are a shining example of innovation, data, and API integration to make all of that available for their customers. Speaking from experience, it’s pretty mindblowing what they can do with data about my parcel and inform me in such a UX-friendly way.

I even was able to tell my friend in South Africa that my book was waiting for her at the postal department of her company, and she had to sign for it. Even before she got the internal notice.

Employer branding was looking for content for the .career and socials.

I just dove into the .com and found so many gems about innovation, e-comm applications, data and supply-chain APIs, career development, and employment conditions.?Check out some?details.

Golden!?

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Final words

Content is for grabs. All you need to do is be inquisitive, open your eyes. And above all, realize that content is more than marketing and sales.?

It's about show&telling the?world?who you are and why you do what you do. That?you are trying to contribute to making the world a better place and not in it for only?the?money.?

Because that matters, or?it should. To you, to me, to everybody.?

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Want to know more?

I know that all things content can be overwhelming. No worries, I'm here to help, don’t be shy,?and drop me a?DM?for a quick virtual coffee.

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