Evergreen Content is Over
Social media opened marketers up to a world of regular, ongoing communication with consumers. It was the ultimate form of CRM. All marketers needed to do was post content and feed it to their fans and followers. The benefits of doing so have eroded, and it appears the days of evergreen communication with consumers have nearly come to an end.
Sought Out and Immersive
Much of this shift is driven less by the decline of existing social platforms and more by the rise of new ones. Snapchat and Periscope have entered the scenes as two platforms that create immersive content experiences for viewers that take over a user’s entire screen. No distractions. No competition.
It’s not just that the experiences are immersive. They’re also sought out. Users subscribe to them, and they choose whether or not to open them. The content is not something that just shows up in a feed. Users are notified and then they choose whether or not to view it. It’s the same behavior that’s led to the rise of messaging applications.
When content is that immersive and incumbent on the user to open, it’s better for a brand to focus on creating hits over content that’s anything less. Anything less will disappoint and discourage users from ever seeking out content from the brand in the future. In addition, the opportunity to have a captive audience means you want to make the most out of that moment with something that truly resonates with users.
It’s Not Just New Platforms
New platforms are creating short, ephemeral, immersive experiences, but Facebook has led the way to feeds driven by algorithms. Even Instagram and Twitter are now curating their feeds by prioritizing what it thinks users will find most compelling, instead of what has been shared chronologically.
For marketers this means, the best stuff wins. It’s what gets engagement and shares. It’s what gets rewarded by the algorithm. People engage with content that stands out, and if that’s the case marketers should take a less is more mentality to content creation. Fewer pieces of content that emphasize high engagement and thus earn high reach.
Everyday is Over
Everyday or evergreen content is essentially over. People don’t respond to it, and platforms certainly don’t reward it. Marketers now, more than ever, need to hit the “make them care” threshold. If they don’t care, it’s not worth doing. Go for hits every once in awhile over duds that happen every day.