Last week, I had a lively discussion with a colleague about “evergreen” content.
I argued that being evergreen does not automatically mean that content will stand the test of time. Nor is content that stands the test of time necessarily evergreen.
The discussion arose out of a debate about the state of AI-generated content — whether AI could create a classic piece of content. You know, something that could be considered seminal and iconic for a subject it covered.
I’ll come back to this discussion, but first, let me explain the distinction between classic and evergreen content.
Evergreen vs. classic content
In B2B marketing in particular, many marketing and content teams spend at least some time creating “evergreen content”. Inherent in the name, the content is not only relevant in the moment, but for a long time (perhaps forever). Thus, the author avoids including anything in the content directly or indirectly that indicates the time of its publication.
A team might create a research paper titled, The Strategic Approach To X, where “X” is an industry, a business approach, or an elementary best practice. The creator’s goal is for the content to always be valuable to the reader.
But I argue that “timeless” content doesn’t always mean it will stand the test of time. Also, just because someone uses a current moment context in their content doesn’t mean it won’t become a classic. In fact, present moment awareness may be a key component of classical content.
In other words, there is a difference between “evergreen” and “classic” content, and you should focus on the latter.
Classic content requires more and a different kind of effort. It requires you to create something of lasting value or first or higher quality and within its relation to the moment.
But okay, isn’t this all semantics? Why should you care?
Classic content should be a goal
What is the distinction of “classic content?”
Well, I like how author Italo Calvino described a “classic” work in his essay, Why Read The Classics? He characterizes a classic as something “which, even when we read it for the first time, gives the feeling that we are re-reading something we have read before.” But he also says that a classic is when “rereading offers as much of a sense of discovery as the first reading.”
I love the apparent contradiction. But these definitions are not actually contradictory. When you experience a classic piece of content for the first time, you get a sense of familiarity but a new discovery. When you experience a classic afterwards, you get a sense of discovery in familiarity.
From a content marketing perspective, The Lego Movie is a perfect example. His deeply creative storytelling offers a distinct point of view and modern, timely characters. Still, families can enjoy watching The Lego Movie over and over again. The film never exhausts everything it has to say to its audience. The Barbie movie will almost certainly be seen as another great classic in a few years.
Why does classic content matter to B2B marketers?
In my earlier conversation with my colleague, I asked (without irony, mind you) if they could envision genetic AI creating a thought leadership article that was not only timeless (ie, evergreen) but something that would deliver so much value people would go back and read it over and over again.
They laughed because they thought I was joking. They weren’t sure humans could do that, let alone artificial intelligence. They asked: “Do you mean AI can write a ‘classic’ thought leadership book or article? Would it be possible to produce a ‘classic’ SEO video series that has the same replay value as an episode of Friends?”
(Side note: Friends, the now 30-year-old sitcom (oof, that hurts to type), has retained and even grew in popularity both to young and old audiences.)
“Yes,” I replied. “Classic content not only delivers value to new audiences, but also goes one step further. It provides existing audiences with lasting value. They come back to it again and again. B2B content has that ability.”
For example, I keep coming back to Theodore Levitt’s work on marketing myopia to refresh my business strategy pieces despite his analysis of industries dating back to the 1960s. The business book Crossing the Chasm, written before Over 30 years on adopting new technology, it remains a popular business book on go-to-market strategy. And Crossing the Chasm was based on Everett Rogers’ classic 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations, which continues to sell 30,000 copies with each new edition.
And there may be no better example of classic content marketing than John Deere’s The Furrow. The brand has been publishing the magazine for 129 years and readers regularly save issues as collectors’ items. These same readers are revisiting articles written years ago. Furrow’s content is classic and timeless.
Classic formula for classic content
Of course, you can’t know if a piece of content is a classic until it’s a classic. Its basic requirement is that it should stand the test of time.
But as content creators, can you increase the likelihood that the value of your content will last, that it will provide that discovery on every re-read? I think you can.
At the very least, I think you can avoid the trap of not being able to reference current events or contemporary contexts in creating classic content.
In analyzing my own content creation, I discovered that classic pieces of content tend to share these characteristics:
- Memorable, different characters or points of view. Every classic story—even marketing or B2B thought leadership—has a distinct, original view of the world.
For example, Basic Marketing – A Managerial Approach is a classic marketing book that you’ve probably never read. But you’ve no doubt reexamined his idea of the four Ps (product, place, price and promotion) as a fundamental marketing concept.
What will people remember from your content?
- A fully realized setting. Think about world building and your audience, whether you’re B2B or B2C. The rich details allow the audience’s mind to connect with other stories they’ve heard and experiences they’ve had. This is a sign of a classic. The world feels both familiar and new with each reread.
- Distinctive style. Develop a style for words and images and stick to it. Be consistent.
- Greater truths. I talk about this feature in all my storytelling workshops. Every great story should try to illuminate a universal truth that will change the reader in some way.
- Nods (and connections) to tradition. Embrace the tradition or work of the giants who have come before you. Don’t be afraid to create a new classic based on an older classic (eg Crossing The Chasm) or deliberately rebel against it.
- Classics follow—or at least understand—the structure. When a classic deviates from the traditional structure of a story, a class, a business book, etc., it is intentionally designed that way.
- Ambiguity — the mindset of the student. Classic content almost always comes from a mindset of observation and learning with the reader, not an omniscient leader. The more classical context recognizes the present context and its difference from the past to create ambiguity about the future. Too many brands approach thought leadership with too much certainty and no acceptance of blind spots or areas for further exploration.
Classic content almost always leaves room for the audience to find their way in the context of when, where and how they experience it. It enables them, by re-reading, to come to different conclusions and interpret how it fits them in the present. For example, my interpretation and knowledge of Theodore Levitt’s marketing myopia content has changed over the last decade. It’s not unlike experiencing satisfying new and still familiar discoveries while watching a classic movie you watched as a kid.
The bottom line; If you want to have a better chance of creating classic content — content that people will want to watch again and again — focus on great storytelling that leverages the context of now, explores deep themes, and creates original and unique points of view.
And that brings me back to the conversation I had with my colleague.
Classic content is the human advantage
If you consider the common characteristics of classics, you can immediately see how productive AI is hindered in creating content that has a high chance of becoming a classic.
At the heart of classic content is not just an original idea or an innovation on an earlier idea. Classic content synthesizes those ideas with the present context, with that original idea, and brings experience, knowledge, and judgment to articulate an idea that will stand the test of time. Generative AI grapples with all these possibilities.
Generative AI can only express what has been in a new way. He cannot look at what he is now and find the deeper meaning of what he will be. So yes, genetic AI can create evergreen content. But can or will it create classic content? So far, that answer is no.
Will I be proven wrong along the way? Will genetic AI create a piece of content that is a classic?
Only time will tell.
It’s your story. Say it well.
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Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
