What happens when you skip or pause digital marketing campaigns for your business? You have opted out of attention. A dormant social feed, an outdated website, or even no presence at all sends a message that you’re behind. But the right campaign strategy at the right time? That can change everything. Let’s explore two key timing strategies in digital marketing: evergreen and trend-based. By understanding the strengths of each, you’ll be better equipped to connect with your audience and drive results in any business season.
Evergreen Campaigns
When did you last see people or businesses posting about COVID-19? The causes, preventive measures, and the like? This is simply because this incident happened in the past, and people are no longer eager to read about it. Creating content around this now, in 2025, is the wrong timing.
Unlike trend-based campaigns, evergreen campaigns are content that remains relevant over the years. A marketer who uses evergreen campaigns focuses on providing long-term value and consistent relevance. This may include blog posts such as “How-to Guides,” “Industry Tips,” “Destination Guides,” and “Product and Service posts.”
The Unique Benefits of Evergreen Campaigns
1. Long-term value: This campaign is built or structured to remain relevant for a very long period, consistently attracting traffic, building authority, and providing value to your audience at any time, any day.
2. Building brands: Evergreen campaigns help build a strong brand by establishing thought leadership, showcasing your brand values and personality, and creating a consistent tone and voice. This consistent approach will reinforce your brand’s identity, making it more relatable and memorable. Over time, evergreen campaigns can foster a loyal community, driving long-term growth and advocacy for the brand.
Trend-Based Campaigns
Trend-based campaigns focus on current happenings, such as events and seasonal changes, aiming to drive attention and engagement at that very moment. They are best for creating short-term engagement and leveraging events to drive engagement. Some of its characteristics are;
a.) Timely content
b.) Short-term engagement
c.) Specific appeal.
The Unique Benefits of Trend-Based Campaigns
1. Immediate engagement: This campaign generates buzz around your content within that period, and people will likely engage with your content at that very moment to get the latest.
2. Timely relevance: During that period, your content may experience a significant rise in the audience that consumes it or interacts with your website. If used wisely, this can yield considerable profit.
Key Differences Between Evergreen Campaigns and Trend-Based Campaigns
- Time frame: Evergreen campaigns have timeless content with a long-term focus, which remains relevant. Meanwhile, trend-based campaigns are the short-term focus ones and are only relevant within the period they are reigning.
- Content relevance: Evergreen content is always there to stay, as it is always relevant and primarily educational, mainly on how-to guide content and the like. On the other hand, trend-based content is only available during a specific trending time. It is timely content tied to seasons or events.
- Goals: Evergreen campaigns are beneficial for brand owners when:
- Building your brand identity and establishing thought leadership in your industry.
- Driving long-term engagement and loyalty.
- Providing timeless value to your audiences.
While trend-based campaigns are useful when:
- You want to drive immediate engagement and traffic.
- Capitalizing on trending topics or events.
- Driving short-term sales or conversions.
When to Use Evergreen Campaigns
Evergreen campaigns are mainly used when a brand wants to build an identity or authority in its field. There is no ‘copy, copy’. They are mainly educational content designed to educate, inform, teach, or instruct your audiences on a particular topic. This content type doesn’t expire. And more importantly, it is always helpful for users when searching for information, but it needs to be updated to be on point.
When to Use Trend-Based Campaigns
- Creating buzz: People often search for what is trending online, and if you can provide detailed information and update your audiences about what is going on, leaving no stone unturned, you will surely secure a more significant audience within that period.
- Launching new products: Trend-based content easily creates a substantial audience that visits your site. Email marketers can use a trend to attract an audience, and by doing that, your audience will learn about the product you are about to launch.
Bottom Line
In the end, it’s all about finding the right fit. Evergreen campaigns build lasting relationships, while trend-based campaigns create buzz around timely opportunities.
When you embrace both, you’ll be more agile, creative, and effective in reaching your audience. So, which approach will you take first?
FAQs
What are evergreen subjects?
Evergreen subjects are timeless, consistently relevant topics that remain valuable and interesting over a long time. They don’t go out of style or lose relevance quickly, making them great for creating lasting content. Think of thought-leadership posts on a concept in your field.
How do you know if a topic is trending?
- Monitor social media buzz and hashtags
- Use tools like Google Trends and social media analytics
- Track news and current events
- Look for high engagement and conversation around a topic
What does it mean for a topic to be trending?
A topic that’s currently popular or gaining significant attention online. Often driven by social media buzz, news, or events. Typically, a trending topic has a short-term spike in interest and engagement.
What is the difference between trending and evergreen content?
Trending content is short-term, timely, and driven by current events or buzz. Evergreen content is timeless, consistently relevant, and remains valuable over a long period. Also, trending content gets a burst of traffic, while evergreen content attracts steady traffic over time.
What is an evergreen trend?
An evergreen trend refers to a long-term, consistent, and timeless theme or topic that remains relevant and valuable over time, often attracting ongoing interest and engagement. Examples include health, wellness, personal finance, and self-improvement.
