Create Evergreen Content to Promote Your Book

A guest post by Stephanie Weaver

When my book, The Migraine Relief Plan, came out, I created evergreen content to support it. That means I used the same content multiple times on several platforms.

Since like you, I only have so much time, I wanted double- and triple-duty content. That’s the opposite of creating content that disappears in 24 hours. The point of the Internet and digital is that it truly lives forever, so why not make it work for your book long-term?

Here are three ways to create evergreen content for book promotion:

1. Make a video once and repurpose it.

My publisher was lukewarm about doing a book trailer, having seen little return on investment in the past. So I planned a launch event instead, one I hoped to replicate in other cities. I hired a videographer to document it.

This event included sponsored products, food tastings from the book, and a recipe demo. I invited friends and local medical professionals. I shared the event video on Facebook, with the sponsors (some of whom shared it on their much larger pages), and then paid Facebook to boost it with a “Buy Now” button. The video got over 11,000 views.

When I find a potential location for another event, I send the video link as part of my pitch. At my request, the videographer edited my cooking demonstration into a separate video to insert on the speaking engagements page of my website. Doing so helped me get media appearances and talks. Whenever I appeared on TV, I shared the link to the broadcast video on Facebook and Twitter, and captured the high-resolution video from their website.

Once I had a few media appearances, I paid the videographer to edit a presentation reel. The reel helps me land more media bookings.

Because the video is evergreen, I share it every month or so, watching people tag their friends with migraines. I use Facebook Live (both on my Page and as a guest contributor to larger pages) to promote the book, sharing and re-sharing those videos on a regular schedule. Doing so allows me to reach new audiences without leaving my kitchen or spending money. I frequently capture the Facebook Live video with a livestreaming camera and upload it to YouTube. I also embed it on my blog with a recipe I made, or tweet out the link with a photo of the recipe.

Through my work in the migraine field, I got a sponsor with a huge migraine following. One of our projects is creating Tasty-style videos of four of my recipes. One has over 750,000 views as a paid ad. I re-share those videos on my Facebook page and in my readers’ Facebook group every few weeks.

2. Create quote cards to share.

I noticed that a top nutrition doctor had good engagement using square images on social media. These are made by using Canva.com or another photo editing program.

I asked the publisher’s designer to create images some based on the book’s blurbs, as well as a blank one to use in the future. I sent them to each person who blurbed by book, asking them to share it during our pre-order push. Then I created an “on sale now” version to share on publication day. About half of them shared the cards at least once, or shared my version when I tagged them. This way both their audiences and mine saw the images.

Since these images are evergreen, I can re-share them whenever there’s news. If I see that a star athlete is out with a migraine, for example, I might tweet a quote card to them and their official team account. Whenever I get a great review on Amazon or a comment in my Facebook group, I create a new quote card to share on social media.

3. Use other people’s content as evergreen.

My final tip is to bookmark key links to articles, mentions, or appearances and continue to share them as evergreen content. When Dr. Mark Hyman’s Page mentioned my book, it was my best sales weekend to date. Every two months or so I re-share that mention with a thank you, as if it just happened. People didn’t necessarily see it the first time, and they tend to give more weight to external endorsements.

As part of the book launch, I redesigned my blog, transforming the former Recipe Renovator site into Migraine Relief Recipes. I used a magazine-style format so that the site always looks fresh.

I hope this post inspires you to use existing content in fresh ways, and to create evergreen content to make the most of your book launch.

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Stephanie Weaver is a writer, wellness coach, and speaking coach based in San Diego. Her third book is The Migraine Relief Plan: An 8-Week Transition to Better Eating, Fewer Headaches, and Optimal Health.

(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.)