A simple yet effective tactic for the new year is to update successful, date-specific content from the previous year. Changing "2025" to "2026" in titles like "Conferences to Attend in 2025" is a low-effort way to create timely and relevant assets that are likely to perform well again.
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Instead of only focusing on creating new content with Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T) signals, marketers should update older content. Adding elements like case studies, testimonials, and author bios to posts from years ago can significantly increase their current value and authority.
Subscriber churn means a large part of your audience hasn't seen your older work. Instead of simply reposting, completely rewrite 3-year-old articles with your current voice and perspective. This provides fresh, high-quality content that feels new while being less effort than ideating from scratch.
For AI Search Optimization (AEO), content freshness is critical. Research shows that content updated within the last three months is three times more likely to be cited by LLMs like ChatGPT compared to content left untouched for six months or more, revealing a steep drop-off curve.
Instead of one-off campaigns, develop a high-value, annually updated content asset, like an industry calendar. Releasing it at the same time each year builds audience anticipation and creates a reliable, repeatable lead generation engine that people come to expect and look forward to.
To signal recency to Large Language Models (LLMs), marketers must include specific time periods (e.g., year, quarter, month, or 'Updated [Date]') directly in content titles. This simple change makes content over 50% more likely to appear in AI-generated results on platforms like ChatGPT, which are rapidly replacing traditional search.
Instead of creating entirely new content for January, find high-performing assets from the previous year and simply update the year in the title and body. This is a quick way to generate relevant, timely content that will perform well with minimal effort.
Escape the content creation hamster wheel by focusing on optimization, not just volume. Instead of writing new posts on similar topics, identify existing high-performing articles and update them with new information, better formatting, and fresh insights. This simplifies your process and boosts search rankings.
Curate your best performing content from the year into a multi-day campaign. Each day, feature one piece of content that is only available for 24 hours. This creates daily engagement, leverages existing assets, and drives a high volume of email sign-ups with minimal new content creation.
The average age of content cited in AI search results is only 86 days and is decreasing by 10-15% each quarter. This rewards brands that continuously update existing content, not just publish new articles. A "publish and forget" strategy is now obsolete; consistent refreshes are mandatory for visibility.
Instead of letting content sit in a resource library, curate the year's best assets into a single collection and offer it for a limited time. Frame it as an event, like a "12 Days of Christmas" campaign where different content expires daily. This repurposes old content and creates a new, urgent lead generation opportunity.
