Curated content is a huge part of the social web as we know it - in fact, it's virtually impossible to scroll through your personal news feeds without seeing it in one form or another. Content curation is the act of finding and sharing content from other sources (other writers and businesses) with your own follower base.
The number one rule of content curation is only share something of value. Cut through the drivel and the white noise; instead think about what your target market really wants to read about in your industry. For example, potential customers for a gardening business probably won't be interested in your political views, but they might take a shine to a curated article about spring pond designs published by the local paper.
You should also stray away from publishing content linked to your competitors, as this could lead to your customers buying elsewhere, furthermore, publishing content that criticises your competitors (in any way) will also reflect badly on your brand as you will appear sly.
How To Implement A Content Curation Strategy
Content curation shouldn't take over your entire marketing campaign - we recommend using 30% curated content, and 70% your own material. We recommend sharing 2 or 3 pieces of curated content per week, depending on what your current content schedule is like.
Examples of curated content include:
- Sharing relevant blogs and news articles from trusted sources in your industry over email / newsletter / website / social media
- Sharing videos / infographics / podcasts with your target market on social media
- Share your opinion on an article, for example, "Take a look at this fantastic article about..." or "Our team have mixed opinions on this article - what are your thoughts..."
- You can share curated content on your website such as quotes, facts, snippets of text and images (however you must credit the original source otherwise this will be classified as plagiarism)
Top tip - when sharing content on social media we recommend using a URL shortener. Go to https://bitly.com/ and enter the full web address, bitly with then shorten the link, allowing you to stay in the character count.
Benefits Of Curated Content
1) Increased Sales
Sharing industry related content is a great way to build brand awareness as this type of content shows you genuinely care and take pride in your line of work. Customers are more inclined to buy from businesses who go the extra mile, compared to businesses who only do the bare minimum online.
Sharing curated content also shows your openness to potential business partnerships and collaborations. A potential partner might look through your current marketing strategy and offer you an exclusive deal or something similar.
2) Display Thought Leadership
Sharing your opinion on curated content is a great way to establish leadership. Bringing in opinions of industry leaders will help your business move away from outdated egocentric, product-centric marketing. Always keep in mind that customers are very good at avoiding marketing (we dodge adverts, emails and sales calls repeatedly), for this reason, your marketing needs to be personable and add a new perspective.
Over time customers will learn to trust and value your opinion, whereas other customers may wish to discuss your opinion in more detail. This type of customer engagement (in the form of comments, likes and shares) will improve your organic rankings as Google's algorithms favour and promote webpages that receive more engagement.
3) Improves Search Engine Ranking, Supports Lead Generation
Curated content is also an approved way of creating backlinks or "indexable pages" that provide more doorways to your site, therefore improving the rate of organic traffic. Sharing valuable, thought-provoking content will also draw in new leads - if those potential customers like what they see on your website and landing pages, they may decide to contact you.
4) Saves Time By Streamline Lead Nurturing
Content curation can be a real life-saver, especially if your business simply doesn't have the time to create your own content that week or month. Repurposing curated content to share over your newsletters, blog, emails and social media will make lead nurturing simpler and more consistent, although we do recommend maintaining a 30% curation rate, otherwise your voice will be lost in the sea of content.
Final Thoughts
Many businesses rule out content curation because they think it offers no substance, however they couldn't be more wrong. Curated content is a fantastic way to establish SEO authority as well as promote your brand as the industry leader.
If you're struggling to see how content curation can fit into your marketing why not give us a call today? Our friendly team can arrange a FREE 20 minute, no-obligation meeting with our marketing specialist Andy Gibbins. Andy will happily take a closer look at your current strategy to help you pinpoint areas for improvement.
