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No matter how much Google’s algorithms change, one thing has remained the same in the last few years of major Google updates: the need for top quality content.
Apart from the well-known aspect of content creation in the form of blog posts, articles, white papers, tweets and Facebook posts, content curation is another online marketing approach you could implement.
The Benefits of Content Curation
Content curation is more than choosing and putting together a bunch of links.
Establish your brand’s authority and leading status in your industry
It’s a cognitively demanding process of picking and choosing relevant, newsworthy, and trending topics that have a single underlying theme.
What is more, apart from presenting these themed findings into a single piece of text, you need to also set your own point of view or attitude, so that it’s not merely a copy and paste task but a critique or a discussion of whatever might be emerging out of the curated content. The ultimate goal of content curation is to produce new knowledge and insights, not to repeat what’s been argued already.
Easier, cheaper and equally effective to original content creation
Marketers were the first to make the shift, and the first to realize the multifaceted benefits of content curation. Apart from being cheaper and easier than original content development, content curation can be as effective as any other piece of original thought for two reasons:
- It offers new points of view to ponder
- It encourages users to join the conversation and offer their own take on the matter
Setting a tone and establishing an attitude
When done right, content curation lets you establish a voice and present your mindset in a rigorous, professional manner.
Curated content expects that you establish your opinion and set the tone on a given subject, and it’s a great way to provide an inside look at your brand’s culture and priorities.
People are more keen to trust a brand or business that is not afraid to boldly state their viewpoint on a matter. Content curation is your chance to comment on trends and critique what’s wrong in the industry – and most importantly, to offer solutions.
Content curation as a strategy is an irresistible engagement opportunity for your audience
Curating content offers you an opportunity to present your readership with a kaleidoscope of points of view.
The more varied the discussion is, the more intrigued your clients and readers will be. In addition, they will want to join in the conversation, pushing the discussion even further and deeper.
How do you curate content for valuable, quantifiable results?
- Find an effective content curation tool
Find a content curation tool that will help you tap into relevant and trending topics, the topics people will care about.
Some prefer RSS, other opt for visually-based bookmarking services like DragDis, Pinterest , Reddit, Scoop.it, and StumbleUpon.
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Decide what type of content you will curate
Make up your mind whether content curation will be external, internal, or both.
Many companies that create content daily and for various channels find it useful to curate their own content and repurpose it for different audiences and media. For instance, curated content can be repurposed for Facebook posts, an email newsletter, or even a live event.
You can exclusively curate content created by others and also curate your content from different platforms and media to build something new of value that your readers will benefit from.
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Classify and then filter your options to ensure you narrow down your breadth of content curation opportunities
It’s easy to get lost in the multitude of options available. You have thousands of topics and issues to curate content for, so how do you decide where to start? What’s a priority, and what isn’t really essential?
Do your research in order to prioritize the most shareable content with your readership.
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Promote your curated content
Just like any other type of content, curated content needs a push. Promote your curated content on social networks, or through friends and individuals that support you, so that it can reach the right audiences.
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Make content curation part and parcel of your marketing strategy
If you use content curation only once, you cannot possibly expect any quantifiable results.
Content curation should be a steady and integral aspect of your content marketing efforts. If you don’t go the extra mile to offer high-quality curated content over the long haul, people won’t pay much attention.
But if your content curation initiatives are informed by quality, passion, and a drive to offer valuable insights, then it has viral potential. Some companies choose to offer curated content once a month, others do so on a daily basis.
Is content curation really that important?
Your business will do just fine without content curation.
However, given the insatiable appetite online readers have, voraciously consuming new content nonstop, it’s important that you have more resources to give them valuable content in different forms.
Content curation is an effective and relatively easy-to-implement way to give more to your online community – and it’s cost-effective, too.
Implement content curation in your marketing strategies and your audience will reward you with increased engagement and more leads.
To improve your vocabulary for a better content, you can quickly download a vocabulary software that would surely build your vocabulary knowledge.
About the Author: Chassie Lee is the Content Expert for eReflect – creator of Ultimate Vocabulary which is currently being used by tens of thousands of happy customers in over 110 countries.
