Did you know that having a consistent blog page on your website increases your chances of being found online by 434%?
With statistics like these, skipping out on content creation is simply unforgivable. Unfortunately, having a great content strategy takes time and energy, both often on a budget for small business owners.
Lucky for you, there’s another way to boost your content marketing efforts without all the work of original content creation. Curated content.
What is curated content, you ask?
Follow along to discover everything you need to know about this content strategy and how it can benefit your business.
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What Is Curated Content?
Before we answer this, we first need to answer the question, “what is a content creator?”
A content creator is any brand or individual that creates original content. This may be a blog, image, video, e-book, etc. Once this content is online, it’s available for anyone to read, view, and repost. In fact, sharing of content is often the ultimate goal.
The difference between content creation and content curation is that curation uses other creators’ content through sharing and revising to bring value to your audience. This means you can publish content without having to come up with an original piece of work.
Essentially, this means you can “borrow” other creators’ work to boost your own content strategy and elevate your user experience. Of course, there are some general ‘rules’ to utilizing curated content properly.
How to Utilize Content Curation
If you are looking to soak up the benefits of content curation, there are a few steps you need to take to do so effectively.
Here are the key concepts to consider with this content marketing strategy.
Know Your Audience
What is content marketing without a target audience? Well, it’s about as effective as shouting random statements from the streets.
To add value for your audience, you’ll need to know what it is that they are looking for in the first place.
Take the time to delve into what your ideal customer persona is looking for online and give them what they want. Since you’ll have the luxury of ‘borrowing’ the best content, you’ll want to put the extra effort into ensuring it’s well-matched to your brand, target audience, and overall voice.
Add Your Personal Take
While directly sharing another article would be the simple approach, this doesn’t have a whole lot of benefit for your brand in the long run.
Your audience is coming to you because they value your opinion and want to hear what you have to say. If they’ve already searched their question, chances are they’ve come across your shared content already, so be sure to add value by adapting the piece to include your take.
This may mean breaking down the content bit by bit or taking inspiration from the original author to shape your own piece.
Link and Tag Your Sources
As a content creator yourself, you know how much time and effort goes into creating an original piece. For this reason, the courteous thing to do is to link and tag the original source of your curated content.
Linking back gives them credit for their work and adds publicity to their pages which may pay off for you down the road.
Beyond the general morals of giving credit, this also prevents users and search engines from viewing your content as plagiarised. You want the entire online community to know that you acknowledge that this is not your original work but feel it is of great value to your clientele.
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Edit for Quality
Last but not least, before you post, it’s essential always to give your content a thorough edit.
The amount of content online with basic typos and spelling mistakes is just plain embarrassing. You really don’t want to be one of them. Aside from taking away from your credibility, it gives the impression that you don’t care enough to ensure your content is tip-top quality.
Suppose you’re not great with spelling or grammar or simply don’t have the time to sift through documents for mistakes. Consider outsourcing your editing to a professional content editing company. Check out https://freeup.net/hire/content-editing/ for fantastic services you can rely on every time.
The Benefits of Curated Content
So how does using curated content benefit your brand?
Aside from saving you a considerable amount of time and effort on content creation, curated content can do the following to elevate your business:
Provide Value
As mentioned earlier, sharing the already great content online can add value to your brand by giving your customers more of what they want.
Staying consistent with your content strategy can be tricky, and publishing great content is even more challenging. Fortunately, curated content gives you a chance to publish the best information possible. This can help you fill gaps in your content schedule and put out more helpful work.
Build Authority
Sharing your thoughts on others’ words establishes you as an authoritative source online. Your viewers will see you as the go-to brand to turn to when they want to know what’s what with the latest news.
In addition to this, your viewers will know they can go to you to find all the information they need without endless searches and sifting through data. This means they will be more likely to return to your page for helpful information and advice, thus establishing trust in your brand.
Establish Network
Curated content is clearly beneficial for your audience, but did you know it’s also valuable for building business contacts?
By sharing others’ work and giving them credit where it’s due, you’ll begin to establish positive relationships with those creators, brands, and businesses.
Ultimately, this can be a perfect networking opportunity to gain your own valuable backlinks and partner with well-established voices.
Generate Social Proof
Social proof is a psychological occurrence that makes people want to go where other people are. We can leverage recommendations and user-generated content in digital marketing to encourage more users to hop on board.
What is user-generated content? It is any content that your customer base has published about your brand, products, or pages. This could include reviews, promotions, and more.
By sharing this user-generated content, you’ll be able to reach a broader audience that is more likely to read, purchase, and potentially review!
Your Powerful Content Marketing Strategy
Now that you know the answer to the burning question, “What is curated content?” it’s time to set forth with your own content curation. After all, what is content strategy without a bit of diversity!
Want more tips and tricks for your content marketing strategy? Check out our other articles to discover all the digital marketing advice you need to see success in the year ahead.
