What Is Curated Content?
Curated content means carefully chosen and organized content shown to an audience to teach, inform or entertain them.
Curated content can come from external sites, social media, podcasts, videos and other digital sources.
It's different from original content because it's not made by the curator, just selected and presented by them.
Businesses can use curated content to demonstrate expertise, vary their content types, boost engagement and save time instead of always creating fresh content.
But it's important anyone curating follows ethical practices - like crediting all sources and avoiding plagiarism.
Benefits of Curated Content
Here are some benefits of curated content:
Saves Time and Effort
Curating content helps save time and effort that would have been spent creating original content from scratch. Instead, you can leverage the expertise of others by sharing their content.
Builds Authority and Trust
Curating high-quality content that is relevant and useful to your audience can help you build authority and trust with them. By providing valuable content regularly, you position yourself as an expert in your field.
Provides a Fresh Perspective
Curated content can provide a fresh perspective on a topic. By aggregating and organizing existing content, you can offer your audience a new take on a subject.
Increases Engagement
Curated content can increase engagement with your audience. By sharing content that resonates with them, you encourage interaction and discussion.
Diversifies Content
Curated content allows you to diversify your content offerings. You can provide a mix of original and curated content to keep your audience engaged and interested.
Cost-Effective
It is a cost-effective way to create high-quality content. By leveraging existing content, you can create content without having to pay for production or licensing fees.
Helps with SEO
Curating content can also aid SEO. It gives a constant supply of new material containing keywords important to your readers.
Overall, adding curated content boosts any content marketing approach.
Choosing and organizing pieces that interest your audience builds trust. It raises engagement and shows you deeply understand your industry.
Content Curation vs. Content Creation
Content curation and content creation are two distinct approaches to content marketing.
Content creation involves producing original content from scratch, such as blog posts, videos, social media updates, and other forms of media.
The focus is on generating fresh, unique content that provides value to the audience and aligns with the brand's messaging.
On the other hand, content curation involves collecting and organizing existing content from various sources and presenting it in a way that adds value to the audience.
The focus is on providing a mix of high-quality content that is relevant and useful to the audience, rather than solely creating new content.
Both content creation and content curation have their own benefits and challenges. Content creation allows a brand to showcase its unique perspective and voice while building authority and credibility in its industry.
However, it can be time-consuming and require a significant investment in resources.
Content curation, on the other hand, allows a brand to leverage the expertise and insights of others, save time, and provide a diverse range of content to the audience.
However, it requires careful selection and organization of the content, and may not provide the same level of originality and differentiation as content creation.
Types of Curated Content
Different formats teach, update, simplify data, motivate through examples and offer insider knowledge to followers. Selecting relevant curated pieces in formats your audience responds to best serves their needs.
There are several types of curated content that you can use to add value to your audience:
News and Industry Updates: Sharing news and industry updates relevant to your audience can help position you as a source of timely and relevant information.
How-to Guides and Tutorials: Curating how-to guides and tutorials can help your audience learn new skills or solve specific problems.
Infographics and Visual Content: Infographics and visual content can be an effective way to present complex information in an engaging and easily digestible format.
Case Studies and Success Stories: Curating case studies and success stories can help your audience see how others have achieved success in their field, and inspire them to do the same.
Expert Opinion and Analysis: Curating expert opinions and analysis can help your audience stay up-to-date on trends and gain insights into their field.
Things to Consider While Curating Content
When selecting content to curate, it's important to consider the following factors:
Relevance: Choose content that is relevant to your audience and aligns with your brand values.
Quality: Curate content that is of high quality and provides value to your audience.
Credibility: Ensure that the sources you curate content from are credible and trustworthy.
Diversity: Choose a diverse range of content types and sources to provide your audience with a well-rounded view of your topic.
Timeliness: Curate content that is current and up-to-date to ensure that your audience is receiving the most relevant information.
Consistency: Establish a consistent schedule for curating content to keep your audience engaged and build trust.
Overall, the key to successful content curation is to focus on providing value to your audience by selecting content that is relevant, high-quality, and diverse.
By curating content effectively, you can build trust, establish authority, and engage your audience in meaningful ways.
Curated Content Strategies: How to Create a Cohesive Brand Voice?
Curating content can be a great way to create a cohesive brand voice by sharing content that aligns with your brand values and messaging.
Here are some strategies to help you create a cohesive brand voice through content curation:
Define Your Brand Voice
Start by defining your brand voice and messaging. Identify your target audience and the key messages that you want to communicate to them.
This will help you choose content that aligns with your brand values and messaging.
Choose a Content Theme
Choose a content theme that aligns with your brand messaging and values. This could be a specific topic, industry, or type of content.
For example, if your brand is focused on sustainability, you could curate content related to sustainable living, renewable energy, or eco-friendly products.
Use a Consistent Tone
Use a consistent tone of voice across all curated content to ensure that it aligns with your brand messaging. This could be formal, conversational, or a specific tone that aligns with your brand values.
Select Relevant Sources
Select sources that align with your brand values and messaging. This will help ensure that the curated content is consistent with your brand voice.
You can use tools like RSS feeds, Google alerts, and social media monitoring to find relevant sources.
Provide Context
Provide context for curated content by adding your own commentary or analysis. This will help reinforce your brand voice and provide additional value to your audience.
Be Selective
Be selective about the content that you curate. Only choose content that aligns with your brand values and messaging. This will help ensure that the curated content is consistent with your brand voice.
Establish a Schedule
Establish a schedule for content curation to ensure that you are consistently sharing content that aligns with your brand voice. This could be daily, weekly, or monthly depending on your resources and audience.
Tools and Platforms for Curating Content
There are several tools and platforms available for content curation. Here are some of the most popular ones:
Feedly: Feedly is an RSS feed reader that allows you to subscribe to content from your favourite websites and blogs. It’s a great way to stay up-to-date on the latest news and trends in your industry.
Pocket: It is a bookmarking tool that allows you to save articles, videos, and other content to read later. It’s a great way to curate content that you want to share with your audience.
Scoop.it: It is a content curation platform that allows you to curate content from the web and share it with your audience. It provides tools for content discovery, curation, and distribution.
Flipboard: Flipboard is a content curation platform that allows you to create your own magazine by curating content from the web. It’s a great way to share content with your audience in a visually appealing way.
Hootsuite: Hootsuite is a social media management tool that allows you to schedule and publish content on multiple social media platforms. It also provides tools for content curation and discovery.
Tips for Creating Engaging Curated Content
Creating engaging curated content is crucial to attracting and retaining audiences.
Here are some tips to help you create curated content that resonates with your audience:
Focus on Your Audience: Understand your audience's needs, interests, and pain points, and curate content that addresses those needs. Use analytics tools to track engagement and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Provide Value: Curate content that provides value to your audience. This could be in the form of insights, education, inspiration, or entertainment.
Be Selective: Be selective about the content you curate. Only choose high-quality content that aligns with your brand values and messaging. Avoid over-promotion and choose content that adds value to your audience.
Use Visuals: Use visuals such as images, infographics, and videos to make your curated content more engaging and memorable. Visuals can help break up text and communicate complex information in a more accessible way.
Add Your Own Voice: Add your own commentary, analysis, or perspective to the curated content. This will help establish your brand voice and differentiate your content from others.
Mix It Up: Mix up your curated content by including a variety of content types, such as blog posts, social media updates, videos, podcasts, and more. This will keep your audience engaged and interested.
Curate from Diverse Sources: Curate content from a diverse range of sources to provide a well-rounded view of your topic. This can include influencers, industry experts, news outlets, and more.
Creating engaging curated content requires a strategic approach that focuses on your audience's needs, adds value, and differentiates your content from others.
By following these tips, you can create curated content that attracts and retains your audience's attention.
Measuring the Success of Curated Content
Measuring the success of curated content is important to understand its impact and optimize your content strategy. Here are some ways to measure the success of curated content:
Engagement Metrics: Track engagement metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and clicks to understand how your audience is interacting with your curated content.
Traffic Metrics: Track traffic metrics such as page views, bounce rate, and time on page to understand how your curated content is driving traffic to your website.
Conversion Metrics: Track conversion metrics such as lead generation, sales, and email sign-ups to understand how your curated content is driving business results.
Social Media Metrics: Track social media metrics such as follower growth, engagement rate, and reach to understand how your curated content is performing on social media platforms.
Content Performance Metrics: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your curated content over time. This will help you identify trends and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Audience Feedback: Collect feedback from your audience through surveys, comments, or feedback forms to understand their perception of your curated content.
Measuring the success of curated content requires a comprehensive approach that looks beyond vanity metrics and focuses on business results and audience engagement.
By tracking these metrics, you can optimize your content strategy and create curated content that resonates with your audience and drives business results.
The Ethics of Curated Content
Curating content can raise ethical concerns, especially when it comes to copyright infringement and plagiarism.
Here are some ethical considerations to keep in mind when curating content:
Respect Copyright: When curating content, respect the copyright of the original creator. Always give credit to the original source and seek permission if necessary. Make sure to follow fair use guidelines and only use a portion of the original content.
Provide Value: Ensure that the content you curate provides value to your audience. Don't curate content solely for the purpose of filling space or driving traffic. Make sure that the content you curate aligns with your brand values and messaging.
Avoid Plagiarism: Avoid plagiarism by properly citing your sources and only using content that is available for public use. Do not copy content word for word or pass off someone else's work as your own.
Be Transparent: Be transparent about your content curation practices. Let your audience know when you are curating content and what your selection process involves. Provide context and commentary to help your audience understand why the content is relevant to them.
Be Selective: Be selective about the content you curate. Only curate content that aligns with your brand values and messaging. Avoid curating content that is misleading, inaccurate, or offensive.
Give Back: Consider giving back to the content creators whose work you curate. This could include linking back to their website, giving them credit, or promoting their work.
Overall, ethical content curation requires a thoughtful and responsible approach that prioritizes respect for the original creators and adds value to your audience.
By following these ethical considerations, you can curate content in a way that is respectful, valuable, and engaging for your audience.