Right now, social media content is more important than ever. It’s a time of ever-changing algorithms that reward brands receiving high engagement, as well as extremely high competition. You need to stay original, but make sure your posts are resonating with your intended audience and this is why we have put together this helpful guide which will help you curate posts like a pro!
Content Curation Explained:
“Adding your voice and value to a handpicked collection of content. Gathered from a variety of sources, around a specific topic, that you publish and share with your fans.” This is how Todd Clark at Hootsuite defines content curation. Rob Steffens at Bluleadz explains there are many benefits to curating content, such as:
1. Establishing brand awareness and loyalty.
2. Making your brand voice more credible.
3. Helping your team learn even faster.
4. Accelerating your content production.
5. Being ideal for social media and email.
6. Aligning with SEO (search engine optimization) best practices.
7. Broadening your content.
8. Becoming an influencer.
9. Providing you with useful audience data.
Creating content can be very time consuming. It includes writing blog posts, crafting social media posts or creating YouTube videos! You need to make it a part of your marketing strategy however so getting it right is paramount. You need to make your social media pages a one-stop-shop for all things relevant to your brand. Content curation will make it simple for your audience to find insight and inspiration. In turn, this should shorten the amount of time they need to spend on the hunt.
Find Your Winning Ratio Of Content Curation:
So we have explained what content curation is, now we need to look at how much to curate. As a rule of thumb, studies have shown that the top content marketers use these guidelines:
65% originally created content
25% curated content
Use these figures as a guideline but it’s important to test out what works best for your audience and come up with your own winning ratio!
Curation Categories:
Keep your audience engaged by researching which topics they are likely to respond best to. Make sure you categorise your categories so you are not overloading them with the same subjects. They will end up bored and leave. You need to decide if these categories will be more specific to your product or brand, or have a wider approach. For example, you may own a hair salon, in a suburb of a city. You could publish a post about the top hair trends of 2020, but also curate one about shopping local. It’s likely your audience support the local community if they are visiting your salon, so they should find each post engaging.
Sources:
You need to know where you are going to find your sources for content curation. Make sure you never share fake news or a bad link for example. Sources need to be reputable. Also always check the dates on your sources. Is the article you are planning on posting about the most updated and recent version?
It’s a good plan to follow brands that are similar to yours. Make sure these are the most successful brands within your industry and take inspiration from them. Also, follow brands that may complement yours, as their content may be useful for your audience too. You can follow their Instagram and Facebook accounts and repost. They will likely return the favour. Your audience will also see that you are a business that supports others.
Seasonal Topics:
It’s a great idea to include seasonal topics in your social media marketing plan. Make sure you share creative and fun content that is timely. Your local government is a good source to check if there are any local events that your audience may be interested in. This could be a local gourmet food market or a sporting event for example like a city marathon. Lots of businesses may be involved and this can provide lots of inspiration for key relevant content that your audience will like. Make sure as well as local events, you are curating content for and acknowledging all holidays, big and small! This could be original content or shared content that’s already been created. Here, you are making sure you are keeping the conversation going. If you ensure you share the original source, you can also form a relationship with the creator, which is always positive for both parties.
Content Curation Tools:
There are plenty of tools that are well worth taking advantage of. Google Alerts is a free and simple of being notified when potential relevant content is published on the internet. You choose keywords or phrases that are relevant to your business. It is very easy to set up, and here is a step-by-step guide click here.
Another great tool is Trello, which allows you to keep track of all your new content. You can create boards sectioned off with titles of content relevant to your brand which can then be pinned with all of the content from your Google Alerts. You will stay organised and see what you have or have not already shared.
So after reading our helpful guide, we hope that you now feel inspired to start curating social media content like a pro!