Picture this scenario: You run a growing pet supply subscription box business. You maintain a monthly blog on your website, post to your brand’s social media accounts twice a week, and send a monthly newsletter to your subscribers. But writing articles, social posts, and newsletters eats up the time you need to run your business.
Curating relevant content as part of your content marketing strategy can help ease the burden. When used to supplement your business’s content program, it can save you time and money, keep your target audience engaged, and build customer trust.
What is content curation?
Content curation is the process of collecting and sharing content that has value for your audience and brand. The actual content you curate might include articles, podcasts, images, videos, memes, and quotes, and you might share it via email, social media platforms, or your website. It can take the form of roundup-style articles, listicles, and reposts on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
Content curation vs. content creation
Content curation is distinct from content creation because it uses existing content created by someone else. The art is in finding the best content and presenting it in a useful way.
Content creation, on the other hand, is the act of creatingoriginal content yourself. It can include writing articles or social media posts, taking photos, making graphics, or recording a video or podcast. Content creation is generally more work than content curation because you have to develop your own thoughts and ideas and transform them into great content that resonates with your target audience.
Benefits of content curation
Audiences increasingly want to feel that they’re part of a community surrounding your brand and its products. Content curation can be an effective way to meet this expectation, and it has few key benefits:
Saves time and resources
A content curation strategy of sourcing, evaluating, and packaging information can give your business the benefits of a full-fledged content creation program without expending the time or resources of creating one from scratch. The entire process of curation is faster and less labor-intensive than developing content yourself.
Engages your audience
Because content curation involves sourcing content from other sources, it shows that you are informed. It can also show you care about your customers’ interests and you have a mission beyond simply selling a product. One outcome of consistently sourcing and posting content from others is that you build a network of like-minded influencers through tagging and giving content creators proper credit.
Builds customer trust
The content your business curates can deliver value to customers, especially if it helps them solve a problem or answers their questions. It can also save your audience time, because you have done much of the legwork of finding and vetting content, showing them that you care and understand their needs.
8 best practices for curating content
- Choose good content
- Speak to your audience
- Mix it up
- Make it your own
- Track engagement
- Empower team members to contribute
- Plan your content
- Give credit
Although curating content can supplement a broader content program for your business, these best practices can help you get the most value out of this process.
1. Choose good content
Thoroughly vet the content you share. Even if you trust the source, read the entire article or listen to the entire podcast to make sure it’s a good fit for your brand. Choose high-quality content that will have an impact and deliver value to your audience.
2. Speak to your audience
Evaluate content for whether it’s appropriate for your audience and serves their needs. Can it help them solve a problem? Can it clarify something for them about your business or industry? When it makes sense, ask your customers a question or seek their input. A specific prompt or question can spark a conversation and lead to deeper audience engagement.
3. Mix it up
Vary your sources and your content types. Avoid sharing content from the same sources over and over or multiple pieces of content from the same source in one post, email, or article. Try a variety of content types such as short-form video, long-form video, excerpts from ebooks, product recommendations, articles, infographics, and even recipes or music.
4. Make it your own
When you share someone else’s content, provide your own context. Your audience should understand why your business is sharing this content with them. Communicating why you chose this content is an opportunity to show you are thoughtful, even if you don’t have the time to create content yourself.
This is your opportunity to add your brand voice to the shared content. The key to making content curation feel like content creation is to include your brand’s perspective and personality.
5. Track engagement
Tracking how people engage with your content can help you constantly refine your curation efforts. Analytics tools for your social media channels, email, and web traffic can help you learn what content receives the most engagement while also giving you an opportunity to develop and test new ideas. See which links visitors click the most and what they comment on, and follow their signals.
6. Empower team members to contribute
Not only is it fun and motivating for your team members to contribute to content curation, but it also helps keep the content diverse. That’s because you have a mix of people bringing their own sources and different perspectives to the table. It’s also easier when you have a team of people who already consume digital content on the lookout for potential curation material.
7. Plan your content
Plan your content mix. Create a curating schedule to give yourself structure. Think about timely versus evergreen content. Evergreen content is material that works regardless of when you post it. Timely content is tied to an event or occasion, which means you should share before it loses relevance. When you have content ready to go, you can schedule posts using a social media management tool, email management tool, or blog posting tool.
8. Give credit
Give credit to the person or business that created the original content by tagging them on social media or providing attribution in your text or email. Also ensure that you have permission from the creator to share the content. Not only is giving credit the right thing to do, but it also helps you build relationships with brands and people with values in common.
Content curation FAQ
How do I curate content?
To curate content, you find existing content, evaluate it for its relevance to your audience and brand, give it context to make it your own, and then share it via email, social media, or on your website. The best curated content delivers value to your customers and showcases your business’s personality, perspective, or expertise.
What is the most common form of content curation?
One of the most common forms of content curation is sharing links to content created by other people or brands. This is typically known as external content, and can include articles, podcast episodes, and videos.
Is it better to curate or create content?
One isn’t necessarily better than the other, though it is possible to have too much curated content. Ideally, you will offer a mix of content curation and content creation. This gives you the opportunity to both establish your brand voice and demonstrate your expertise, while also drawing on the knowledge and unique insights of others in your industry.
