- Curating content for your social media channels
is a great way to consistently stay active
on each channel with less content,
demonstrate industry thought leadership,
and to build a community, all while saving time.
So what is content curation?
Content curation means gathering content
that's relevant to a particular topic or area of interest
and then sharing it with your audience.
It doesn't mean passing off someone else's content
as your own.
So make you're linking back to the original author's content
and giving them credit for creating something
that was so good you wanted to share it with your community.
So why should you include content curation
in your social strategy?
For one, content curation saves time and money.
You know as well as we do
that creating your own content takes a lot of time,
but you when you turn to your community
to see what they're sharing
and what they're writing about
that relates to your own business,
you'll discover an entire world of existing content
and ideas that you can share on your own channels.
Secondly, content curation builds industry connections.
When you shine light on other people's work
by retweeting them or linking to their blog posts,
you're showing them that you appreciate their content
and you think it's worthy of sharing,
which is a great way to build your network.
Building industry connection
through content curation
can also help you extend your social reach.
Let's say I'm a really big fan of a certain brand.
If I find that your brand posts content
from the brand that I like so much,
then I might check out your brand
to see what you're all about.
This will lead to increased social influence too.
Sharing curated content also enables you
to post a bigger variety of content.
So let's say your own brand tends to publish
and share a lot of blog content,
but not as many videos.
If you can curate and share some really great videos
from other brands alongside your own blog posts,
you'll be giving your audience more variety,
so they aren't just seeing the same types of stuff from you
time and time again.
- So we do like to share whether it's a retweet
or if we're cohosting an even on Facebook,
if we leave comments on Instagram,
we really like that interaction
if it something that we feel perhaps an author
or another bookstore has said it better,
we want to share that voice and you know,
just let them speak it if it's already been done perfectly
we don't wanna try and change that in any way.
But for us it is also part of building relationships,
it's that interaction whether it's with a community member,
you know a customer, or if it's an illustrator
who has happened to stop by
and is trying to promote their work,
we really do try to just pick things up as they come,
we don't plan any retweets or any reposting,
but if it comes up
and we feel like it's definitely worth saying,
and worth getting out to an even bigger audience
we're more than happy to try and help that along.
- Speaking of variety,
if you're sharing content from others,
then your social feeds are going to appear more diverse
to someone scrolling through.
For example, if I know that your brand
not only publishes quality content that you create,
but that you also publish industry news
and other quality content in the industry,
then I'm going to start looking to you
as someone who really knows what they are talking about.
That's right, content curation shows your diverse knowledge
as a thought leader.
I'll see you as the kind of brand
that posts on social to create value for your audience,
not just to promote your own brand.
So what are some tips to curating content effectively?
First of all, make sure you establish a good mix
of promotional content and curated content.
People get tired of brands
endlessly promoting their own products,
which is exactly why progressive brands
think beyond products and features.
The relationship customers have with brands today
goes beyond the product itself.
So when you're posting on social media,
we recommend an 80/20 mix.
Only 20% of your social media content
should promote your own brand,
the other 80% should be dedicated to content
that really truly interests your audience,
engages them in conversations.
For the most part, curated content will belong
in that 80%.
Try to be consistent with how many times
you publish curated content versus your own content
on a day to day basis too.
To figure out what content you should actually curate,
keep your buyer persona in mind.
What industry thought leaders do they admire?
Which publications do they trust to stay up to date
on industry news?
What other brands that aren't your direct competitors
do they follow and want to hear from?
Use surveys and other methods
to understand your customers.
The best thing to do is to get on the phone
with some of your customers who represent an ideal buyer,
and ask them who they follow
and who they want to hear form on social.
Knowing who your audience is interested in learning from
will give you some great ideas
for whom to keep track of and curate content from.
Pulling from a consistent set of sources
will also help you save time,
but make sure you spread out the posts
from the same sources.
There are a few content curation tools out there
that can make things easier.
I've included a list of good ones here,
make sure you screenshot it and check them out for yourself.
Before you choose the content curation tool you'll use,
make sure you really understand the role content curation
will play in your social media strategy.
A one-person marketing team should start simple,
begin with the free options.
And then as your business and team grow,
content creation may play a larger role
and require more powerful software.
By now you should have a solid understanding
of the role content curation can play
in helping you demonstrate industry leadership,
post consistently, and build a community
across all your social channels.
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if there's other topics you'd like to see us address,
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