How Can Content Curation Keep Your Content Marketing Strategy Running?

According to Curata, a successful content marketing campaign is 65% created and 25% curated.

Wait a second. Isn’t uniqueness the first rule of this type of advertising? Whenever we talk about viral content, we’re talking about it in terms of originality, relevance, and value. Is it possible that we can simply borrow somebody’s intellectual property and publish it as our own? What about the integrity?

Here’s how curation works in the context of regular content marketing campaigns, and how to do it right.

What Exactly Content Curation Is?

Content curation happens when a brand’s marketing team takes another brand’s content and re-publishes it. It’s a simple action, similar to a like or share, though it involves a level of transparency that makes it obvious that the post at hand is not an original one. Curation never steals, but it doesn’t borrow either – curation finds, rates, aggregates, and distributes, all the while giving credit to the creator.

That way, curated content can be collected and reused many times over, and by anyone including you.

How Does Curation Add Value Then?

Every content strategy is promotional. What separates effective from ineffective ones is the ability to engage people through carefully created content, the one that brings some kind of value to a reader. Every original content is valuable because it tackles a yet unexplored issue within a niche or industry, thus helping the reader learn something new or at least reconsider something they’re already familiar with. Ultimately, that’s why uniqueness is considered the rule number one in this advertising practice.

But how can curated content add value to the reader then? Or to a brand, for that matter? It has very little to do with re-purposing, and everything to do with the democratization of the social web.

The Content Curation Manifesto, written by Rohit Bhargava, clearly states that marketers who curate content “bring more utility and order to the social web”. By finding, rating, aggregating and distributing content, they actually separate signal from noise and help people dig up what they need.

Perceived in such a way, content distribution is ethical and socially valuable marketing practice.

What Are the Boons of Content Curating?

Curation Boosts Credibility

A trustworthy brand has to remain vocal on all industry-related topics. Its organization’s core value requires it to be socially responsible and to comment on the emerging trends. By extension, it requires having a definite point of view and taking a strong stance on issues that affect its niche and industry.

Curation is brilliant for doing all this, which in return builds awareness and positions the brand as an industry authority and thought leader. Ultimately, it’s a matter of being credible and reputable.

Curation Sparks Interest

Your audience will love you more if you can help them find what they seek. They value reduction of their effort very highly, and that’s exactly what your curation efforts can guarantee them. Besides, this practice generates a lot of social interactions, attracting new readers and clients as well.

Oh, have we mentioned how curation increases social visibility? Adding it to your marketing campaign can bare significant contribution to SEO techniques, thus boosting both your buzz and your traffic.

Curation Benefits Creation

Curating content doesn’t only assist with running far-reaching marketing campaigns, it also helps develop them. The aggregated content allows you to summarize complex topics, detect patterns and trends, and create your original content accordingly. Plus, mixing up the two types adds a much-needed variety to your content schedule, making your overall strategy appear far less promotional.

Curation Inspires Collaboration

Another perk of this practice is that it supports the emergence of independent authors and voices. By doing so, curated content allows you to reach out to up-and-coming authorities in your field, all while expanding your network and building B2B relationships on your behalf. That way, Curated content can open new opportunities for collaboration and swiftly jumpstart your influencer marketing campaign.

How to Curate the Right Way?

The rules for sharing other brand’s content are simple enough: 

Never, ever forget to give credit to the original source. Without this, the content is not curated but stolen. There’s plenty of dirty tricks in marketing, but this one will ruin a brand’s credibility for good. 

Curating content is not a copy-paste action. A shared post might bring value to your readers, and it can contribute to your marketing goal. Never be lazy about it, but add your own signature. Include a commentary, create your own headline and pictures, and don’t forget about a juicy call-to-action.

What to Share and How to Find It?

You realize that curating content is not about sharing everything you like, right?  The distributable post should comply with all the same old rules for content creation, which means that it has to be well-written, highly relevant, and irresistibly engaging. Here’s a list of questions to help you curate right:

• Does this post promote another brand? If it does, there’s no point in sharing it.
• Is this post reliable? Find out how to trust internet sources.
• Would my readers find this post helpful? Always think about your audience first.
• Would my readers share this post? Engage in social listening to learn what they like

Content Curation on the Social Web

Though most marketers prefer social media for curating content, this type of platform is not the only one that’s convenient for this practice. Think about Creator.ai and how its blockchain protocol changes the way information is generated and shared on the internet. Not only does the world’s first content creation protocol on blockchain manage and support the new exchange economy, but it also offers a vast talent pool of inspired content creators and the right means to protect their intellectual property.

Before you add content creation to your marketing campaign, be sure to read more on Creator.ai and what democratization of the social web actually means. Unlike most similar practices, curation is the only one that can actually contribute to a social cause. And, if you can do two goods instead of one, it’s not just your brand’s visibility that will improve. Generate overall goodwill, and so will your reputation.