For many years now, content has been touted as king. But, what does that really mean in today’s world of information overload? Over the last 10 years, a huge transformation has taken place.
News on the web used to be distributed mainly by large news networks, i.e. “the media.” Yet, as social media has risen to prominence, more and more it’s about regular everyday people creating and curating ideas and becoming social influencers. It’s about how you package information.
Focus in For Success
In 2019, Statista estimates that there are 2.77 billion people using social media worldwide. Over the next two years alone, that number is expected to grow to 3.02 billion.
But, how to do you become a social influencer? The key is establishing and growing your niche through content creation and content curation. There are many sources out there that show you how to create quality content. That’s key for gaining followers. But, what about content curation? Even though it’s important – and in some cases easier – not as much is written on the subject. So, let’s take a closer look…
Powerful Content Curation = Social Influence
Content curation is the “process of gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest.” To learn more about the basics of content curation, check out Hootsuite (blog article) and Centerline Digital (YouTube video).
Tek Eye reports that in 2018, there were a total of 1,805,260,010 websites. Yet, most of these websites get few visitors. To make your website, blog, podcast, or social media presence stand out, you need to have a strategy – a niche strategy.
A social influencer is a “user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. A social media influencer has access to a large audience and can persuade others by virtue of their authenticity and reach.”
To become a social influencer and develop a following, you’ll want to zero in on a single topic and then apply best practices to grow that particular niche. Your niche should be broad enough so that there is plenty of information to curate, but specific enough so that it’s distinct from other similar topics and social influencers.
Ideally, your niche will be about a topic you know well. If someone asks you what you’re the master of, what would you say? It can be something from your personal life (breeding horses, traveling across the country, raising children) or a topic that’s related to your professional life (how to get Instagram followers, how to recruit the best employees, etc.)
You niche can be about a topic you’re passionate about, or a topic you what to know more about for your own enrichment. As you gather pertinent information about your niche and publish it, your readers and viewers will learn along with you. And, you’ll be establishing yourself as an expert in the field. This applies all types of content: written(blogs and articles), video, live streaming, and social media posts.
Making Sure Your Niche is Highly Relevant
While it’s crucial to choose a niche you enjoy, it’s of equal importance to choose a topic that people want to hear about. Trending topics are great for niches. What events are on the horizon in your community, country and the world? What are people just starting to talk about? What are they concerned about?
Get out ahead of the crowd and be one of the first people to “serve up” information on those topics. For example, you might start an 2020 Olympics content curation project at least a year before the 2020 Olympics begin in Tokyo so that when everyone starts searching for information prior to the Olympics, your curated content is available and already ranked highly.
Though there are many out there, some of the best tech tools you can use to identify the most popular topics on the web include BuzzSumo and Nuzzel.
You can also research your niche the old fashioned way by searching Google. Put in something like “content marketing on ______________” (fill in your potential niche topic), and see what appears. This way, you’ll get a good idea of who the content leaders already are in your niche.
The Best Curators Are Connectors
Just as in curating a brick and mortar museum, it’s not just about collecting pieces of information in one place. It’s about providing value through your curation. The best content curators bring their own point of view to publishing niche content. They also help their readers connect with the topic and relate it to their personal and professional lives.
For example, someone might curate content about peace. But, driving the point home that peace begins within oneself, and overflows into ones community and the world, might be the unique thread that runs through all of your content.
Ask yourself, besides putting all of this information in a single spot, what am I adding to the conversation? How am I giving readers and listeners a better command, appreciation, and understanding about this topic?
Finally, of course, it’s important that the content you curate is current, as in what is happening today? What is happening right now? Being one of the first people (or organizations) to post or re-post breaking news related to your niche will add to your reputation as an expert on the subject. And if you have your own related news to post, all the better.
Don’t Overlook Content Curation in Building Your Brand
If you’re serious about making curating content more than a hobby, you’ll need to set aside time everyday to curate and post content. After a while you’ll know the major content players in your niche area, and you’ll be looking for new entrants into the field. Every time you post you are building your unique brand. The tone you set. The words you use. All of it adds up to make the content you share as unique as you are.
So, decide your niche. Build a platform. And begin curating. It’s up to you to get started.