How to Include Curated Content in Your Digital Strategy

Content curation is the process of gathering content from multiple sources and delivering it to your followers in an organized way. Unlike content aggregation that simply puts together all information and references, content curation leaves room for commentary. This is what makes the content interesting and worth a read.
Some marketers may assume that content curation is a “lazy” way to fill out your editorial calendar, but it’s quite the opposite. By curating content, you can make use of important information regarding your industry while saving money. It also supports your content marketing and distribution strategy with fresh, new ideas from a variety of voices.
If you haven’t fully embraced content curation, here are a few examples to get you started.

Highlight the Best News of the Week

If you don’t follow the news every day, it’s easy to miss something. Curating the news into a single post helps your audience stay current. Include the biggest highlights from the week in your industry as well as your opinions on them. You can divide the content into various groups based on their genre (entertainment and science) or tone (funny and informational).
Here are a few tips for keeping the content organized for your readers.

• Follow your style guide. Stick to the same colors, font, headers, etc. as your other content. This is still a unique piece of content coming from your brand. Own it.
• Organize the information. Don’t dump a bunch of links into a single post. Write down the information you want to use and find common ground between it. This way, you can easily organize the content for easy consumption.
• Include editorial commentary. Offer personal insight. Your readers want to hear what you think about the latest news. Do you agree? Disagree? What are your predictions?

Include Your Staff and Audience

If you have a small editorial team, content ideas and writing can get redundant. Add some life into your content by including staff members and people from your audience. For example, you can send out a survey and ask employees to fill it out. You can then use this feedback to create an infographic or listicle. Don’t forget to add your own commentary so that the piece is original.

Gather Research from Other People

It’s a great idea to follow blogs from people and businesses in the industry so that you stay up-to-date. Look for trends in the stories they share. Curate the latest research and add your personal touch. Aside from the commentary, you can also create colorful graphs and pie charts to enhance the message.
Here are a few more ideas to make this research enjoyable for your readers.

• Select key data points. It’s common for companies to skew their research to support their content. Before taking data from other businesses, make sure that you check its validity.
• Include data charts. Visuals are a great addition to curated content because they attract attention and are more likely to go viral.
• Explain the data. As part of your commentary, include your take on the data and show users how to apply it to their own business operations.
• Add input from your influencers. Reach out to colleagues or team members to get their input on the information. Another perspective adds substance and diversity to your content.

Get Influencers Involved

Brand influencers can shake up your content marketing strategy and reach a wider audience. Influencers are known and trusted by their followers, so working with them allows you direct access to specific groups of people. Identify brand influencers based on their reputation, their knowledge on your products and services and their willingness to contribute.
To help you find the best influencers, check their social profiles and get a feel for their audience and the relationships they have with followers. If they are active and respond to their audience in a timely manner, they will probably respond to you, too. Also review the types of content they post for other brands and its strength.

Incorporate Existing Content into New Content

Curation is something that you can work into your content on a weekly basis. It’s part of a larger strategy that will help you reach your business goals. Identify some of your best-performing content and freshen it up with new information. One of the best ways to enhance your content is by changing its format. For example, blog posts can be easily turned into infographics, checklists, social media posts and data visualization charts.
As you incorporate curated content into your best pieces, here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Cross-link your content. Add links to your content to keep people on your site longer. You can link to related posts or the original article that you are using for inspiration. Cross-linking also improves SEO.
• Determine its value. When posting new content, assess how valuable it is for your audience. This will help you create better curated content in the future. After all, the point of content curation is to help your audience focus on what’s most important.
• Make it a healthy habit. Content curation fits into your overall digital strategy. Support your strategy with more of it. As you get used to filling out your editorial calendar with curated content, it will come more natural to you.

Don’t underestimate the power of content curation. It’s an effective and economical way to fill out your editorial calendar and support your content distribution plan. To enhance your content marketing strategy, call WSI Net Advantage at 510-687-9737.