Back to Basics: What is Content Curation?

Times have changed. The path to purchasing used to be a straight line from buyer need, to conversion. But this is no longer the case. Technological advances have changed our lives.

They have changed the way we communicate, the way we travel, the way we learn, and also the way we purchase products.  Technology has given customers a powerful advantage over previous generations; the ability to search and compare products with the click of a button.

So what role does content curation play in today’s journey of purchase decision making? Today’s buyers are hyper-connected in real time via multiple devices and channels to an inexhaustible avalanche of information. Don’t believe me?

Take a look at your company analytics and see how your customers interact with your website. You’ll see that they are always looking for the best “value for money” option they can get their hands on. So how can you influence and engage your customers without pushing them towards your competitors? Content Curation.

What is Content Curation?

Content curation is the act of discovering, gathering, and publishing content that surrounds a specific subject matter. Unlike content marketing, content curation doesn’t include generating content.

Instead, it gathers content from a variety of sources and delivers them in an organised fashion. In other words, the content that your customers read is personalised and specific only to the subject/information you want them to read.

How to Curate Content?

First of all, to curate content, remember that your customers aren’t waiting for you to tell them what to do next.

According to Serius Decisions:

70% of the buyer’s journey is now completed without any sales involvement

This means that if the content you provide is irrelevant or uninteresting it may push your customers to go elsewhere.

In order to be successful at content curation it is important to share only the best, most relevant, content possible. Content curation should, therefore, build value. No matter which industry your customers are in the content you decide to curate should have two objectives:

1. How to curate content? Inform your audience

The first question you want to ask yourself before choosing and deciding to post any article is Why would this interest my reader? Why should they take personal time to read this? You may think that this is the easiest part, however, this element is crucial.

One reason is that content always changes and every day new content is written; both good and bad. In order to oversee content, you can use content marketing software companies that offer specific services to help you. Using such software provides you with large amounts of content on a specific subject that you choose, as often as you require, even every day.

For example, you may choose to receive only specific information on Digital Transformation. The software then sends you content specific to that subject which you are then able to curate from.

You may also have the opportunity to procure content straight from individual online sources,  such as magazine publications (Forbes, Huffington Post, Inc), company blogs, case studies, or infographics. When curating content always remember not to publish anything that may in anyway influence a competitor.

For example, some articles may offer the use of a competitor in order to solve the problem of the article. In order to provide the best source material for your readers select a variety of articles but only choose one to share. That way you will be able to choose the most relevant content to what is trending at the moment.

2. How to curate content? Save your audience time

When curating content it is important to remember that your reader may not be able to immediately access information/articles/data/material.

One way to get readers to read your content is by keeping it “short and sweet”, for example, one could add a brief description (using statistics or a quote), underneath the article to help readers immediately understand what the article is about, why it is relevant to them, and draw them in to reading the entire piece.

Why Content Curation?

Curating content for your readers helps them to be kept informed on what is happening by generating precise, specific, practical information tailored to their needs without having to personally research hundreds of web-based data sources.  

This presents a huge opportunity for you to build a stronger relationship with your audience. By delivering a curated experience, that saves customer’s time getting the information they need, you’ve taken a major step on the path of building trust and loyalty.

Using content curation you are better able to increase your SEO. This is due to the fact that posting this information on various platforms (social media, website, etc.), boosts impressions, organic searches, and ultimately conversions.

Content curation is also known to increase and support lead generation. Curated content drives additional site visits that help increase the potential for landing quality leads. Take for example a customer who has read the content you have shared.

His first goal by reading your piece is to respond to a need. If he comes across your content, reads it and likes it, this may encourage him to be curious and check the lead source (where it came from), in this case, your company.

Which, in turn, could then potentially convert into a quality lead. In short, in a fast-paced world, thanks to Content Curation you are able to supplement your social media publishing which helps facilitate social media conversions, engage your audience, and boost your brand image. Now you officially know everything there is to know about Content Curation! So, what are you waiting for? Go CURATE!

Find out what’s missing in your content strategy

Join us Tuesday, October 24th at 8 am PST (11 am EST / 4 pm GMT) for our latest webinar “The Secret ingredient of a successful employee advocacy and social selling program”, where we’ll discuss the importance of keeping content fresh, relevant, and diverse.

See how you can achieve greater engagement through a balanced content strategy.

You can also listen to this webinar about Employee Advocacy: An Authentic Alternative to High Media Investments