Want to keep up with the rapidly growing field of content marketing? Good luck. Business 2 Community says that most companies spent between 20-40% of their marketing budget on content last year, and over 60% plan to increase their content budget in the coming year.
Content marketers who are already struggling to juggle the demands of their daily business along with what is needed to stay on top of the competitive digital marketing field may feel overwhelmed. In a world where there seems to be more to do than ever before but the same amount of time with which to do it, how are companies able to consistently publish so much content? Part of the answer can be found in content curation.
The Prevalence Of Content Curation
As you probably know, content curation refers to sharing content from another source on your own blog, web site, or social media page. Curating content is a widespread practice in the marketing industry: in a 2012 marketing survey, Curata reported that 95% of marketers shared content from other organizations.
Why is content curation used so frequently? In part because it helps to resolve the quandary that our overwhelmed marketer from the introduction is now dealing with. Content curation is a strategy that allows a marketer to increase marketing activity by sharing someone else’s content. While content curation by itself will not get you to the highest level of marketing success, the same Curata survey indicated that 85% of content curators believe that thought leadership can be established through content curation.
Moreover, it is rare that you will find a seasoned content marketer who is only using content curation, because these marketers understand the real value of curation: providing an active pipeline of fresh, relevant content.
Curation As A Limitless Source For Marketing Material
How can content curation be a source for a company’s marketing needs if by its very definition it involves sharing things that are not originally created by the company? Because when it is done properly, curating content still allows a company to convey its own unique marketing voice. There are a few key steps to remember to make sure that your curating efforts are contributing to your client's own brand, not the organizations that they are sharing content from:
Always credit the original publisher of the content:
Matt Heinz says on HubSpot that crediting your sources could encourage them to return the favor and share some of your content. Crediting your source also prevents you from ever being accused of plagiarism.
Add your own message:
If you are just going to re-post an entire news release or press announcement word for word, why would people go to your page instead of just finding it at the source? The answer: they wouldn’t! Curating content is all about continuing the discussion. Ask your readers a question, contribute more information about the content’s topic, or link the original post to another piece of content on a related subject. Even just a few sentences at the beginning or end of the shared content will help make the content your own
Curate from sources that make sense:
Are you marketing for a company that sells cars? It is probably not a good idea to be curating posts from a blog about the value of public transportation. The posts that you curate should align with your company’s overall marketing strategy and express the same kind of value proposition that your business offers: if they don’t, explain why your strategy is better when you share the content
With these tips in mind you can get started on a curation strategy for your client's marketing. As you get acclimated to the best practices for curating content, you will come to value this technique as a solid practice that can expand the frequency and impact of your client's content marketing messages.
