The term content curation comes from the art world. Specifically, the content curator was the person who dedicated himself to making works accessible to the general public that, otherwise, they would not have been able to enjoy. However, the functions of the curator in an environment in which we increasingly have more information have changed. Now his mission is more like tracking relevant content and transforming it by adding value. How? That’s what we talk about next.
What is content curation?
We select and add value to existing content valuable to our audience through content curation. We comment on it and present it to our audience; we distribute it as part of our content marketing strategy. However, curing is not the same as reposting. Think about these two assumptions:
- If we publish someone else’s content without crediting, we can fall into plagiarism by passing off content that is not ours.
- But if we publish and credit someone else’s content without transforming it and adding value to it, we miss the opportunities that content curation offers us commercially.
That is why the figure of the content curator is so important, who deals with the following tasks:
- Find the content that your audience is interested in.
- As he knows why the content is relevant, he comments on it, compares it with other similar ones or on the same theme, and sometimes extends it; that is, it transforms it.
- Finally, it spreads it in the appropriate channels so that your brand gains authority in the market.
Finding, transforming, and disseminating are the main functions of the content curator. On the other hand, this process should not forget about creating and disseminating content that generates conversions, that is unique and of quality, since they are the cornerstone of any content strategy.
Five types of content curation
In 2011, Rohit Bhargava, who is considered to have originated the term, or at least the concept of content curation, defined the five ways to carry out this strategy. They are the following:
- Aggregation: to save search time for the target audience (added value = time), aggregation consists of gathering all the relevant information on a given topic in one place.
- Distilling content extracts your most important points and publishes them in a new, shorter, more focused piece.
- Lift – By spotting trends, the lift allows the specialist content curator to position a brand ahead of its competitors. Strong analytical skills are essential.
- Combination is about combining the content of two or more different pieces into a new, refreshing one that surpasses the previous ones.
- Chronology: is the type of content curation used to present the evolution of a topic. It is characterized by presenting, in a sequential timeline, the most important events related to it.
Where to share the content?
One of the functions of the content curator is to distribute content once it has been transformed (value has been added). For the action of curating content to be efficient, the dissemination must be done in the appropriate channels. Currently, there are four main means through which curated content reaches the target audience:
- Social networks: the like and share buttons, which social network users use with great liberality, make this medium excellent for disseminating all kinds of content of interest.
- Corporate Blog: Detailed posts or lists are just two ways a corporate blog can serve content curation. It is essential to alternate these publications with your content.
- Newsletter: A newsletter is another good way to utilize content curation. The aggregation method is especially easy to develop in this format. Although the newsletter strategy is aimed at a private communication channel, it is important not to cross the line between content curation and appropriation.
- Curation tools: from news aggregators with customizable options to tools as complete as Feedly, which allows you to research by sectors, make lists of information, and select the best sources. Another tool is Buffer, which is very powerful in content marketing and designed to share curated content and measure its performance.
Benefits of content curation for your business
From everything we have mentioned before, you will have already deduced that the benefits of integrating content curation into your digital marketing strategy are many and varied. The main ones are:
- Strengthen channels: The effectiveness of social networks is greater when you share curated content—the spectrum of people who visit and interact with you increases, which will increase your online reputation.
- Dissemination of content: sharing content is basic for making online marketing work. However, creating it from scratch can be exhausting for small and medium-sized businesses. Content curation can lighten this workload.
- Gain authority as an expert: Sharing great content about your industry helps you gain authority. Show that you know him and are not afraid of possible competition. In addition, the curation itself guarantees that you will always be up to date, one of the characteristics of an expert.
- Increases credibility: Instead of presenting a single, unshakeable point of view, publishing curated content turns brands into showcases of different opinions, entities capable of seeing the same problem from multiple perspectives and willing to engage in conversations. Brand authority and perception benefit from content curation.
- Positive impact on SEO: When content curation is mentioned to sources, Google’s algorithm rewards that content with better rankings. The reason is that the search engine likes high-quality links.
In conclusion, content curation is one of the elements that must be present in your content marketing strategy. It is essential that the person who carries it out does not cross the line between curation, plagiarism, and appropriation and that they know the channels and tools necessary to get the most out of it.
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