2014 is the year of content curation — the most “rad” format of content marketing right now.
While 93 percent of B2B marketers use content marketing, they’re encountering significant challenges when it comes to creating the quality content needed to satisfy prospects and customers, according to Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs 2014 market research. Specifically, they suffer from a lack of adequate time, have trouble producing sufficient amounts of content, and struggle to get budget.
Creating original content on a consistent basis can require a lot of dedicated resources, both human and financial. So what’s a resource-constrained marketer to do?
Incorporate content curation into the content marketing mix! According to 2014 Curata research, curated content should account for one-quarter of the content marketing your business produces.
Appreciate that content curation is NOT free!!! Content curation requires resources — in terms of employees and budget. In fact, CMI is considering adding a role that’s solely focused on curation.
By definition, content curation incorporates original content — not unlike a museum curator would. Often, but not always, this original information comes in the form of commentary; though in some cases curation efforts can be drawn completely from your company’s own original content.
Top content curation ideas
For content curation to be effective and drive measurable content marketing results, it’s best to use a variety of curation techniques.
Here are nine options for filling your editorial calendar with quality curated content.
- Share on social media: This is curated content in its starkest form. It simply involves sharing a few words and a relevant link on your favorite social media channel — a technique that is especially popular on Twitter. For example, Christopher S. Penn has shared his top 5 favorite pieces of content on Twitter since 2009, often including one of his own pieces in his list (though not always). In addition, he uses the hashtag #The5 to help his followers find these social content curation efforts.
- Create new content by adding your own commentary to relevant third-party content: This format is what most people think of when they hear the term curated content, and is an easy way to associate your business with news, trends, and smart conversations that are taking place in your industry.
Taking a page from popular sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy that have perfected this approach (in fact, they have practically built their brands around it), this technique works particularly well when you craft an amazing title to draw people in.
For example, when Upworthy’s Adam Mordecai curated a video on a 17-year-old with a rare form of bone cancer, he recast the title from My Last Days: Zach Sobiech to This Amazing Kid Got To Enjoy 19 Awesome Years On This Planet. What He Left Behind Is Wondtacular. With the attention-grabbing new title, Upworthy helped the video attract 17 million viewers, reach the #1 spot on iTunes, and raise $750,000 for cancer research.
- Ask experts to contribute to a round-up post or panel discussion: Ask a group of people for their answers to one specific question. Generally, this content is entirely original, in that the responses have not been published elsewhere.
It’s a personal content curation favorite of mine. In fact, I used it to see how 21 experts defined content marketing, asking pros like Lee Odden, Joe Pulizzi, and David Meerman Scott to share their thoughts. As the curator, I crafted the question, and added an original introduction and conclusion.
- Aggregate curated lists: Lists are a very specific content format; for a list to qualify as content curation, it must collect information from a variety of sources.
Further, the curator must add value to the information by categorizing it and adding commentary where appropriate. This form of curation is great for attracting social media shares.
For example, Jonathon Colman built an epic list of content strategy resources. Like many curated lists, it’s attracted a ton of social love across platforms.
- Work with others to co-create social content: This is a form of user-generated content (UGC) that removes the risks because you, the curator, are in charge of the content and presentation.
Ask your target audience — including prospects, customers, influencers, social media followers, and the public — to contribute original material to your content. Add a title and commentary to the input.
Lion Brand Yarn Studio is using this kind of curated content in both its online and offline marketing efforts. For example, take a look at the company’s recent blog post regarding an upcoming event highlighting the creativity of its customers:
- Invite your fans and customers to help with community-created social content: Rating sites like TripAdvisor use this model to provide and encourage its community to interact on its platform. Unlike other curated content types, this technique isn’t done when the content is published — it continues to evolve and gather new commentary over time.
Here’s an example of Kuychi Rumi. It includes customer ratings and photos!
- Rank the best: Think Top-10 lists and the like. This type of content curation is golden because it’s a form of ego-bait — the people included on lists like these are personally driven to tell everyone they know about them!
This isn’t solely an online phenomenon, either. Billboard has done this for years, updating its technique over time to include social sharing and purchasing.
- Select the best tidbits for your audience: The key to content curation success with this format is knowing what will matter most to your readers. The objective is to save your audience time by choosing the best of what’s available and providing one-stop access to it.
Who’s Blogging What is a good example of this type of content curation. Jeff Ente cuts through the clutter to deliver must-reads to his audience.
- Create a gallery: Don’t limit your content curation to text. Say cheese to creating photo galleries that spotlight your products, customers, or employees — remember, we all want our 15 seconds of fame. You should also think beyond your own publishing platform, and create galleries on your social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.
Clothing site, Dolls Kill encourages its customers to share their Instagram photos by featuring them on its website:
The content curation bottom line
Don’t just publish only one form of curated content! You don’t want your target audience to think your curated content is dull, so mix it up with a combination of the techniques described above.
Remember to allocate adequate resources for your content curation to ensure that your curated information provides value to your readers.
What’s your favorite form of content curation and why?
Looking for more insights on content curation and other powerful content marketing tactics? Check out our guide to Building the Perfect Content Marketing Mix: Execution Tactics.
Cover image by Ryan McGuire-Bells Design, via Gratisography
