Smart Content Curation Techniques to Build Connections and Gain More Audience
We need content. We need to share content with people every now and then. Sharing content is part of virtually every business process that involves generating traffic, attracting following, stimulating engagement, and driving sales. From the point of view of search engine optimization to influencer marketing, the necessity of content is undeniable. How can you gain people’s attention and trust without content?
But there’s another challenge here — generating fresh content for followers and audience.
If you can’t send a newsletter to your subscribers because you didn’t have time to write one over the week, then you have to figure out another way to keep them posted. This is why we do content curation. Maybe you only came across this term now. Content curation is simply finding existing content relevant to your business and sharing it with your own followers, fans, readers, or audience. So instead of writing an article yourself, you post someone else’s on your blog or social media page.
The following are the reasons why we do it:
- Content curation saves time. You don’t have to write stuff from time to time.
- You can share the work of someone who has greater expertise than you, thereby enriching your content pool.
- Other people’s work add new perspective to what you do and also widens the knowledge of your audience in your niche.
- You’re able to give the source a plug in your own social media channels or blog.
- Sharing other people’s works starts valuable connections. They might just look at your works, too! It’s a smart influencer marketing step.
But how do you go about content curation?
Find relevant content in your niche
It’s not difficult to find content related and relevant to your brand, business, or blog. There are different ways to do it. You can use certain tools. The easiest is to look up relevant content on Google using keywords related to yours.
Forget about competition
Competing with other brands in your niche seems the right thing to do. Competition is good. It gives people choices. It allows brands to strive to better themselves. But sometimes it’s better to create relationships. Why compete with companies similar to yours when you can work together to generate revenues for both your brands?
When you look up content to share with your audience, the ones you most find relevant would be from your competitors. The idea of sharing their content with your audience sounds really stupid. Done carefully, it may just turn a competitor into an influencer or an associate.
Give allied brands a plug
Sharing a competitor’s blog post or video may be daunting, but sharing content of an associate or a brand in your niche that’s not your competition is one of the best content curation tactics. Not only are you momentarily freeing yourself from the obligation of furnishing new content but also are you giving your allies a room on your channels for your audience to see. They will see it as a good gesture and may just reciprocate. Also, it’s good to let your followers see a wider perspective of your niche. If you’re running a wedding photography page, it’s worth sharing content about camera reviews, which aren’t your competition.
Let your audience know why you’re sharing the content
Don’t simply share the link to the blog post, article, or media on your own blog or website or social media channel without saying anything else. Your followers need to know why you’re sharing it with them. Is it important to them? What can they learn from it? Why do you think is it worth sharing around?
Maybe you can share a short insightful thought about the article. Tell your audience what you feel about it, the things you agree about it, and the things you can add. Don’t criticize someone else’s content. You may also take a quote from the article and share it as the gist.
Mention the author’s or blogger’s name
Although you’re sharing a link to their content and it may seem unnecessary to include their name as the author, acknowledging their name is a friendly and polite gesture. It works in building relationships. It means you’re crediting them for a piece of knowledge or information you think is worth passing around. Write your post with a friendly tone. This is probably a good chance to make contact, be noticed by them, and start an interaction. Remember when they interact with you, their audience will see it and may just check your brand out.
Follow other brands or people
Not everyone in your niche is your competition. There are people out there who do the same things as you. They may have significant following, too. But they are not necessarily your competition. If you’re doing business in Houston, following someone from Ottawa who has the same business isn’t bad. You don’t have the same market, but imagine building a relationship with them and sharing each other’s posts to augment both of your following.
Schedule posting
Share trending topics right away, so you don’t look like you’re left behind. However, some posts may need to be scheduled to avoid flooding your audience’s feed.
