Web 201: Content Curation

by Lily Bradic

Your social media profiles aren’t all about you and your business. In Web 101, we talked about why you should be using each platform. Now, we’ll be discussing how — and content curation has a big part to play in that. 

So, what is content curation? Beth Kantel describes it as “the process of finding, organizing, and sharing topical, relevant content for your audience.” This content should align with your brand’s engagement goals, and complement the brand identity you are trying to build.

While content curation may seem like more hard work, it’s actually a great time-saver. With the help of dashboard tools like Hootsuite, you can spend a couple of hours scheduling all your secondary content for the week, and then forget about it.

It’s important not to get lazy, though. You must read content before you share it — glancing at the title and the first paragraph doesn’t count. The content you curate should reflect your brand identity, and if you’re not checking before you share, how can you know what you’re saying about yourself? Before sharing secondary content, ask yourself:

• Would I be happy to have this content on my own website?
• Do I agree with the views and opinions of the author?
• Could I have said this significantly better myself? (If so, write your own piece on the subject!)
• Will my audience be interested?
  

By holding curated content to the same standards as you would your own content, you can ensure that your brand identity isn’t skewed or compromised.  It doesn’t matter that you didn’t write it yourself — by sharing a post, you are effectively saying that you approve, condone, and agree with it.

But how much is too much when it comes to content curation? Tristan Handy puts the sweet-spot at around 40% self-promotion — meaning 60% of your social media posts should not link to your own content. Of course, that 60% doesn’t need to be made up entirely of secondary, curated content. Engaging with your audience plays a big part, too.

When curating content, it’s best to start with the things you find naturally and read yourself. If it has your attention, that’s a good sign.

Of course, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to find all your secondary content this way, so your next step is setting up Google Alerts (pictured) and doing regular Twitter searches. Content curation tools like Feedly and Storify are also worth exploring. Ultimately, it comes down to what works for you. It’s a good idea to have a list of the types of things you’re interested in curating — this way, you stay on-track and don’t drift towards irrelevant content.

What are your top tips for content curation? Let us know in the comments!