Curating content breaks writers block and generates leads.
I’ve written before about how to create viral content for your blog and white papers, but even the best content creators face writers block from time to time. A lot of professionals who are new to content marketing fall into the trap that all content must be original.
False. Writing your own content is great, but don’t be afraid to turn to curated content when you need the voice of a credible expert or simply a break from writing.
What exactly is content curation? I’m about to show you, because this post is an example. One of my favorite blogs to read is Heidi Cohen’s, and she provides an excellent breakdown of what content curation is, and how it can improve your company’s industrial marketing program.
Content curation chooses the most relevant, highest quality digital information to meet your readers’ needs on a specific subject. It involves a process of assembling, categorizing, commenting and presenting the top content. This digital content can be in one or more formats such as text, blogs, feeds, images, video and presentations.
See what I did there? I used Heidi’s definition in my post to add credibility and, quite frankly, her definition is spot on. She continues her post with 3 reasons your content marketing strategy needs content curation.
- Offering your audience a combination of original and third party content provides a branded context for your work.
- Curating other people’s content positions you and/or your organization as a tastemaker in your field.
- Creating sufficient content is a marketing and business challenge.
Now that you know what curated content is and why it’s important, I pulled out my favorite tips from Heidi’s post to help you curate on your own. Good curated content:
Contains red meat content, not filler. Content curation presents quality information, not pages of stuff. Skip the fluff and get to the essence of what your readers want and need.
Incorporates original content. Unlike museum curators, content curators include their own (or their organization’s) original content. This enhances original content by proximity to other high quality content.
Credits its creator. Content curation gives credit where credit is due. It’s not plagiarism or theft. Let your readers know who created the content.
I’ve just given you a great example on how to curate content. In short, take little snippets of quality content and frame it, adding your own take on things. In my case, I put a B2B or industrial marketing spin on things.
Have you curated content before? What works and what doesn’t? Let me know in the comments below.
Photo credit: CCAC North Library
