Social networks will even implement content curation before this concept is used as such. Options to “Like” and “Share” content from the confines of the Internet are key elements of social networking. On Facebook alone, users give several million likes per minute and share more than one billion messages per day: one click is enough to propagate content at a dizzying rate. The online platform Pinterest has turned this idea into its business model, to the extent that at no time are users expected to publish their own content, but rather, on the contrary, they can collect their favorite images, relevant information or blog posts. they’ve discovered online on boards organized by topic.
Content curation is going in the same direction. Here the sellers will also be detailed in distributors that disseminate articles, infographics or videos of interest to their target audience through different channels. Mainly, and returning to the example of the artistic curator, it is normal to visit museums and art galleries to get closer to the work of artists. Museums offer a wide selection of works by various artists, either on a specific theme or just the highest quality ones. The visitors also obtained additional information, such as the reasons for the selection and data about the conception of the work and about the artist. In the context of a marketing strategy this means that content not only has to be redistributed, but also crafted. Thus, a possible definition of the concept of content curation would be when a merchant selects content and comments on it at some point to later present it to his audience, in the same way that a curator would do in a museum.
However, on the Internet it is important to filter content. The excess of information means that carefully curated content is worth more than an additional contribution on the same topic. A good content curator helps their readers keep an overview and access information more easily.
Why should you implement content curation?
Creating your own content is still as important as ever. In other words, content curation is not about giving up content creation completely, but rather about adapting it and including it in the content and online marketing strategies of the projects. With content curation, you broaden the range of information, offering your customers more than your own knowledge and experience. Below we present some of the reasons in favor of this online marketing tool, as well as the few against it.
Pros
- Dissemination of content: for online marketing to work it is necessary to publish quality content regularly. However, especially for freelancers and small or medium-sized companies, trying to maintain the balance between quantity and quality can become a problem. Anyone who is in trouble because the (self-imposed) deadline is about to expire will surely not be able to pay enough attention to the quality of their texts, images or videos. Content curation aims to solve this inconvenience. So you can spend more time in production to provide your audience with quality content from other sources.
- Strengthening of channels: many companies use social networks to disseminate their content. However, this can become a double-edged sword, because if you use Facebook only to present the most recent articles from your blog, your audience will have very little reason to visit you on this social network, something that can also happen with the blog of your company, your newsletter or your RSS feed. Now, if you use your social platforms to curate content, you are automatically offering added value to your audience. Thus, your Facebook page, Twitter account or Google+ profile can become important focal points to which users looking for information on specific topics will turn.
- Expert positioning: Presenting informative technical articles gives the impression that you know exactly what you are talking about and that you are therefore an expert on certain topics. In the same way, content curators can also demonstrate that they have subject matter knowledge. The careful selection of the articles guarantees, on the one hand, that they are always up to date and, on the other, that you know exactly what is important and interesting for your readers. Comments are also powerful tools to position yourself as an expert, because demonstrating a clear and transparent position indicates that you are fully engaged in the subject.
- Timely response to trends, news and events: This has to do with both the amount of content and your expert position. In some sectors, novelties take place on a daily basis. Now, if you miss a change because you’re still working on an article about past events, you’re likely to disappoint many of your clients or readers. Content curation, meanwhile, allows you to react quickly to new trends.
- Increased credibility: the opinions of those who describe and value things from their own perspective are quickly perceived as biased or implausible. A one-sided view on complex issues is only positive in some cases – worthwhile discussions arise only when different opinions are confronted. In this case, content curators kill two birds with one stone, demonstrating that they are able to see further and that, at the same time, they can stimulate the exchange with their users by using content from different authors at the same time, especially since many users tend to actively participate in comments on shared content.
- Expansion of the subject areas: nobody knows everything, but it is not necessary either. The Internet, as a space for sharing knowledge, has always given greater importance to the cooperation of the community than to the knowledge of a single person. Create compelling content in your area of expertise and broaden your thematic field by curating the content of your colleagues.
- The influencers’ discourse: if you share content from others, indicating the source is essential: not only good education dictates it, but also copyright. Informing authors of the distribution of their work has a positive impact on your network of followers as well. Since it is only recommended to refer to reputable sources, it is recommended that you attract the attention of well-known influencers using tags and mentions. For them, this type of content distribution is also profitable, since the reach of their publications indirectly increases. In the best of cases, they react by also sharing your content.
- SEO Optimization – Content curation can have a positive impact on search engine ranking. Google values high-quality link distribution and frequent production of quality content, often resulting in higher rankings on search results pages. On the other hand, search engine algorithms penalize duplicate content. As a consequence, you should not only focus on shared content, but also on commenting and producing your own content.
Cons
- Increased work: No one should stop producing their own content. However, a poor organization of time could cause a neglect of one’s own creation in favor of curating the content of others. Here it should be noted that during the creation process, relevant media are also investigated. Thus, if you share the quality information that you have found during your research, the effort made is compensated.
- Strengthening of competition: many businessmen and merchants are concerned that by sharing content from others or from their competitors, they will take advantage of them. Nobody guarantees that your competitors will also share your content, but for any marketing campaign it is very useful to put the target audience as the main focus of the effort. From the perspective of readers and customers, the dissemination of content is always considered a positive feature. This is why, in the long term, the channels in which content curation is implemented will be more effective than those of those competitors without a strategy of this type.
- Redirect traffic: content curation links to other content. This means that the traffic is redirected to a website that is not yours. This has never been the purpose of online marketing, since the main objective is to attract as many visitors as possible to your website. However, at this point the satisfaction of your followers is decisive. In other words, if your audience enjoys the content you share, they will continue to visit your different platforms and, indirectly, you will be increasing traffic to your website.