The Best Guide to HVAC Digital Marketing
As an HVAC company, you know how important it is to have a steady stream of leads and customers to keep your business growing. In today’s digital age, digital marketing [...]
Content curation is an integral part of any brand’s web presence. Aside from creating your own content, content curation is one of the best ways to add value to your customers. Curata states that the greatest marketers use a mix of 65% created content and 25% curated content. Ultimately the goal is to find the highest-quality material and then share it with your followers. With that in mind, curation truly is one of the basic building blocks of marketing. But sadly, some brands don’t use it to its full potential. And if that’s your brand, we’re hoping that this article influences you to use some curating tactics.
Let’s use an art museum as an example… Naturally, the curator of a museum doesn’t showcase his artwork. The curator comes up with exhibitions based on the artwork that the museum either has in-house or on loan from other museums. The curator is essentially curating an exhibition of artwork that other people have created. In other words, content curation occurs when you sort through large amounts of content on the web and present the best posts in a genuine and thoughtful way.
When it comes down to it, content creation is a lot different from content marketing. Curation isn’t exactly new content – it’s more about discovering content and sharing it with your followers. It’s also an awesome way to add value and build relationships. Content curation can include finding, tagging, rating, commenting, updating, and contextualizing.
Social media is where curation happens the most. And it works because social media platforms really are the best place to share news, video, images, etc. I’ll let you in on a little secret… Whenever you use content creation you are bringing utility and order to the web. And when you add in your point of view it creates a connection between the brand and the customers. As a result, you’re able to create a new dialogue based on valued content. Instead of just creating marketing messages.
If you’re wondering what the perfect curated post looks like, it includes five basic elements:
Yes, curated content is great for your customers, but your brand can also reap the benefits. Your goal with any content is to encourage your customers to view you as a leader in the industry. Once they do, they’re more likely to purchase your products and services. Like I mentioned before, social media is your best friend when it comes to curation. You can use that curated content on Pinterest and Instagram as a way to get more followers and showcase your personality. Just don’t forget to include CTAs or links to your site.
This type of content can be used multiple times too – as long as you credit the original source. Once you have a good amount, you can then use it to create your own original content. It’s also a great way to build relationships with other influencers on your social networks. These relationships can flourish into opportunities for social shares of your original content, collaborations, and link building.
Whatever you do, don’t flood your social media pages with just curated content. You need to also focus the attention on your own brand too. The key is to strike a balance between created and curated/shared/re-tweeted posts.
So yes, you need compelling/timely content. Now it’s time to start thinking like a publisher. You should always strive to develop a content curation strategy that your full marketing team can agree on. It also doesn’t hurt to include that magic blend of 65 created/35 curated. This will ensure a healthy and goal-oriented social media strategy that will give you a lot of benefits.
In terms of finding the best content, don’t plan to manually sift through content yourself. Why? The research could take hours. Therefore it’s best to find top blogs, influencers, and individuals that you can follow. It also doesn’t hurt to monitor the RSS feeds 0f relevant sites. Don’t forget to make sure your team helps with screening that content for value and relevance. You can then place the curated content you do fine next to your created content on your content calendar. Having an overview can help you visually see the ratio of your curated/created content distribution.
Now before you go all gung-ho on curated content, it’s best to find only a few platforms that work best for you and your brand. It’s important to only focus on what’s beneficial. There’s no need to overwhelm yourself or your team.
Content curation really is something your brand needs to consider. But please, don’t forget to add your brand’s own point of view into the mix. The thing to remember with this type of content is to make an effort to connect with your followers too. And if you’re wondering the best way to go about curating content, it’s this: leverage your social media management and content creation tools. It’s really the only way to simplify the process. Have you experimented with curated content before? Did it work for you? Let us know in the comments below, so we can discuss.
