Content is everywhere.
Our social media feeds, our inboxes, the websites we visit – we’re surrounded. And whether we realize it or not, the content we see and choose to engage with online influences our decisions.
More and more companies are understanding just how important content marketing is, so a comprehensive strategy to create content that engages audiences and attracts new customers is a must. But for many businesses, the thought of continuously creating original, interesting content is overwhelming.
That’s where content curation comes in.
Content curation is the process of finding, collecting, and choosing relevant content, and sharing the best pieces with a target audience in a structured way.
Some may confuse content curation with content marketing, but content curation doesn’t involve actually creating the content yourself. Instead, it’s all about researching and sharing information and content created by others that your audience will likely appreciate and respond to.
Content curation software makes it easy for businesses to discover content from different sources and share it with their own audiences for marketing purposes. Some examples of content curation include dropping a link to a video, creating a round-up of expert advice, or sharing someone else’s social media post.
Need some inspiration? The G2 Learn Hub email newsletter not only highlights the content that our in-house writers create each week, but there’s also a section titled Here’s What We’re Reading This Week that features content created by other websites and blogs that we’re enjoying or that we feel our audience will enjoy, too.
Sometimes, people confuse content curation and content creation, but there are key differences to keep in mind.
Content curation is typically part of a content marketing strategy and involves searching for relevant content from other sources and brands, as opposed to developing original content.
Content creation involves designing and promoting your own unique and original material. This is content you produce yourself, like videos, blogs, or podcasts.
There are many benefits to putting in the effort needed for a content curation strategy. Let’s break some down.
Not every business or brand has the time, energy, or resources to create its own original content. Ideating, researching, writing, and designing an article, blog, or social post takes a lot longer than simply clicking Share on someone else's work.
For example, startups or smaller companies likely don’t have a team of content writers or social media strategists. The road to creating this type of content isn’t fast or easy, but not everything on your content calendar has to be original work.
Content curation saves time and money since you won’t have to use recruitment marketing resources to hire additional team members to create it. Content curation allows your brand to remain visible and relevant, without the expensive price tag.
Some brands think they can’t be a thought leader in the industry unless they’re creating original content, but that’s simply not the case.
Sharing the best content that’s already out there is important because it shows that your brand knows what’s happening in the industry, follows the trends, and stays current with the latest and greatest.
Sharing content created by others is an excellent way for a business to tell its audience they know what they’re talking about and are keeping tabs on the industry.
When you come across a piece of content you’d like to share with your customers or clients, let the original creator know! If you’re sharing on social media, tag them in the post to catch their eye. You can also email or direct message (DM) them a note letting them know their content has been shared.
But when it comes to social engagement, remember that what you say is important. You want to avoid coming across like you’re looking for something, such as a link swap, in return. Don’t ask them to share something of yours or ask for any type of favor. When you do, it comes across as if you’re not looking to make a genuine connection.
Simply say you’ve shared their piece of content, let them know what you liked about it, and move on! Hopefully, that will be the beginning of a new relationship.
One way to diversify your content calendar is to post voices and opinions outside your own. Sharing these new ideas from other experts in your industry adds a little variety to your content calendar, making it possible to have thoughtful conversations with others and paving the way to new connections.
Remember that the point of having a diverse content calendar is to share the best content in your industry, so don’t feel as if your team needs to hit the Retweet button on every hot take. Be thoughtful and deliberate with what is being shared, and make sure your audience will find it useful.
Not every company has a full-time, robust marketing team. If your company has a smaller team to work with, content creation can be very time-consuming and tedious. But curating content can give the efforts of a marketing team a much-needed boost.
Without the stress of creating their own content, meeting deadlines becomes more accessible and feasible. Your marketing team can instead spend their time gathering the best content and adding their unique spin to it. This helps your marketing team avoid burnout from creating original content.
Paying close attention to other types of social media content or social network platforms others are using the most makes it easier to explore and stay on top of the trends within your industry. Knowing how to track keywords gives you valuable insights into what’s being said online.
Tracking these trends opens you up to a broader range of publishers, topics, and websites to improve your content strategy and close the gaps in the content your team offers.
Growing a brand and building brand awareness is incredibly challenging. But leveraging existing content makes the concept easier! When your team promotes curated content and ties the messaging back to your brand, it provides a personal touch and puts your brand at the center.
By juxtaposing your relevance to the content being shared, the awareness around your brand grows – and so does your business.
When it comes to building a strategy surrounding content curation, there are a few different paths you can choose.
Follow these tips and best practices when developing a strategy for content curation.
There are a ton of content curation solutions that can assist in the aggregation process of strategy building. This kind of software helps businesses discover content from third-party sources to share with their audiences for marketing purposes. It’s common for marketing teams to use content curation software to engage their audiences, attract prospective customers, build credibility, and demonstrate thought leadership.
To qualify for inclusion in the Content Curation category, a product must:
* Below are the top five leading content curation software solutions from G2’s Summer 2022 Grid® Report. Some reviews may be edited for clarity.
ContentStudio is a powerful content marketing and social media platform that marketers, businesses, and agencies use when sharing their content and increasing their reach. This tool’s features give you everything you need to centralize operations for social and blogging channels.
“I have been using ContentStudio for several years now – what a time saver it is! Being able to post updates, schedule posts, and more is fast and easy all from within the same app. Unlike some other services, you can upload the actual video to ContentStudio to post directly to Facebook, Youtube, and others. I use it almost every day and schedule posts out months in advance. It has never failed – I'd give them a 10+.”
- ContentStudio Review, Tom B.
“Can't edit images like I can in Promo Republic and add my own logo to images I find within ContentStudio. I can go into Canva and do it, but I would prefer to do it within the app.”
- ContentStudio Review, Darren G.
UpContent makes it possible for users to discover and share high-quality content while collaborating more effectively. It provides a better way to discover, collaborate, and distribute relevant content that turns leads into customers.
“You can use a powerful query builder to search for content, adding in phrases and taking out phrases as you need. The user interface also works well on mobile, so you can look for content whenever you have a spare few minutes.”
- UpContent Review, Chris C.
“Some points should be improved, like making the parameters for content research a little more intuitive. I have also noticed that in Spanish, the results are not as precise as in English.”
- UpContent Review, Diego C.
BuzzSumo is a comprehensive marketing tool that presents users with content research and performance insights. Its long list of features ensure that you find the best-performing content, identify influencers, and boost content strategies.
“The content suggestion tools make it very easy to find topics with maximum potential reach for one's posting and alliances. It's very useful to be able to know what else is going on.”
- BuzzSumo Review, Stephen F.
“One of the disliked parts of Buzzsumo is its topic explorer feature, which is not entirely helpful and accurate. Also, the pricing plan is quite expensive compared to other analysis tools available on the market.”
- BuzzSumo Review, Divya K.
AdvisorStream is a marketing platform for financial advisors that drives growth through engaging and personalized communications. Users can share content exclusively licensed for their firm from the most trusted publishers or add their own to the mix. AdvisorSteam also helps users stand out from competitors with high-converting landing pages.
“AdvisorStream offers an easy-to-use interface, good value for the service provided, and most importantly, adds an additional touch point for your clients to keep you top of mind, with minimal time investment on your part.”
- AdvisorStream Review, Mark S.Y.
“I would like the ability to automate different types of articles on different parts of my website. For example, one section of my website would have articles that center more on explaining various financial topics, while another part of my website would show articles that are more current events related. I currently have two different java scripts on my website, but because I was recommended to have the ‘post to all’ button selected, it just posts the same article to two places. It works fine when I do it manually, but it would be nice to have it automated.”
- AdvisorStream Review, Danny W.
Taggbox Widget is a user-generated content (UGC) platform loved by marketers and business owners. This software helps users collect, curate, and present the best UGC from over 20 social media platforms into one smart application.
“The approval process is flawless, and editing messages so you can delete the information you don't want to make public is great. The option for customized CSS is one of the best parts. Also, the highlight option for the hashtags you're using is great!”
- TaggBox Widget Review, Maka B.
“The only issues were those with the limitations set by Facebook, but those would apply to every service of this type. Also, I thought the time difference would be an issue with customer service, but they were generally able to respond in a very timely manner.”
- TaggBox Widget Review, Holly H. F.
Whether you’re a small business or a major enterprise, knowing how to curate content is a must if you’re looking to connect with your audience in new and exciting ways. Remember to let your brand’s voice shine through and find the right software to assist in your content curation needs.
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