Content curation is a skill that is highly undervalued. It’s actually one of the most straightforward tools to keep your social media feeds running and help position your voice as an industry leader. It’s an easy thing to put into your daily routine and as simple as utilizing some online tools to find relevant content for your business.
Social Media Content Rules
There are some golden social media rules – tell your stories, use your brand voice, keep it relevant, and my favorite practice – keep it simple. The ideal breakdown of content you show on your social media channels should be as follows:
10% of your content should be self-promotion.
Tell the world how amazing you are, offer your products and services, and use this to promote you. (After all, you ARE fantastic. We should be telling people how awesome we are! When you build a business, people need to know why they should contact you and what services you offer.
Just don’t be excessive. The fine line between boasting and promotion exists, and if all we see on your timeline is self-promotion, it’s tiring. Everyone is guilty of skipping the ads 😉.
Self-promotion content: Special interviews, media appearances, mentions, advertisements, offers, follow us on social media, newsletter signups, service pages.
30% of your content should be your own original published material
This may shock you, but 30% own content is pretty good. You don’t want to appear self-absorbed. It’s all about balance – you don’t want to limit yourselves to being experts on … your business.
This content should be original and relevant to your company and in line with the services you provide. Keep it authentic to your brand, and use this to position yourself as an expert. You need to take the time to invest in your own market position, which is why it’s essential to produce your own content regularly.
Original content: Blog posts, written articles, podcasts, videos
The final 60% should be curated content.
What Is Curated Content?
Simply put, curated content is content written by other people that is relevant to your company.
Before you clutch your pearls and gasp audibly, this isn’t plagiarism or promoting your competitors. You’re not reposting other people’s materials and claiming them as your own, and you’re certainly not promoting your competitors.
It is simply sharing information that is relevant to your area of expertise with your audience. It is information your clients will find interesting, entertaining, and relevant to them. By sharing current and exciting content, you then position yourself as an industry leader – up-to-date, relevant, and on top of trends in the industry.
But curated content isn’t only about sharing other people’s content. It’s also about telling people WHY they need to read this article/watch this video/listen to this podcast. This is your chance to offer insights into how your company uses this information to benefit your clients and their needs. It’s a chance to show off innovation and adoption of the latest market trends and put your opinions out there. You also don’t have to agree with everything you post. You can also share content that you have a negative or different view from the original.
Simply put, the idea is to share content that triggers conversations between your company and potential/clients.
How To Find Content Worth Sharing
This really is something you don’t have to spend hours doing. Let the content come to you. Utilize tools that give you alerts on keywords – Google Alerts can really work for you if you’re just a small team. It’s customizable, and you can select a range of keywords to tailor how and when you get these alerts.
Keywords are a fantastic tool, and you need to be familiar with those relevant to your business.
You must definitely set alerts for your company name, your CEO’s name, and other key players in your team. But what is vital is picking search terms and topics that are relevant to your business. Start with a few keywords, and gradually build your way up. You’ll get the hang of it.
Managing Curated Content
For someone starting out, it’s a valuable resource that costs you very little time. My PR alerts all come in around 9am on weekdays, and I sort them into categories; and again, this is really a case of thinking about the content and how you can use it.
I manage social media streams for several clients, so it’s often a case where I sort a lot of content. Then it’s simply a matter of loading it into the different platforms. (I’m also a nice person. Sometimes I find a piece of content that I can’t use, but it’s interesting or relevant, so I’ll send it to a partner or someone I think can use the article. It’s because I’m friendly, but it’s also about keeping those connections. You scratch my back … Sharing is caring … etc.
Do this a couple of times a week, over a coffee, and in no time, you’ll have a catalog of curated content that you can add to your social media drip-feed.
Save Time, Use Content Curation
Once you get into the swing of things, you’ll be able to refine your searches, add additional keywords, and become the master of your content curation domain.
It’s really not a difficult thing to start with. It will take time, but spend 30 minutes a day to start with, and in no time, you’ll be leading the way with custom, curated content that positions you as a leader in your field.
Want someone to help you start? Get in touch! I’d love to help you start 🙂