10 strategies to effectively curate content in 2018 and grow your audience

Each and every business has the same primary goal – to gain as many customers as possible and to turn over a profit at the end of each year. Whether or not a business is able to reach this particular goal is completely dependent on what they offer their customers and how they offer these products or services to their customers. Another important factor that has a significant effect on how successful a business can truly be is their marketing strategy. When a business spends time, effort and usual money on promotional strategies, then they are able to win over customers and grow – but only when these strategies are done in an effective way. The problem, however, is that there are simply too many strategies in the modern world that can be utilized to promote a business on the internet; thus creating a confusion as to what platforms and strategies should be utilized, and which should be skipped.

A lot of business owners tend to make a point of utilizing multiple marketing channels on the internet to help them reach their target audience, but this can quickly add up in time and cost. There is no use in spending more money on advertising campaigns that what would be gained in return from the results provided by such campaigns. For this reason, business owners should not only focus on utilizing new methods, but also consider how they can save money and perhaps even re-use older content, as well as third-party content, to their advantage.

In this article, we are going to explore a topic that is most definitely not something new. However, it does seem like companies are only now starting to realize just how powerful of a method this particular strategy is when it comes to saving them time, effort and money, while still driving quality traffic back to their online properties. The strategy we are referring to is commonly known as content curation. We are going to discuss what this is and how you, the business owner, can utilize content curation to help your business succeed in growing this coming year.

Content marketing has become one of the most vital parts of promoting a business on the internet. There are numerous benefits that can be expected of such a campaign, but the time and money that needs to be spent on the creation of new content that should be shared with an existing audience, as well as potentially new customers, can become the downfall of a business. Since frequent sharing of information, data and other digital objects are needed for a content marketing strategy to be effective, it would also mean a business owner will have to spend a lot of time and often also a lot of money to get new blog posts created, new images designed and new videos recorded.

This is where content creation comes into play, offering business owners an opportunity to share a lot of content with their audience without necessarily having to create each and every piece themselves. This does not only save a considerable amount of money, but also a lot of time – which means the business owner can spend more time on other aspects of their business that will help them grow even more.

Content curation is a process of utilizing content created by another company, person or brand, in such a way to benefit your own business. At first, it may seem like an unethical approach, but there are many ways to use content curation without overstepping any copyright boundaries.

Strategies For Content Curation In 2018

While it may not be considered legal or ethical to outright copy content created by someone else and claim it as your own, content curation offers an alternative solution to help your business benefit from work done by someone else, but without taking credit for the work. Hootsuite explains that content curation offers a business new networking opportunities, as well as reduces the amount of pressure placed on the business owner regarding new content that constantly needs to be created. Furthermore, they continue to explain that this particular content marketing strategy helps to grow a business considerably and also helps a business become a recognized figure in its industry.

Let’s take a look at some effective strategies that your business or brand can utilize in order to make the most out of content curation for the upcoming year. These strategies will help your business grow in multiple ways – from improving Google ranking to ensuring your business is the first to give your audience a scoop of the latest news in your industry.

1. Use Social Media Networks To Source Sharable Content

When it comes to content curation, one of the most effective ways to utilize this particular strategy is to share popular content on your social media profiles – the good news here is that you do not have to only share your own content. Utilize the search features offered by social networks to look for content that is creating a buzz in your industry, then share this content on your company’s profile page. This is sure to drive some buzz and even help to increase your page’s exposure.

2. Share Industry-Related Videos

According to WordStream, as much as 92% of people who watch videos on their mobile devices tend to share the videos they watch on their social profiles at a frequent basis. For this reason, including videos in your content curation strategy for 2018 is essential. Try to find videos that are already driving a lot of engagement and share them on your company’s profile pages. If you reach the right target audience, you’ll surely gain a lot of exposure for your company’s social media profiles – this means more likes, shares, follows and, of course, website clicks.

3. Turn An Existing Blog Post Into A Video

With video becoming the new way people are obtaining information on the internet, it is important that you catch up to this particular trend. You probably already have hundreds of blog posts on your blog, but only a few (if any) videos. Try to go back to your older blog posts and see if there are any posts that might be worth turning into a video. There is no need to go “all out” – simply create a presentation video with some voice and post it on YouTube, Facebook and other social networks you are active on.

4. Turn Existing Blog Posts Into Infographics

Apart from video content, images, especially infographics, are also extremely popular on the internet. An infographic offers readers an easy way to obtain information without having to watch through a five or ten-minute video, and without having to read through an extremely long article. Similar to the previous strategy, see if you have any older blog posts with important facts and information that you can turn into an infographic – then share this infographic on your social profiles.

5. Blog About The Latest News In Your Industry

This may not be a direct type of curation strategy, but is surely an effective way of creating some buzz for your brand and website. Look up the latest news in your industry, then see what may interest your particular target audience. Decide on a topic written by an authority in your industry, then write a small post about this particular topic. Post this content on your blog and link back to the original source – then share the post on your social media channels.

6. Don’t Limit Yourself To Social Media Networks

The majority of publications that describe effective strategies that can be utilized for content curation tend to focus on social media sharing. This, however, is not the only way in which a business owner can utilize content curation for their own benefit. As we described previously, make use of your blog, as well as other channels where you are active in order to curate content to drive more engagement to your website.

7. Utilize Content Curation Tools

For those who find it somewhat difficult to effectively utilize content curation for their business, there are a large variety of tools that can be utilized to assist with making the process easier. According to Forbes, the most effective tools that can be used for this particular purpose include Curata, Pocket, Scoop.It and Feed.ly. Some of these tools do tend to cost some money, but there are services that are free to use or offer affordable monthly plans.

8. Personalize Your Curations

Content curation tremendously speeds up the process of creating and sharing content for your audience, but it is important to still add a personal touch to the content you share. When you share a post on your company’s Facebook profile page, for example, do not only hit the share button but also add a short message to your audience that tells them why you are sharing the particular content and why they may be interested. This will help to establish you as an authority in your niche.

You can also make your posts uniquely yours with Instasize. This app lets you edit photos and videos with 50+ artisan filters, beauty tools, themed borders, text styles, and a whole lot more. And the best part is that Instasize is also completely free to use on iOS and Android.

9. Use A Good Mix Of Curated Content

When business owners and marketers start out with content curation, they may not be sure what exactly they should curate. This often leads them to share random pieces of content on their pages and blogs. Unfortunately, this may also lead to content that is too persistent. Try to mix things up by sharing a video one day, perhaps an infographic the next day and a news-related article the following day. This will help to keep things interesting.

10. Schedule Ahead

Finally, we want our readers to note that they do not have to actively browse their social media profiles for potential content they can curate and share. Set out some time once a week to look upon content that can be shared, then utilize social media management tools to help you create a schedule that will automatically post your content for you. Buffer Social recommends utilizing Buffer, HootSuite, Sprout Social, and Agora Pulse for effective results.

Conclusion

A content marketing strategy is important for every business in the modern day, but content marketing is only effective when a brand or company ensures they are fully utilizing their opportunities. When it comes to creating content, a lot of time can often be saved by utilizing content curation as part of a content marketing campaign. Content curation is not only an effective way of saving money and time but also has numerous other benefits that a business can benefit from – even when simply trying to improve Google ranking.