Are You Utilising Curated Content For Your business?
Any content you post on social media should be high quality, have a strong call to action, and be as unique as possible. Problem is, content like this can sometimes take hours, if not days to create. Consistent and regular content is necessary for social media if you want to stay in the forefront of your audience’s mind. Having content on hand to post and schedule on your social channels is a must.
This is where curated content comes in, and it’s a lifesaver. For those of us who do not have time to produce a wealth of articles, images and video content daily, curated content if selected carefully, can still work as promotional content for your business and give your audience an insight into your brand.
Curated content is content from the internet, including social media and news publications that has been carefully selected by you or your business and published online. It doesn’t include creating new content, and instead is the act of discovering, compiling and sharing existing content with your online audience. Content that has been chosen to be re-shared by your brand will give your audience a valuable insight into the personality of those who work at your business, their interests and a feel for them as people. Culture, values and interests of the business, including content from brands you look up to or take inspiration from, allow your audience to get a better understanding of who your brand is, and if it aligns with their own values and interests.
This is why content marketing is important. It allows you to build long standing lasting relationships with your audience and work on relationships with critics by showing them what your company is really about.
There are different types of curated content. For example, a useful type of content to re-share, especially for those on a tight time limit, are blog posts. Curated blog posts allow in depth relevant articles that have been carefully chosen to be re-shared on your feed or website. As long as the original source is credited and linked and you do not try to pass it off as your own, there is no harm in reposting other’s work if it benefits or provides insight or useful information to your audience or consumers.
Another type of created content, and one we strongly recommend, is curated content for social media. The rule of thirds that is suggested for social media content is as follows; 1/3 of social content should promote your business, convert readers into customers and generate profit – i.e., drive conversions. The next 1/3 should share ideas and stories from leaders in your industry and like-minded businesses. The last 1/3 should be personal interactions with customers or fans and build your personal brand – i.e., original content.
You may ask why it’s important to share content from other sources or businesses. It shows your audience that you have a thorough knowledge of your industry and your competition. It also portrays a good image of your business as you appear friendly and supportive even to those competitors. If you re-post content from others, it is likely they will do the same back, thus increasing your online exposure and brand reach in the long term by connecting with another brand’s online community.