With the arrival of social media platforms, curation of media in all forms, especially images and videos, has become a regular activity for almost anyone with a mobile device. Marketers have been using content curation as part of their strategies for years as an effective way to drive traffic, improve SEO, and nurture valuable leads for their business. In 2020, about 82% marketers reported using curated content as part of their marketing strategies.
Despite its rising popularity and use in daily marketing strategy for industries of all types, there are many myths and misconceptions surrounding content curation that leave a bad taste in the mouths of some marketers, causing them to turn away in favor of other practices. Belief in these myths could be keeping you from a valuable content marketing tool that could increase your brand visibility and help you curate valuable leads.
Let us address some of the most common myths about content curation.
1. Content Curation is stealing
Some believe that content curation is simply a copy + paste job in which marketers merely repost original content found elsewhere as though it were their own. This misleading definition of content curation has led many to shy away from using it in their marketing strategies because they fear possible legal repercussions of sharing others’ content.
Contrary to this popular misconception, the key to successful content curation is taking the original content and supplementing it with content of your own in the form of opinions and analysis. Content curation is only “stealing” if you intend to claim the original content as your own, so always be sure to source your content
2. Content Curation has no value
It’s true that simple re-posts of original content without any addition input from you may not offer the value you’re hoping for. The key is to have an intended purpose for every piece of content you offer your audience. Whether you intend to attract visitors to make a purchase, subscribe to your newsletter, share or engage with your content, etc., it’s important to have a strategy in mind that will allow you to maximize your ROI.
Curated content has offered a measurable ROI for many content marketers. Of those who reportedly used content creation as part of their content marketing strategy in 2020, one survey shows that more than half indicated that content curation improved their brand visibility, SEO, and web traffic, and more than 40% reported a higher number of quality, sales-ready leads.
3. Content Curation is a quick fix
This can be myth or fact, depending on your industry. Pop culture niches such as music, movies, celebrities, fitness, etc. offer a wealth of content online that can be found and curated quickly and easily. For more specialized niches, however, finding the right content to curate for your blog or website can be more difficult and time consuming. You’ll spend more time searching for the right piece of content to spin. A good strategy is to bookmark or subscribe to newsletters of top sites within your industry so you can stay on top of current trends and topics.
Try looking beyond the usual published content (blog posts, articles, videos, etc.) and pay attention to comments on websites and social media pages to gather opinions about current topics. You can use these opinions and either support or debate them with your own ideas.
4. Content Curation is lazy
Again, this can be myth or fact, depending on your efforts. Content curation can offer a lot of meaning and value, both for your audience and your business, if you’re willing to put in the time. Re-tweeting, re-posting, and crowd sourcing content are all forms of content curation, but these should be balanced with content that includes your own additions.
Quality curated content shows that you understand your industry enough to find only the most relevant material available, and that you can form your own ideas and opinions based on what you’ve presented to your audience. Look for content that your audience wants to see, and use only the most reliable sources in your industry that can add value to what you post. Make sure your additions are insightful and relevant—offer curated content that your readers will actually find useful and valuable to them, in order to connect and show that you understand their needs.
In Conclusion
Allowing these common myths to turn you away from this valuable content strategy will cause you to miss out on a big opportunity. Content curation, when executed well, will improve the reach of your content marketing efforts and offer increased traffic, improved SEO, and also attract leads. Be sure to learn and understand the different forms of content curation and the legalities behind it, andfrom there you can create a strategy to locate and curate material on a regular basis as part of your marketing plan for your business.
