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How to curate content like a pro

Efficiently promoting your business online requires setting up an active presence on several social media platforms as well as having a website and one or several landing pages.

The initial creative process is hard labor itself but once all are up and running you also need to populate them with engaging content in order to attract views and get noticed.

At this point you might be worried that it is impossible, regardless of how creative you are, to come up with so much original material by yourself.

And it is.

However, the good news is that most of the time you’ll have to act like a curator rather than a creator.

Borrowed from the museum vernacular, the term ‘curator’ refers to a person who can access other people’s work and display it for the public at a certain time, all the while giving credit to the author.

Your virtual spaces are your galleries and here are some things you need to know before you start filling those walls.

Benefits of content curation

It’s important to understand that you are not going through the process of content curation only so that your pages don’t seem too destitute. Whatever you are sharing must be interesting and of value to your potential customers.

Once you achieve to make yourself known as a trusted voice, your brand will get a lot more visibility and you’ll be more likely to sell your own products.


Read more: 6 Personal branding tips for knowledge entrepreneurs


Constant content curation also ensures you maintain an ongoing conversation with your audience. It’s a great way to stay in touch without making it all about you (keep in mind that people are assaulted by marketing initiatives all the time) and tracking responses and engagement levels will give you an accurate idea of who follows, what their interests are and how they feel about products and services in your niche.

You can experiment with topics and types of content until you find that sweet spot that makes most of your followers happy. I would also like to add that apart from being time-consuming, this endeavor is highly cost-effective.

Leverage other people’s work and enhance it

Now that you are convinced that content curation is a necessity, let’s move on to some helpful tips on how to do it most efficiently. Since the idea itself is not new, lots of people are already doing it, some having become experts.

You can have an easy time finding out just who those people are in your neck of the internet, see what they are sharing and start from there. You should:

  • First collect valuable research on key topics that are relevant to your readers (make sure you double-check your sources so that they are legitimate and believable). Your goal is to become yourself one of the reliable experts.
  • Add your own thoughts on the piece you are sharing. A true expert not only gathers the insights of others but adds value by sharing his or her own thoughts so the additional commentary is a must since the audience will be curious about the personal take on the research findings.
  • Complete the posts with compelling visuals. It’s no secret that on social media text alone is not nearly as powerful as when supported by good multimedia. There are a number of options to choose from but infographics seem to still have the lead as engaging visual material online.

    Read more: 5 Tips to improve your social media photography


Get the influencers in your niche involved

If the term ‘curator’ is a rather old one that has recently been given new meaning, the noun ‘influencer’ only made it into the dictionary last year. The word describes someone who has a high degree of influence (obviously) online and thus wields the power to set trends.

And of course, you want to become one so getting some of these people on board is essential. Here are some ideas about how to proceed:

  • Make a collective post with some of the most relevant content from several influencers in your niche; this will establish your reputation as somebody who does their homework as well as gets the attention of the aforementioned internet stars and a good chunk of their own followers.
  • Mention influencers in the titles of the posts concerning them and do your best to construct witty and interesting titles – with so much alluring stuff online you want your link to be the one that people click on.
  • Get influencers to curate content on your page by posting interesting themes and asking them for advice or input. You can employ some gamification techniques to make things even more engaging.

Read more: An introduction to influencer marketing


Involve your audience

Influencers may be very important to the internet scene but neither they nor you would get very far without an audience. And today’s audiences need to be entertained and engaged, lest they move along to more enticing virtual scenes in one click.

Apart from thoroughly knowing who they are and what they are interested in, here’s what you should do to make sure you not only keep your existing online followers but also increase their numbers:

  • Post regularly; there is nothing stronger than the power of habit and if your audience knows that you will have something worth their while frequently and at known dates, they are likely to come back to your page. It’s very important not to frustrate them by being inconsistent.
  • Ask for their input. People like to express their own opinions (especially online) and it pleases them when it’s apparent that this matters. It also happens to be a great way of getting ideas for future posts or even having some of your research done for you.
  • Make it simple for people to comment or post. The thing we all love about the digital revolution is that it has made all our lives much easier. If you want people to be truly engaged and involved with your pages, make it child’s play for them to do so.

Read more: 7 Tips on how to curate content for your online course


Closing thoughts

The great thing about content curation is that it can be used in all areas of business, from small, out-of-one’s-garage to major companies with offices around the planet. If you do it well for your sites, it will boost your audience and greatly increase the life and visibility of your own created content.

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