How to Become a Pro at Content Curation in 5 Steps

Introduction:

Content curation has become an important component of digital marketing strategies. It allows brands to maintain an active presence on social platforms, engage with their audience, and elevate their brand image by sharing top-notch content from reputable sources. This article provides you with a comprehensive 5-step guide that will help you navigate the world of content curation, enabling you to provide your audience with valuable, relevant, and well-curated content.

Mastering Content Curation: A 5-Step Guide

Step 1: Define Your Audience and Objectives

Description

Knowing your audience is the first step of content curation. Identifying their interests, preferences, and informational needs helps curate pertinent content. Also, define clear objectives for content curation, such as driving engagement, boosting SEO, or providing educational resources to your audience.

Actions

• Research demography, psychographics, and consumer needs.
• Define objectives for content curation.
• Determine key topics of interest for your audience.

Knowledge

Understanding of market research methodologies, knowledge of audience needs, and objectives of content curation.

Skills

• Market research
• Analytical thinking
• Strategic planning

Tools

Survey tools, analytics tools, and customer feedback tools like SurveyMonkey, and Google Analytics, can help in understanding your audience.

Step 2: Source Quality Content

Description

The sourcing stage requires you to explore and find high-quality content relevant to your audience's interests and needs. This requires a keen eye for reputable sources, insightful content, and current trends.

Actions

• Regularly check relevant blogs, news websites, studies, and social channels.
• Use search engines to find high-quality content.
• Study trends in your industry.

Knowledge

Understanding of high-quality content attributes, reliable sources, and industry trends knowledge.

Skills

• Attention to details
• Trend identification
• Web searching

Tools

Feedly, Google Alerts, Pocket, and other curation tools can be key to discovering and organizing relevant content.

Step 3: Evaluate and Select Content

Description

Not every piece of content you find will meet your audience’s needs. You need to evaluate and choose the most relevant, valuable content.

Actions

• Evaluate content for relevance, credibility, and quality.
• Select appealing content that aligns with your audience's interests.
• Check the original source for credibility.

Knowledge

Understanding of content quality indicators, source reliability, and audience interests.

Skills

• Content analysis
• Critical thinking

Tools

Content curation tools can help curate potential content for evaluation, but the final judgment often requires human critical thinking.

Step 4: Add Your Perspective

Description

Simply sharing content is not enough; adding your brand's perspective adds value and distinguishes your content. This could involve providing an insightful summary, asking thought-provoking questions, or connecting the content to your brand or industry.

Actions

• Write an insightful summary or your take on the curated content.
• Ask questions to spark discussions.
• Connect the content back to your brand or industry.

Knowledge

Understanding of audience language, brand voice, and content analysis.

Skills

• Writing
• Critical thinking
• Communication

Tools

Content management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or CoSchedule can come in handy when adding your perspective and scheduling curated content.

Step 5: Share and Track the Content

Description

Once you have curated content and added your perspective, the next step is sharing it with your audience across designated platforms. Don't forget to track the performance to understand the content’s effectiveness and how it resonates with your audience.

Actions

• Share the curated content on your platforms.
• Track its performance with metrics such as engagements, likes, shares, and comments.
• Adjust your curation strategy based on feedback received.

Knowledge

Understanding of content sharing and promotional techniques, knowledge of key performance indicators, and content analytics.

Skills

• Social media management
• Data analysis
• Adaptability

Tools

Social media management tools, analytics tools, and content curation platforms like Sprout Social, Google Analytics, and Curata can be handy for effectively sharing and tracking curated content.

Conclusion

In a world where content is king, mastering the art of content curation is essential. By following the 5-step process outlined in this article, you can effectively engage your audience, demonstrate thought leadership, and elevate your brand's online presence. Always remember to understand your target audience, source quality content, evaluate and select the best pieces, add your unique perspective, and share and monitor your curated content’s performance. With dedication and consistency, you will soon become a content curation pro.