Posted 03.07.2014 by Josh Krakauer

Stand Out With Social Media Content Curation

Content curation, a must-have in every social media content strategy.

Normal is the last thing you want to be on social media. Aimlessly posting and sharing links isn’t good enough for your audience, and it isn’t good enough for you. Enter: Content curation, one of our favorite ways to source and share relevant content.  A must-have in every social media content strategy.

So what is it, and why should you care?

Essentially, you’re assembling your own search engine.

A curator is like that person at the beach with the metal detector, surfacing items and relics of perceived value. Only, a web curator shares those gems of content with their online audiences.

Say you are looking for a wicked cool infographic related to social media. Google seems like the natural starting place, right? Our vote would be a platform built for content curation, like Scoop.it. When you curate content, you’re adding yourself into a new kind of search engine that you and others can use. When you’re the trusted, reliable source behind a topic you actively share content about, people will come to you to find what they’re looking for. The Scoop.it board Great Infographics is a perfect example. It’s chalked full of awesome infographics, expertly picked by someone with serious domain knowledge. Need more inspiration? Peep Scoop.it’s community manager, Ally Greer, and herpersonal Scoop.it page. Thanks to Ally’s efforts, her topics have become a trustworthy hub full of quality information.

You are what you eat? No, you are what you share.

Everything you share online representsyou in some way. When you curate content effectively, you’re sharing the highest caliber content about everything that matters to you and your audience. What’s better than that? Just remember, it’s not all about the curated content, it’s about the connections you make with people as a result.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a Pinterest board, a Twitter custom timeline, or Scoop.it board.  If you’re smart about what you share, an audience’s trust will follow.

Ready to get stared? Here are three tips we live by to guide our content curation:

Keep it simple.

By curating content, you’re finding and sharing the best and most relevant content (tweets, blogs, articles, pictures, etc.) regarding a narrow subject valued by your audience. Before you share something, think, “will the audience I’m sharing this with benefit from seeing this?

Curating content shouldn’t be a struggle; after all, it’s fun to dig into things you’re passionate about. Stick with the basics: share great content you care about that benefits your audience.

Become the reliable source.

Consistency is key to becoming a subject matter authority. When you’re consistent with your shares (both in context and frequency), your audience can will come to trust you. Trust is good! Trust build the relationships that make social media so powerful and frames you as a reliable source.

Don’t be like them, be you.

Everyone is trying to be relevant, go viral and become the next big thing on social media. Ugh. Don’t be like everyone. Be you. If you’re aspiring for relevance on Twitter, tweet about things that matter to you and your followers. If you want more people to read your blog, seek out more people who care about what you care about and connect.

How do you use social media content curation for your brand? Tools, tips, and tactics. Let’s hear them!

Jon Koob



new on the blog

Ready to grow? We're ready to go.

get a proposal