Curating content is one of the ways you can easily sustain your content marketing activities. It involves sorting through existing relevant content on the web about a specific topic, and then organizing and packaging the information for its intended audiences. It's more than simply collecting links, though.
It also involves annotating the found content and determining how this ought to be packaged and delivered to the public. This is pretty much how a museum curator curates works of art to include in an exhibition, hence the term.
Content curation is in itself a science that calls for skill in spotting and organizing information, and also an art that relies heavily on the intuition of the curator. Here are a few tips on how to curate content for your blog and online marketing initiatives.
Use Existing Research
There is a ton of existing information on the web covering all conceivable topics. Much of the existing research can be consolidated to provide fresh, new perspectives and insights on the subject. Try your hand at research consolidation, and shed new light on your topic by presenting the information in brand new ways, such as through infographics or a video summary.
Leverage the Power of Images
Nothing draws in audiences more effectively than visual content such as images and videos. When gathering materials on your topic, do not overlook sources of eye-popping and compelling visuals. You can string these together in a series so that readers are compelled to keep clicking.
Photo galleries are among the most popular and engaging content forms on the web and you should be able to exploit this. Make sure, though, that you secure the proper permissions from and accord the proper credits to the sources of your images.
Examine Your Comments
This is where listening comes in handy. Review comments about your blog and social media posts to gain clues and insights about people's sentiments and concerns. You can then build content around these comments and hit two birds with one stone, so to speak. You address the concerns while at the same time you build compelling content around the topic.
Use Other People's Ideas
If there's anything that is constantly and perpetually abundant, it's other people's ideas and opinions. This is a great thing for you because you are guaranteed to never run out of raw materials for your content.
You can ask your audiences directly for their inputs, get them to participate and give them a stake in your blog. Another way to outsource content is by gathering up what experts in the subject matter have to say. You can then consolidate the information and present this to your readers as an inventory of perspectives on the topic.
Make It Fun
In their book, "Made To Stick," Chip and Dan Heath warn that statistics and numbers are not as memorable as stories. If you are dealing with a lot of statistics and numbers, or if the subject matter is not exactly the most stimulating one in the world (paper clip collections, for example), try to find content that will help you carve out a story that will resonate with your readers.
This takes a lot of practice and skill, but if you master it you will be creating absolutely compelling content that will draw audiences to you and keep them coming back for more.