Elevating brands and engaging audiences by using curated content online
We get it. Cut though is hard. It is a noisy world out there. Brands are vying for the online attention of audiences who are pulled pillar to post by branded social content. While this content may be relevant and interesting, let’s just say it doesn’t always hit the emotional spot. This is where curated content comes in.
Curating content for social media can be a powerful engagement tactic. While brands can post until they are blue in the face about their value-add proposition, service or product – it is in taking a step back and realigning your BAU posts with topics that your audience genuinely care about that can really make a difference to your social ROI. Even without a boosting budget!
Seeking out opportunities to curate content that compliments your social media calendar is beneficial not only from an engagement, visibility, or conversion point of view – but it also offers up new opportunities to improve your SEO.
Most importantly, curating content shows that a brand is really listening to its audience by serving them brand messaging framed around the kind of content they are already interacting with in a natural and engaging way.
But what is curated content?
In short, curated content is taking trending UGC (user generate content) or topical posts and published articles from other creators and content sources, and re-framing them in the context of your brand’s offering or point of view.
Whether it is a blog post, news article, editorial feature, trending tweet or viral video – curated content in all its forms can work wonders to give a human edge to more corporate or B2B brands, and position you as a thought leader in your industry.
Content curation isn’t rocket science – it can be as simple as a re-tweet – but the rewards come from the time taken to craft a curated caption around a piece of existing content. This ensures it will resonate with your audience and is relevant to your brand.
So how do I choose the right content?
Knowing what to post comes down to knowing your audience.
Look back at your analytics and note engagement trends for certain topics, themes, or content mediums that your audience responds too. Take stock of how these topics are being spoken about or communicated by competitors on social and in the media right now.
Curated content is often reactive.
While certain types of curated content lend themselves well to being planned into a posting schedule ahead of time, it is trending content that can often reap the most reward.
When you spot relevant content that is gaining a lot of traction, don’t be afraid to jump on it and ride the wave. Just make sure that the topic is relevant, you have something authentic and engaging to say around it, and please remember to check your sources first! Crediting your source is important (not just for visibility), and there is a lot of fake news out there.
Making curated content stand out
To have impact, curated content really needs to be more than hitting that ‘like’ ‘share’ or ‘retweet’ button – the magic is in your authentic messaging shared with that piece of re-purposed content.
How you frame your caption can make or break how your post lands with an audience. Content designed to capture attentions, paired with captions that inspire individual thought or action will be the most effective when it comes to ensuring repeat engagement with your brand.
Captions need to be personalised, offer value in the form of thought leadership or human connection – and if you can add data or insights relevant to your brand, even better.
Keep it short, punchy, using relevant hashtags and PLEASE capitalise on the power of the tag.
Build a network
Whether a media outlet, brand, independent creator, influencer, or industry leader – acknowledging them in your caption with tags can do wonders for organic exposure. It is also best practice for crediting your source.
And who knows… they might end up a follower or even tag you back, increasing opportunities for your content to reach new audiences without even trying.
Be clever with re-purposing
Top performing posts using curated content don’t just have to stay on social. Taking inspiration from content that is performing well can lead to atomisation across your on-site content, blog, podcast, or even spark ideation for PR and marketing activities.
