4 Quick Steps to Content Curation for Your Small Business

You don’t have to do it all on your own.

Seriously.

Creating your own content isn’t the only way to provide value to your customers. Why reinvent something if there’s already a credible source out there?

Instead, set yourself apart from your competition by sharing dynamic and informative content that will captivate your target audience. After all, customers want valuable information they can use to help them make better purchasing decisions.

But who has the time to create new content?

You don’t. I don’t.

So here are some basic tips for using content curation as part of your marketing efforts.

 

Getting Started in Content Curation

Don’t get turned off by the term content curation. It’s not as hard as it sounds.

1. As part of your content curation strategy, you’ll save yourself a lot of time if you first research and discover go-to sites for industry-specific information. Once you do that, you can create RSS feeds and push notifications so that you have immediate access to the most up-to-date information. This way you won’t have to search for content all the time.
2. Next, set aside some time to sift through this information and formulate ideas for blog posts. By gathering the most important information from a number of different sources and reworking the material in your own words (and sourcing when appropriate), you can become a trusted and valued industry resource for potential customers.
3. Use the content you curate for your blog in your e-mail marketing campaigns by further paring it down and making it more targeted. You can do this by offering useful information in the form of regular newsletters or commentary. You can also tweak content further, carve out bite-sized chunks and use them in your social media posts.
4. Another way to help attract potential customers is by sharing ideas and posts from industry thought leaders and businesses you follow. This may not only help develop and nurture your online community but could also lead to sales.

 

Needless to say, you won’t become a content curation expert overnight, but by monitoring traffic to your site and gathering relevant data, you can better understand what appeals to your audience and tailor your content to their needs.