Content curation or content creation – that’s the dilemma.
Content marketing for your business is tough.
You must come up with ideas that your audience will love. Then you must make time to think about what you’re going to say. Then comes the writing – oh, and don’t forget to create the perfect tone and approach to pique the interest of your readers.
What else? Oh yes, you need a stream of ideas, so there’s always fresh stuff on your site and social channels.
Of course, you must maintain the quality of your posts – one poorly thought-out article can turn your audience off fast than a fast thing.
That’s why many people take a shortcut.
What’s the downside of content curation?
Many business owners opt for the easier option of content curation. After all, someone has already done the hard work for them, and they’re simply spreading the love.
Yes, it means you have articles appearing on your blog, but if it’s all you do, you won’t be making an emotional connection with your audience.
Why?
Well, by regurgitating someone else’s work, you’re not giving your readers your perspective on the world; you’re not saying anything interesting about your brand and your values. Plus, it’s unlikely to reflect your brand’s tone of voice. All you’ll manage to do is confuse your audience.
The upside of content creation
When you create your own content (or, here’s an idea, hire a freelance copywriter to work as part of your team to create an outstanding content stream), you are in control.
You can create content that reflects your readers’ interests in a way that reflects your brand. By putting your ideas out there, you’ll be seen as a thought leader in your field. People will flock to you and hang on your every word – OK, that might be a stretch, but you get the idea.
Creating original content that reflects your brand and values is the best way to get ahead in the content marketing game.
Is there any room for content curation?
So long as curation doesn’t account for the lion’s share of your content marketing, there’s no reason why you can’t supplement your content with it.
If you read an article that grabs your interest, you can use it as the basis for a ‘response.’ Referring to the original article and then building on it or offering an alternative point of view can be a great way of adding value to your readers (and attracting new readers).
What does good content curation look like?
- If you’re going to curate (with your added commentary), use well-written content that will appeal to readers rather than keyword-stuffed SEO drivel
- Always link back to the original article
- Don’t just cut and paste – add your viewpoint to add something new for your readers. This will help avoid duplicate content issues. Oh, and give your article a different title from the original – again, it will help differentiate it
My advice is to use created content as much as possible but enhance your marketing strategy by careful curation.