The Need for Your Voice in Content Curation

social media content

When it comes to your content, content curation is definitely a sensible thing to add to the mix. However, as interesting and appropriate as you think articles written by other people are, they are far more valuable if you add your own commentary to them. That will make the fact that you are using content written by other people so much more meaningful for your brand.

What is curated content

There are two different ways that you can use curated content. One way is to simply post the person’s article with attribution to that person. The other way is to post parts of it with your own thoughts or your thoughts on the entire article. The point of the second kind is that your commentary is what makes all of the difference.

[tweetthis]If you don’t add your commentary to someone else’s content, it will not be that valuable.[/tweetthis]

If you think about it carefully, taking curated content and adding your own meaningful commentary may be more challenging than you think. It will require some careful thought and you will need to creatively come up with a way to tie it to the needs and wants of your target audience members. In other words, it is important to customize the curated content that you choose for your target audience members.

Inspiration comes in many forms

When it comes to choosing which content to share online, you will not want to use only curated content (even with your commentary). The best is probably a combination of original and curated content. The percentages of each that you will want to use depend on what works best for your particular brand. When you are working on the curated content portion, you will want to be very clear about your contribution and how you add value that other people will appreciate and benefit from.  However, you will want to keep in mind that nobody can create content for your brand as well as you can. The reason for that is that nobody knows your brand as well as you do. The concept is simple but very true. However, on the other hand, the idea that you are open-minded enough to expose your target audience to all sorts of interesting, valuable content says a great deal about you and how much you want to help your target audience members.

When it comes to being inspired to write, you can be inspired about the actual words that you write or you can be inspired by the concepts behind the words. Either way, your content will be amazing and your readers will thank you for all that you have given to them. No matter who inspires you to share the content that you share, how you choose to communicate that information to other people makes all of the difference in the world. You can share commentary on words and on graphic images. Both are powerful in their own way and you need to know how to make the best of them.

Choose unique, interesting, yet relevant topics

You will not want to choose to write on topics that everyone else is writing about. You will want to write on topics that are more off the beaten path and you will want to share your unique perspective. That is what people want to read about and that is exactly why you are sharing content in the way that you are sharing it. If you write (or share) the same content that other people share, nobody will be interested in reading yours because they will have read it already. If you choose to use curated content, it will speak volumes about you to your target audience members. It will show them that you have a deep understanding of their needs and wants. As important as your commentary is, it will require some effort to perfect exactly how you deliver that commentary. However, once you learn how to write commentary properly, it will take you very far.

Conclusion

Adding your voice to curated content is an extremely valuable thing to do. People interact with you and read what you are sharing with them because they recognize the value that it holds. The more information on a focused topic that you give them, the more they will recognize your value as a business owner as well as the value of the content that you are making available to them. Another important thing to remember is that when it comes to using curated content, timing is sensitive. If you don’t act quickly when it comes to sharing other people’s content, someone else will come along and use it first. One other approach that may work for you is taking original content that you wrote over time and piecing it together to create new articles. That is still in the realm of curation but you are taking it from what you have already created. It is an interesting concept that may be worth exploring.

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Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

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