I confess I wasn’t always a fan of sharing curated content, that is information, articles and blog posts from other websites. Why would you? To me it didn’t make sense to spend time hunting for content to post with the specific aim of sending someone to another site.
Whether your purpose in engaging in social media is to generally enhance your brand, engage with stakeholders or sell your service, I didn’t understand how curated content could help.
But I am now totally convinced that good quality curated content should be a core part of your personal branding strategy, particularly if your business is based on expertise (accountant, architect, consultant, financial adviser, solicitor – it’s a long list!). Let me tell you why!
Reasons to use curated content
The most important reason – because finding and reading relevant content keeps you up to date in your own field, which makes you an expert. There are no short cuts to expertise, and in your profession keeping up to date with current thinking, trends and legislation is critical. This is as important as posting it, which makes you look like an expert, a subtle but important difference!
Building your reputation
Because it gives you something to talk about to customers and colleagues in real life, assuming you’ve read everything you are posting. Your reputation as an expert is built on your knowledge, and you become the go to person for advice because you are well informed.
Adding variety
Because sharing content from other sources adds variety to your social media posts. If all you do is try to sell your own service, your LinkedIn or Twitter feed quickly gets very dull, and rather self-indulgent and predictable. But if you become a trusted source of interesting content you build up a following, and develop your reputation for expertise. So when you do post your own content, it feels less like selling and more like a conversation with people who are interested.
Providing solutions to your ideal client
Because you can share content that discusses a problem, and provides solutions to your potential clients – which is helpful in itself. And it also presents your business as having the answer. For example, sharing an article from the quality press about forthcoming pension changes when you are a pension adviser, or an article from a lifestyle magazine about the appeal of barn conversions when you are an architect who specialises in this type of work.
Being social
Because sharing interesting content is what social media is all about. And I’m talking about interesting and relevant here – not cat memes!
The key here is to take time to find trusted sources of information and debate in your industry. This what would be of most value and relevance to your target audience. Technical articles from your trade press may be too detailed, whereas mainstream press and lifestyle publications may be more relevant. Articles from your own industry sources – newsletters, membership bodies and forums – may all be worth sharing, as long as they don’t rely on detailed knowledge of the industry. You can keep a list of suitable sources of content or make a Twitter list so you have easy access to the output from those publications, blogs and contributors.
I would advise you not to post anything you haven’t read. You can plan your curated content in advance to schedule alongside your original content, and evaluate its effectiveness as you go along. Done well, curated content can be as much a part of your content marketing strategy as anything that you have created.
If you would like some help, please get in touch for a discovery call.
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