Beyond the Basics of Curated Content

While every business owner understands the need to create valuable content for their readers, not all professionals realize how beneficial curated content can be to their site. Original pieces that promote your company are crucial to your success, but sharing information organized by other authors may actually build your clientele even more quickly.

One of the best ways to increase your readership is by sharing articles on social media. Argyle Social reports that several companies who link to their own site in fewer than half of their posts are actually garnering the largest amount of traffic from social media sites. The study also found that there are businesses whose posts receive over three times the average number of clicks by including shared content in at least three-fourths of their posts. In general, posts that include links to outside sites often receive 33 percent more clicks.

Why Curated Content is More Shareable

While relying so heavily on third-party content may seem counter-intuitive to your content marketing plan, there are many reasons why this strategy works so well on social media.

• If you link to the original author on your post, you have a chance of he or she sharing the post and possibly mentioning you, instantly putting your site in front of new eyes.
• Even if the author doesn’t repost, linking to his or her name will likely cause your post to appear in the newsfeed of their followers, depending on the social media platform you’re using.
• New reciprocal relationships can be formed when other blogging entities see you promoting their work, opening the door for them to share your original pieces in the future.

While you may be great at coming up with new ideas, there is such a vast amount of information on the web that you don’t need to nor is it wise to rely solely on your own abilities when there are so many experienced sources in every industry.

Other Ways to Use Social Media

Not only is it important to share informative pieces written by fellow bloggers, but you can also tap into an entirely new crowd by posting customer reviews on your page. Asking your clients to review your product can give you access to their followers, an entirely new market of viewers. Users who have written positive reviews are likely to share your posting of them with their friends and maybe give your company another shout out at the same time.

Contests, giveaways and trial offers are also great ideas for building your social media presence. Offering additional entries to your clients for sharing the post will give you access to an even wider audience. Getting creative with your social media exposure is one of the quickest ways to guarantee an increased viewership.

The Best Sites for Social Media Sharing

While the first sites that often come to mind when social media is mentioned are Facebook and Twitter, there are many other, lesser-known sites that are perfect for content sharing and great places to discover curated content. There are also many tools that can be used to find content across the web that is relevant to your audience.

• Curata: If you’re looking for a great place to find shareable content, Curata is a content curator’s dream.
• Listly: Not only does this site help you create lists that are visually appealing, it also allows you to collaborate with other professionals to find new sources. Once finished, you’ll be able to embed your creation and allow other sites to embed it as well.
• Scoop.it: If you’re looking to share your content with others in a place that generates a lot of traffic, Scoop.it can help. A basic account on this site is free and allows you to display the content you’ve curated for your own use in magazine-style layouts.
• PearlTrees: If you run across a fantastic piece you’d like to add to your curated content repertoire, PearlTrees offers a library to organize any links, files or photos.
• LinkedIn: While useful for connecting with other professionals, LinkedIn also has a tool called Connections in the News that alerts you to any mentions made about any of your social contacts. You’ll be able to see new content from your favorite sources as well as pick out the pieces that relate best to your audience.
• Pinterest: This site, commonly thought of as a recipe and craft sharing scene, is also one of the busiest content culling sites on the web. You can also use Pinterest for Business to make collaboration with clients and other businesses even easier.

While it may be tempting to put all of your efforts into one social media site, picking a few different options can greatly expand your viewership and reach.

Other Ways to Incorporate Curated Content

While social media is one of the best ways to get the most out of your curated content, there are other strategies that use third-party pieces to increase influence.

Newsletters

If you have a mailing list, you can create a newsletter. Keep these light, interesting and entertaining so they’re more likely to be read and include articles from outside sources to keep content fresh and varied.

Roundups

A roundup can be a list of quotes or entire articles that you think would appeal to your readership. These can come in a variety of types and usually include a short synopsis of what you liked about each piece. Use your creativity and choose from formats like the top quotes of the week or the most influential posts of the month. The more authors you can link to, the wider exposure you’ll receive and the more backlinks you’ll create. Take this roundup we published on our blog for example.

Badges

If you want to link to other’s content without sending readers away, consider a tool like Start A Fire. This allows URL shorteners to prevent you from losing traffic by keeping readers on your site.

No matter how you look at it, curated content is one of the best ways to quickly get your name into circles and spaces it wouldn’t normally appear. By wisely using third-party pieces, you’ll be able to increase your readers as well as help out your fellow bloggers at the same time.