Boost Brand Awareness by Curating & Repurposing
How can curating content help my business?
What’s the right way to curate content?
What’s the difference between curating and repurposing content?
You probably do it already. Your competitors also probably do it. Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, and Mashable definitely do it.
Sharing and curating content from other places is pretty common these days. And the benefit seems obvious: It saves you a lot of time and energy.
But did you know that curated content can also work harder for your business and boost your brand awareness?
Let’s start by checking out what type of content actually appeals to people.
The Internet has a lot of stuff on it. Some of it’s good and some of it’s not-so-good.
You can help your customers by acting as a filter that brings them only the best content from different web sources – not just from your own company. You can also help them digest that content by adding your own insight and opinions to it.
The extremely good news is that it can help customers view you (and your business) as an authentic, reliable authority and expert online.You can also use curated content to help your online properties become a go-to destination for your audience. If they can rely on you to provide some of the best content online, they don’t need to go anywhere else.
When you curate interesting and credible posts that match your brand’s values, for example, you can strengthen your position as an expert in your industry.
Even better, curating content helps you build your audience and customer base. Resharing content from other companies and industry leaders helps you connect with them...and could help you connect with their audiences, too.
Let’s see how curating content has worked for BarkBox, a monthly dog treat subscription service.
BarkBox knows their customers are more than just dog owners. They’re loving parents to very furry children.
This dog-obsessed audience is always eager for new canine content online. So BarkBox created BarkPost, a site where dog lovers can enjoy curated pup updates from all over the web – with permission from the original sources, of course.
Along with curating dog memes, articles, photos, and listicles, BarkPost sources powerful stories from major animal rescues and writes their own posts on topics like DIY dog accessories – which helps them reach a wider animal-loving audience.
Now that you know why you should curate content like BarkBox, let’s walk you through how to do it...and do it well.
Find great content. Keep your eyes open for the latest online trends and updates in your industry. Use an RSS reader to subscribe to related feeds, sign up for newsletters, follow thought leaders on social media, and set up keyword notifications.
Also, add value when you post. Have a point of view on what you’re posting and use it to frame the content for your audience. It could be your opinion, asking followers for their opinion, or just an entertaining introduction.
REMEMBER
Always credit, link to, and make sure you have permission from the original source.
Mixing curated pieces in with your own content helps keep your audience engaged. But you can also repurpose your original content to reach more people.
Maybe you created a blog post that was a huge hit with your followers or a social media update that sparked a lot of comments. You can repurpose that content into different forms or frame it in a new way for a new audience.
By repurposing, you won’t have to spend a lot of time coming up with fresh content, and you can reach new customers on different platforms without having to create anything new.
Each time your repurposed content reaches a new set of customers, you’re getting more value out of the work you’ve already done.
Repurposing also helps search engine optimization (SEO). When you have a blog, a podcast, an infographic, and more around the same topic, you have more opportunities to improve your chosen keyword’s rank.
DO THIS NOW
Repurposing is actually a great way to start content curation. Think about some popular original content you have right now and then pick a few idea starters for repurposing it.
If you’re participating in the course, go to the next section to access your self assessment.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Curating content helps boost your brand awareness.
When curating, add value for your audience and credit the original source.
Repurposing your original content helps you get more value out of it and reach new customers.