5 Killer Content Curation Mistakes
Content curation is the process of gathering information as opposed to writing it and sharing it on your social media networks or blogs. This can be a lifesaver for busy marketers because you are populating your channels, engaging readers and not needing to sacrifice too many hours to do it. Of course it cannot permanently substitute original content.
There are however 5 killer content curation mistakes which are made by marketers and which you should avoid if you want to rock the digital content marketing world…
#1 Copying
Copying content is not a content curation strategy, it’s a copyright violation! When you curate via social media you are crediting the author in both the share and in the article itself. Doing a copy/paste of every word and then taking the credit is definitely against the rules. Play nicely and you may build up some good relationships with industry influencers.
#2 Skimming
Do you know what you just shared or did you skim read it? I have been guilty of this in the past, but sharing badly written, offensive or inaccurate information can reflect badly on your brand. Take a few minutes to read it properly before you share. The same goes for curation via RSS. If you have set up RSS feeds to populate your networks then keep a close eye on them and check the links. If you see anything spammy then cancel them immediately.
#3 Not Thinking Evergreen
Curating popular trending content is great for getting a few likes, shares or retweets but you should also be thinking of evergreen content. Evergreen content is that which has no expiry date and can be used over and over again. An example of a good piece of evergreen content might be “Top Tips for Generating Web Traffic” or “How to Hire a Freelance Writer”. Short longevity content topics would be “What’s Happening in May 2016” or “Notes From The Spring Conference”. Remember that evergreen content can be repeated for months on end at different times of the day… that makes it great value.
#4 Not Keeping It Relevant
Getting overexcited and sharing all types of content to your channels is a killer content curation mistake. You need to understand your audience, what interests them and therefore tailor your articles accordingly. For example, I focus on creative writing and social media when I share to my channel. I might love an article on a wonderful new cake recipe but I don’t share it… unless it’s an Instagram cake!
#5 Content Spamming
If you are using content curation as a part of your strategy then you need to be just as consistent as if you were writing your own posts and blogs. This means that you don’t share 50 things on a Monday and then nothing until Friday. Use tools like AgoraPulse or Buffer to schedule your content evenly across the week. Also consider the time zones of your target audience… a ton of posts at 1am isn’t all that helpful!
My Top 3 Tools For Content Curation
So now you know which mistakes you need to avoid. Which ones were you guilty of? Tweet me @Charli_Says and let me know.
