Content curation is a growing method being used by marketers to share content for monetization purposes. The benefits to this kind of marketing strategy are many, but it does have its shortfalls.
The other, and far more prevalent, method involves sourcing media content, like images and videos, and creating curated content around them. Now, remember I said there were shortfalls to this. As far as I can see, there are two big ones.
“Hey, I Saw That Pic on …”
First, once a picture or video goes viral, it shows up everywhere. Today it’s on HuffPost; tomorrow it’s on Buzzfeed. Images with like themes often get posted together.
Just the other day, I saw a post about some of the worst cake decorating disasters and realized that I’d seen several of these images before. I was later told that the vast majority of them originate with a site called Cakewrecks.com. This is a blog completely devoted to showcasing huge mistakes made by professional cake decorators. The site is wildly successful, so the images that show up there wind up being used in curated content posts for the purpose of monetizing other blogs.
Why does this work? Because funny is funny, and as long as the image is annotated or otherwise credited to the source, it is almost always legal to use it in an editorial context. If people will click on it on Cake Wrecks, they’ll click on it on Blog X, too. You shouldn’t use curated content in ad campaigns or any other direct monetization effort, but that doesn’t stop people from doing just that, and retribution is often nonexistent. Still, we all know that stealing is wrong and that it can have consequences, so use your curated content appropriately.
“Owning” Curated Content
The other major shortfall of content curation is the issue of making it speak for your brand. When the same content is “speaking” on a thousand different blogs, how do you make it yours?
It is admittedly difficult to put it into words. There are elements to every blog that distinguish it from others, and if you already have an effective branding strategy, you know what I mean. The exact same curated content on HuffPost is going to lookdifferent on Buzzfeed. I think it comes down to three key things:
1. The presentation method – Recently, I posted a blog about paginated articles. Especially for curated images, this is definitely the method of choice for most blogs. However, different blogs approach pagination (or “split posting”) from different angles. They could show one image per page with a caption, or they could show several that follow a similar theme with a short paragraph or commentary.
Every site does this a little differently, so it’s a good idea to do a little blog-hopping and see if you can develop a style for yours that incorporates the elements you like from your competition’s sites.
2. The sourcing – It might seem a little time-consuming, but if you don’t want someone saying, “Ah, I’ve seen all of these on Cake Wrecks…” and clicking away from your site after seeing five familiar images, don’t source all your curated content from the same place. If you don’t have time for all of that, hire a freelancer to do it for you. Contract for five or ten images with annotations and specify that you want them sourced from a variety of sites. It’s usually not an expensive gig.
3. The copy – If you decide that you’re going to use curated content you have already seen elsewhere, the best way to brand it is to be certain that your copy is not only original and engaging, but also jibes with the rest of the content on your site. That’s what good branding entails: consistency in every aspect of your site from the logos and fonts to the colors and graphics to the tone and presentation of the copy.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or need someone to take over the responsibility of creating new content for your blog, the right copywriting company should be able to pick up the ball and run with it and produce copy around your curated content that’s all you. Your job is to keep your eyes open for trending themes and deliver curated content in a way that appeals to your audience and has them looking to you for your take on them.
There’s a big future in content curation, and the earning potential is tremendous. Don’t miss out on your piece of that action by delivering content that’s like everyone else’s. Use curated content to your advantage, and give it your voice.