Social Media Content Curation Guide

Social media has become a crucial tool for businesses and individuals to connect with their audience, build their brand, and drive engagement. But with the constant stream of new content and ever-changing algorithms, it can be tough to stay on top of the latest trends and best practices.

That’s where social media content curation comes in – a smart way to find, organize, and share relevant and valuable content across your social media channels.

By curating high-quality content, you can establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry, boost engagement, and drive traffic to your website. Discover the benefits of social media content curation, learn tips and strategies for getting started, and gain insights on how to measure your success, below.

What is Content Curation?

Content curation is the act of finding and sharing content from other sources onto your social media platforms. This can include images, videos, statistics, infographics, quotes, and links to blog articles or social media posts from fellow content creators, industry experts, or thought leaders. The goal is to provide your community with a selection of relevant and valuable content that aligns with your brand values and resonates with your target audience from other voices.

Why is Content Curation Important?

Content curation is an important part of any brand’s social media strategy. Some of the benefits of using curated content include:

• Time and Cost Savings: Curating content saves time and resources, allowing you to share valuable information quickly and conveniently.
• Networking: Content curation helps you connect with other content creators and industry experts, fostering engagement and building relationships.
• Establishing Thought Leadership: Curating high-quality content positions your brand as a thought leader, showcasing expertise and credibility.
• Improve Community Engagement: Curated content improves community engagement by providing diverse perspectives and encouraging audience interaction.
• Diversify Your Content: Content curation allows you to share a wide range of topics and formats, keeping your social media feeds fresh and engaging.

How to Incorporate Content Curation into a Social Media Strategy

Curating content from other sources can be a powerful addition to your social media marketing efforts, but it’s important to ensure it seamlessly integrates with your overall strategy. By understanding your audience, competitors, and industry, you can effectively incorporate curated content into your social media plan.

1. Define your goals

The first step is to clearly define your goals for content curation. This should align with your overall social media marketing strategy, and your brand’s larger business goals. 

Are you looking to:

• Boost engagement with your audience?
• Drive more traffic to your website or other online properties?
• Position your brand as a thought leader in your industry?

Determine which social media platforms you’ll use for content curation. Each platform has its own unique features and audience, so it’s important to tailor your strategy accordingly. Knowing what you want to achieve and where you want to achieve it will help you stay focused and measure the success of your content curation efforts more effectively.

2. Understand your audience

Identify your target audience. Who are they, what are they interested in, what are their pain points, and what types of content do they typically engage with?

To curate content that your audience will find valuable, you need to deeply understand their interests and pain points. Leverage social media analytics tools or monitor your audience’s interactions to identify the topics and content formats they engage with most.

Beyond just their interests, also explore the challenges and problems your audience faces. What type of content could help them overcome those obstacles? Addressing their needs and providing solutions will make your curated content even more valuable.

3. Track trending topics and hashtags

Keeping an eye on the latest news, trends, and developments in your industry is crucial for curating content that resonates with your target audience. By staying up-to-date, you can identify topics your audience is actively discussing, new industry developments they care about, and leverage this information to find relevant content to share.

Consider using tools such as: 

• Social media analytics tools
• Industry publications
• Social media explore pages
• Blogs & newsletters
• Industry influencers
• Hashtag tracking tools

⏩ Metricool’s Instagram Hashtag Generator

⏩ Metricool’s TikTok Hashtag Generator

4. Analyze your competition

Examine the content your competitors are sharing, including the types of content, hashtags used, and engagement rates. This can help you identify gaps in their content strategies that you can fill with your own curated content.

Continuously monitor your competitors’ content to stay ahead of the curve. Adapt your content curation strategy as needed to ensure you’re providing your audience with a unique and valuable perspective.

5. Identify & source trusted content to curate

The key to curated content on social media is to find trustworthy, reliable, sources that provide value to your audience and engage your community, 

To effectively find and curate trusted content:

1. Build a list of sources that consistently publish high-quality, relevant content, considering factors like reputation, accuracy, relevance, authority, and alignment with your brand.
2. Utilize content discovery tools like Ahrefs, BuzzSumo, and Feedly to uncover new sources and identify top-performing, shareable content across the web.
3. Curate content from a diverse range of trusted outlets to provide your audience with a well-rounded perspective, demonstrate your industry knowledge, and keep your content feed fresh and engaging.

6. Develop your content calendar & analyze results

To ensure a consistent and high-performing social media strategy, it’s essential to plan, schedule, and monitor your curated content.

• Plan Your Content in Advance: Map out your curated posts to ensure consistency, identify gaps, and coordinate with original content.
• Schedule Your Curated Content: Use a social media management tool like Metricool to schedule your curated content for timely publication.
• Monitor and Adjust Your Strategy: Continuously monitor your curated content’s performance and adjust your strategy as needed to optimize engagement and reach.

Curated vs. Created Content – How do They Complement Each Other in Social Media?

Content creation and content curation are two distinct approaches to sharing content for your audience. 

Created Content: Original content produced by your brand, providing unique perspectives and insights that showcases your brand’s expertise and creativity. This type of content is essential for establishing your brand as a thought leader in your industry. Created content can include videos, social media posts, and other types of content that are tailored to your audience’s needs and interests.

Curated Content: Content from other sources that provides a diverse range of information. It can include articles, podcasts, social media posts, videos, and user-generated content. Curating relevant, valuable content from other creators helps provide more depth and perspective for your audience. It also further establishes your brand as a knowledgeable source in your space.

By combining both created and curated content, you can balance originality and relevance. Created content provides original insights and perspectives, while curated content offers relevant and timely information.

Best Practices & Tips for Social Media Content Curation 

When curating content for your social media channels, keep these best practices in mind:

• Maintain a Consistent Brand Voice: The content you curate should align with your brand’s tone, personality, and values. This helps ensure a cohesive and recognizable presence across your social media platforms.
• Leverage User-Generated Content: Don’t overlook the power of user-generated content. Curate and share content created by your customers or followers, such as reviews, testimonials, or social media posts. This helps build trust and engagement with your audience.
• Use Relevant Hashtags and Trending Topics: Utilize relevant hashtags and participate in trending conversations to increase the visibility of your curated content. This can help you reach new audiences and join relevant discussions in your industry.
• Monitor and Engage: Regularly monitor the performance of your curated content and engage with your audience. Respond to comments and messages to foster a sense of community and show your audience that you value their input.

Metricool to Curate Your Social Media Content

Metricool is the all-in-one Swiss army knife for social media management, where you can create, schedule, and track content across all your social media channels. Utilize Metricool to curate content on social media, as well as create content about your brand. 

Here’s how Metricool can help you curate social media content:

• Content Planning & Scheduling: Plan and schedule both curated and created content from one single dashboard across all your social media channels.
• Audience Demographics: Learn more about your community on each social media platform to learn more about their demographics, habits, and interests.
• Engagement Metrics & Analytics: See which content resonates best with your community and reaches a wider audience.
• Competitor Analytics: Discover what your competitors are talking about and what resonates with their audience.
• Hashtag Generator: Search and find the top trending hashtags on Instagram and TikTok.
• Aggregated Inbox: All your comments, mentions, and DMs in one place, so you can see what your community is saying to you.

Gretchen Oestreicher , 10 June 2024