Libraries aren’t just repositories of books. They’re also a great place to inspire your business’s content curation efforts. After all, the library system is based on finding exactly what you need when you need it most.
Whether I walk into a library searching for a genre or a fellow entrepreneur’s book, I can locate it fairly easily. (Thank you, Dewey Decimal System.) All I have to do is type some information into the library’s database and I’m rewarded with an answer. It’s efficient, convenient, and accurate.
How does all this relate to curated content? Simply put, the content your team curates serves as a sort of library for everyone in your company. When you or your colleagues need a whitepaper, case study, article, or related asset, you should be able to count on your content library as a trustworthy resource.
Having a wealth of curated content at your fingertips isn’t just nice to have, either. In today’s fast-paced marketplace, it’s essential. It can take days or even weeks to pull together useful, high-quality content pieces. Rather than waiting — and potentially losing a sale, budding investor, employee, or new partner — you need your content to be ready to go.
The good news is that you probably already have the beginnings of a curated content library in the form of existing collateral such as blog posts. However, to give your people the tools they deserve, you’ll need to begin building out your content collection. Try these techniques to keep your unique content flowing and leverage it in your branding, marketing, selling, and support efforts.
1. Add a content curation element to your existing content development strategy.
Search Engine Journal reports that around seven out of 10 marketers rely on content. Accordingly, the chances are very high that you have a content development strategy in the works. That’s great, but you need to make certain you’re actively curating content that will be useful later.
For instance, you might want to add a task like “write one client case study per month” to your existing content development strategy. Even if you’re not sure how you’ll use the case study beyond publishing it on your site, that’s okay. For instance, case studies can be extraordinarily helpful as educational pieces and call-to-action triggers. A case study you write this quarter may not seem pertinent immediately. But a salesperson could depend on it next year to move a lead through the sales pipeline.
Remember: Your curated content is basically bulking out your corporation’s private library. To ensure that your library grows, you need to add curated content generation into your strategic marketing mix.
2. Teach your team members how to use your curated content.
Once you begin to increase your available content, be sure to store it in a centralized place. That way, it’s accessible to all employees. However, never assume that your team members will begin using your curated content just because it’s available. On the contrary, you’ll have to train them on how it can assist them in their jobs.
For instance, let’s say you’ve assigned one of your marketers to keep your business’s social media presence strong and consistent. That’s important because letting your social media engagement wane will hurt your brand’s perception. Ideally, posting two to three times weekly can help you stay in front of your target audiences.
Of course, it can be tough to add variety to posts. One way to be more versatile is to pull some quotes or snippets from curated content, which is something your employee might not know how to do without a little prompting. Most longer content like pillars and studies contain compelling blurbs. A quick quote could drive readers to click on a link to find out more or share your insights with their followers. The result is more interaction for your brand thanks to the clever use of curated content.
3. Think outside the text-only box when engaging in content curation.
There’s little doubt that traditional digital marketing items like blogs, whitepapers, and even transcripts are essential elements of your content library. They’re hardly the only types of content that belong there, though. Other types of media can be just as valuable.
Take videos. Did you know that Oberlo statistics suggest 91% of consumers are eager to get their hands and eyes on more branded video content? If you’re not producing video content as part of your curated collection, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity. The same goes for content in the form of imagery, such as infographics, slideshows, and charts.
If you’re worried that you’ll be spending too much time producing all this extra content, think again. It’s often simpler to get more mileage out of a single piece of content than you might assume. One blog post containing statistics could be spun into an informative graph, a topic-adjacent video “teaser”, or a bulleted PowerPoint presentation. Rather than reinventing the wheel, you just squeeze a little more juice from content you’ve previously invested in.
4. Add some outsider media to your curated content.
There’s nothing that says your organization’s content has to all come from internal sources. Outsider pieces like recently published journalistic writings, industry-related deep dives, and YouTube or Vimeo videos can be included as resources. Truth be told, they can help motivate leads by providing objective, third-party viewpoints.
Pretend you’re trying to close a deal with a qualified prospect. You’re not having much luck, so you go to your centralized repository of curated content. After a little searching, you discover a recently published piece from The New York Times that you believe would nudge your prospect closer to conversion. You compose an email, send the link to the article, and ask to schedule a follow-up meeting.
The point here is that you don’t have to depend only on your staffers to produce all your curated content. In fact, having content from diverse places can sometimes be the best way to add credibility to your company’s position. Even content like user-generated reviews that talk about your competition can have a positive impact depending on the situation.
Does it take time to aggregate a library of curated content? Sure. You’ll never regret making it part of your overall marketing strategy, though. The first time you’re able to move the needle on a sale or educate a new hire with curated content, you’ll be glad you added “librarian” to your title.
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