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This piece is from Convince&Convert, I selected it because it addresses a challenge that those of us who create or curate content face on a daily basis - how do we make our content socialable? Here's an excerpt: We know how difficult it can be to find balance between intrigue and usefulness. We understand that it is much easier to talk about or simply develop a tool than it is to create a talkable tool. Meanwhile, there is a realization that we need to develop a hybrid content marketing solution – one that is social and has substance. Socialable content has to invite discussion, create a call to action, while informing people.
Here are some highlights: Give your content youtility: **Answer common questions. Does your website have a FAQ section? **Why not translate that into useful, shareable content? **Ask your consumer base what they need. What better way to find out what appeals to your customers than simply asking them. Make Your Content Talkable: **Make your content human. Sometimes utilities can fall flat if we don’t offer a way to show how they can and have impacted others **Provide testimonials and attach real stories to your utilities so your audience can identify with their purpose. **Add bits of entertainment, humor, fun. Is your content just boring? **Give it elements that people would actually want to share and talk about. Simply add the ability to share. Creating something useful is more than half the battle. Often times, we just forget to let our audience spread the word. **Allow and encourage your customers to share. **By combining the effects of content that is worthy of chatter and extremely useful, we can create a harmonious content marketing program. **Above all, try to avoid creating drab content that lacks both utility and appeal.
Reviewed by Jan Gordon covering "Curation, Social Business and Beyond"
Read full article here: [http://bit.ly/PH5oR9]
[Nice analysis by Jan Gordon - JD]
Via janlgordon
Curation was the word on marketers’ lips earlier this year. This report from Altimeter in March confirmed “Curation is taking over the digital content scene.” In recent weeks that’s given way to “visual content” as the trending topic. As CMO.com said in August: “Two years ago, marketers were spreading the maxim that “content is king,” but now, it seems, “a picture really is worth a thousand words”. So now the question is how to bring curation and visual content together in ways that attract your target audience and achieve your measurable goals. Here are 4 examples of successful visual curation and tips on how to go about it. [Useful tips on visual curation - JD]
Via Liz Wilson
Thinking about curating a topic? Wish you could publish your theme in a magazine that looks great without design or technology issues? I may have the solution for you. It’s called Zeen. It’s a magazine discovery and creation platform that’s brand new and now in beta testing. At first glance, it’s an attractive tool for curators, content producers and PR pros. I expect to see some very creative applications for this content tool as it gets discovered. My thanks to curation guru Robin Good for the tip. With the proliferation of curation tools, it’s getting harder to differentiate between them and choose the best one. That’s why I was so pleased to come across Zeen. [Very cool PR & curation tool. Check it out! JD]
Services are becoming personalised as they compete to provide algorithms and editors to aid content discovery across platforms... There's nothing new about curating the news and aggregating content. It's always been part of the role of journalism, selecting and presenting information, and editors have always done it. It's the highly visual presentation across new platforms (specifically mobile), the social integration and algorithms that allow for greater personalisation, and the mix of old-fashioned editorial discovery that defines aggregation and curation today.... [Excellent overview of latest news aggregation tools - JD]
Content curation is an essential strategy for navigating the web but is it right for every business? I recently attended a conference where a major financial institution proudly displayed its new automated content curation system. Basically, their answer to the content marketing dilemma every company is facing is to use an outside company to skim off the best financial-services content around the web and present it on their site as a value-added customer service. On the surface, this seems like a very elegant solution. I mean, why spend the time and money to create original content when you can curate unlimited content from the web and present it as your own customer portal? An intoxicating idea. This is a popular trend but it is also problematic because it flies in the face of other marketing considerations …
There are many varying opinions of curation, but what most people don't realize is that they curating information every day. Adding commentary to content, however, is what establishes the difference between curation and simply sharing. Scoop.it aims to create a place where you can share all of your content while adding your own commentary, and then push this content to all of your different social media presences. This is where the value of curation truly lies.
[Ardath Albee offers a helpful curation POV - JD
Via Ally Greer
Some sobering news from Google on the perils of posting content. Good thing we offer alternatives. ...Google’s head of webspam, Matt Cutts, released a video recently about websites reposting content from other sites. Essentially, he explains why it isn’t beneficial to aggregate content that originates elsewhere, despite it being a common practice. Instead, it is better to focus on creating original, relevant content. Not only is his feedback important for search marketers, but also key for public relations professionals that manage site content. Sites with blogs, RSS, or keyword aggregators or press rooms—that might, for example, repost press releases to their sites—with the goal of yielding a high amount of traffic to those sections may be doing more damage than good to their search rank.... [Great reminder for curators to add original content and value - JD]
One of our most popular posts is 30+ Cool Content Curation Tools, which is a great list of over 30 different tools that will help your discover, share and... curate content for your blog, website or social media presence. Our readers have left a lot of great suggestions in the comment section for additional curation tools and resources, and it seems more new tools crop up every week. So today we’re back with another huge list of content curation tools that includes some old favorites (like Google Reader, that we somehow overlooked on our original list…shame on us!), new players that have surged in popularity since the last time we published a list like this (hello, Pinterest!) as well as some up and coming curation sites and platforms....
Content marketing can be an extremely complicated, time-consuming, and expensive proposition! So I came up with content options for the time-starved! So I started thinking about this in the context of my friends and small business customers who simply can’t afford that kind of effort. It led to this idea: micro-content, or creating small bits of marketing content when you don’t have time to blog, create videos or spend all day on Facebook. Let’s examine ideas about using micro-content for your social media strategy, assuming you are testing the water and only have 15 minutes a day to devote to this activity. Hey, I’m up for a challenge!... [An excellent post and resource from Mark Schaefer - JD]
Intel Launches Curated Site - Interview with Luke Kintigh, Managing Editor... Recently Intel launched a curated site, iQ, that focuses on providing readers with an ongoing stream of curated content. I interviewed Luke Kintigh, iQ Managing Editor and Social Media Strategist at Intel to get some insider information on the site, why they chose curation and how they envision the site in the future....
Tweet Tweet We all want it…that top spot on the search rankings. And the sites that are getting those top spots are sites that publish fresh, relevant content frequently. This is where content curation comes in. With the right strategy and the right tools you can deliver the right kind of content that your audience wants and search engines love…in half the time. Let’s first look at what content curation is and some of the benefits behind it.... [Neil Patel also includes a great list of curation tools - JD]
Hard to believe. But 95% of all marketers are now curating third-party content, Curata reports. Content curation, the practice of finding and sharing online content, is now being used by almost all marketers, according to a survey by Curata (formerly HiveFire). Of 400 firms surveyed, 95% had curated content in the last six months. And 100% of the non-curators had, in fact, shared articles or blog posts with prospects in the same period, Curata found. Of the active curators, 45% share content daily, 33% weekly and 21% monthly. Agencies are more active than non-agencies. Why go to the trouble of pushing third-party content? The main reason is thought leadership—that answer was given by 85%, compared with 79% last year. Next are branding (80%) and SEO (65%)....
With the help of Pinterest and other consumer-oriented companies, content curation – the process of finding, organizing and sharing online content – has gone mainstream. More and more people are looking to content curation to help them navigate today’s chaotic online world. But it’s not only consumers that are benefitting. Curata’s 2012 Content Curation Adoption Survey of more than 400 marketers found that the vast majority are utilizing content curation as a key component of their content marketing strategy. In fact, 95 percent of respondents said they have curated content in the past six months – though some did so unknowingly, as they were not familiar with the term. Why all this buzz around content curation? What is driving the adoption of the practice?...
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What are some tips for creating your own original content from content you curate on the web? Last week while on a business trip, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman seated next to me on the plane (who also happened to be a tech marketer) about content curation and how difficult it can be at times to keep up with the barrage of information flowing through the Web. We discussed all of the curation tools available, what we liked and didn’t like about them and successful ways to organize consistent, timely, and relevant information updates to our respective communities that kept them active and engaged. During the discussion I asked him what he thought was the key to successful curation that helps a marketer create their own meaningful, innovative content. After all, successful content curation requires the right mix of original content to help maximize SEO potential. “Learn how to be an intellectual thief,” he said.... [5 useful content curation tips and none involve theft LOL - JD ]
After Google’s crack down of microsites and thin sites, building an authority site becomes very daunting to many affiliate marketers and small businesses. [This is an excellent overview of curation, resources and toolos. Valuable reading for curators, PR and content pros - JD]
Via Ana Cristina Pratas
The Content Marketing Institute is the leading resource for content marketing strategy and "how-to" advice/research for the content marketing industry. This free e-book is a terrific resource and a must-read for content producers, marketers, storytellers and PR pros. It features 100 excellent examples in quick to read format. Here's a sample to whet your appetite: 8 Nike Better World Microsite Company: Nike
Originally featured in: Fab 15 Content Marketing Projects by Jeremy Victor Description:
The Nike Better World microsite uses HTML5 to present content in a hip storyboard-style that amasses all the goodness of the brand and delivers it in an unusual, scrolling format. Best of all? The attention-grabbing “Better World” video is made from “100% recycled advertising.” How green is that?” Example: Visit the microsite What is a Microsite?
A microsite concentrates on a narrow topic or issue, featuring rich content developed by the sponsoring brand itself. Correctly executed, the microsite creates a gathering place that positions the brand as a contributing member of the community. To see five more examples of microsites done well, check out the “How to Develop a Microsite” blog post by Joe Pulizzi. You can get your free copy here for a simple email sign up: http://bit.ly/H4cuv1
Robin Good: Steve Buttry, who has already written several articles on content curation (see the end of his original article), just published this in-depth essay celebrating the launch of a new curation team at Digital First Media and pointing to many of the critical factors neeeded for a content / news curator to be effective. He covers a lot ground while giving a particular emphasis to the importance of linking and attribution. He writes: "Where you can’t learn much about the source of content you’re curating, consider crowdsourcing the question: Note the name and organization, tell readers what you’ve found and that you’re continuing research and ask them what they know about the source. Where the source of online content is unclear, you should be clear about what you know and where you found the material." and... "Sometimes the name of a person or organization is not sufficient attribution. If the person or organization is not well-known, do a little research (Google will provide quick answers in many cases; sometimes an “about us” page will help). Especially in political content, you want to note whether you are linking to partisan sources. A liberal or conservative think tank or political action committee is an entirely different kind of source from a professional media outlet or an independent fact-checking site." Steve Buttry also includes some valuable key guidelines on "how to add value" when curating content and suggests several types of curation approaches that can be used in the newsroom. Good advice on curation and practical tips. 8/10 Full article: http://stevebuttry.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/curation-techniques-types-and-tips/ (Image credit: Shutterstock http://tinyurl.com/crw65b4)
Via Robin Good, Giuseppe Mauriello
What does PR have to do with curation? Curation offers PR strategists two critical assets: intelligence and discovery. Search engine results get more polluted every day by spam, localization, personalization and marketing, resulting in a decrease in value and an increase in search frustration....
As Therese Torris explains on this blog post: "there is more smart content online than anybody could ever read". So that's why she decided to embrace curation rather than contributing to the "ongoing content inflation". Her post is very complete and articulates very well how brands can leverage it to make it an efficient Content Marketing Strategy: "Content curation help brands increase their visibility and their customer engagment." If you're trying to place Curation among your other Content Marketing efforts, this is an interesting read. [Valuable perspective on curation - JD]
Via Guillaume Decugis
It's the smartest calendar available—and the latest way to outsource your memory... 63,000 words of new information every day. That’s about the length of a novel. The cascade comes in the form of e-mails, tweets, Facebook (FB) updates, and a zillion further ways we consume data these days. “If you had this crazy idea and wanted to read everything you got in 2011,” says Robby Walker, who calculated the words-per-day statistic, “it would take you the first three months of 2012.” Walker is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Greplin, which in 2011 built an iPhone app to help people make sense of this morass. Users could connect the app to their e-mail and social-media accounts, and Greplin provided one search box to rule them all. You’d never have to remember whether that birthday party invitation came via e-mail or a Facebook message or a Google (GOOG) Calendar invite—just Greplin it. Starting today, Greplin has a new, more accessible name—Cue—and an ambitious update to its app that works much harder at saving those drowning in information. The vision of Walker and co-founder Daniel Gross is for Cue to be the first thing you check in the morning and the app you return to throughout the day to “find out what’s next,” as the tagline puts it....
I curated and posted this a few months ago but feel it's relevant and timely today. (What brought this to mind was another important article written by Axel Schultze, which I have commented on below. Here's what I said about Gideon Rosenblatt's post. This is one of those gems that I love to share. It was written by Gideon Rosenblatt in response to an earlier article written by Eli Pariser, "The Filter Bubble", which is about the way algorithms (based on our personal searches) affect the results that are returned to us, as a result, we're not seeing the whole picture. "Computer algorithms aren't the only thing contributing to the 'Internet Filter Bubble." **In the world of the information networker, curating content is only half the game. The other half is curating the curators. **In that power to choose our connections, rests our ultimate power to reshape our information filter bubbles and radically improve our perception of reality. **Who we choose to connect with in our social networks deeply affects our ability to see a diversity of information. My takeaway from this is that whereas technology may restrict the results returned to us by search engines, the other, and perhaps more important half of the equation is controlled by us! It is well documented that we are more likely to influenced by our circle of friends and associates than by anything else that we may find (or that may find us!). By effectively curating our circles of influence, we increase the value of this ever important means of discovery and therefore of our entire online experience. **This in turn can make us far more effective and informative consumers as well as curators, when we widen our own circles. Great article by Axel Schultze CEO of xee.me "Why SEO will Be Gone in 5 to 10 Years" as he talks about "Relationships and Recommendations Soon More Valuable Than SEO" (Robin Good) Jan Gordon: "Here's what caught my attention: Axel: As long as people search for a product not knowing their name or a technology, not knowing its source or a solution not knowing who is a potential supplier SEO is an important part of the marketing mix... However, this is slowly and steadily changing. **Today 60 – 80% of the so called educated purchase decision is based on recommendations by trusted individuals or groups that have no or no significant interest in the sale but helpful and experienced people using or knowing the product or service in need. And the number of recommendation based purchases is steadily growing. I'm sure it will hit the 80 – 90% range in the next 5 to 10 years. Now – what does that mean to SEO? Why should a business invest in search engine optimization if most of the purchase decisions are based on recommendations? Wouldn't it be smarter to invest into the "recommendation chain" instead in SEO? Wouldn't it be more effective and successful to make sure people recommend a product than hoping to come up higher in the list of search results?" Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond" Read the full article: http://bit.ly/AxRrEr Via janlgordon Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond" Image by Istockphoto from an article by Social Media Examiner Read the full article: [http://bit.ly/AxRrEr]
Via janlgordon, k3hamilton, juandoming
Recent stats on Facebook engagement, Google+, content curation, social media metrics, brand advocacy... We’re certainly words people, but communications professionals agree that statistics are key to adding credibility to any initiative. Here are some of the latest and greatest in statistics to keep in mind for your next digital project in content curation, social business, Facebook engagement, Google+ or brand advocacy....
...Let’s be clear, for the sake of argument, about some definitions here. I’m not in this instance talking about taking someone else’s content and repurposing it in some manner on another site. So this isn’t about a story that first appeared on the New York Times’ site and rewording a couple sentences before posting essentially the same story on another site. The “curation” I’m talking about is taking links to stories, posts, photos and other material and linking to it from a platform like Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr. And that’s something that doesn’t need to be controversial since it’s simply all about telling a story.
I’ve been pondering Matthew Ingram’s post about blowing up the concept of the news article for several days and how it relates not just to journalism but also corporate publishing programs. Specifically I’ve been focusing on where he makes the point that increasingly the model that works best is “small pieces, loosely joined.” That’s where the idea of curation comes in since it’s those smaller pieces that curation fills in....
[Excellent read for all curators and wanna-be curators - JD]
Yes, curation wouldn't exist without creation, admits Mark Armstrong, the founder of Longreads and also a team member of Pocket. But, he goes on, there are interesting questions - and perhaps more even more interesting answers - that highlights the value of Curation. As he concludes, every one is a curator - a claim we won't disagree with at Scoop.it : "There is no “us vs. them.” There’s only “we.” So we should all start working harder to have some constructive conversations about how we improve the model."
Via Guillaume Decugis
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