We all know, “Content is the king” but why?

Why does content have such significance in marketing strategies whether online or offline?

Think of it like this; brands are mute when it comes to expressing their ideas, philosophies, Brand stories, products or services, etc. With great content these brands get the voice to be heard by their audience. It is the power of content that helps businesses generate leads, create brand awareness, mold their brand image far and wide and much more.

That raises the question, “What is the key to a successful content marketing strategy?

The answer is simple, you need to learn to balance between Content Creation and Content Curation.

40% Created Content : 60% Curated Content

It is a misconception that both are the same. In this blog, let us throw light on each of these ideas to be able to comprehend the difference.

Content Creation

As the name suggests, it refers to the creation of original content that is intuitive, engaging, refreshing and authentic. Though this may sound beguiling, creating brand new content on a regular basis is a challenge.

For content creators, the inspiration may come from varied sources such as stakeholders, new products or variants, new policies, an event or just about anything.

Upon defining the goal of the content, you need to determine the best approach to make it go live. You need to ensure that the piece of content reaches the audience, engages them, adds value and compels them to act upon your goal.

Benefits of Content Creation

Higher chances of conversion

Some reports suggest that original content has a 54% higher conversion rate than shared content. The average click-to-conversion rate is 2.4%. This percentage makes a huge difference in the cosmic digital ecosystem. As for any business, conversion is the key to success hence stressing on organic material is inevitable.

Gain more traffic

It is known that authentic content does well on the SERP (Search Engine Result Pages) of any search engine. If the data published is original, engaging and relevant then it can help brands enjoy a swarm of visitors.

Mold brand image

The content reflects your brand; its core values, its journey, its processes and its vision. Curated content can never justify brand image because it simply does not use its own language. With the right tone and words, creators can create or mold a brand image that leaves a lasting impression on the viewer’s mind.

Drawbacks of Content Creation 

It is time-consuming

Creating a matter that is inspiring and lucrative requires time and a lot of brainstorming. Just having dedicated resources does not mean you can pour a stream of content continuously. The creative process takes its own time to be effective and purposeful.

Requires resources

For an individual professional writer to produce brand new content back to back is unimaginable. Deploying more workforce will add to the operational expenses of a brand.

Content Curation

As mentioned above, creating original content frequently is not easy even for large businesses with dedicated content teams. Hence, evolved the idea of content curation.

Content Curation is the process of gathering, organizing and attractively presenting only the most relevant and useful bits of content. Many believe that curating content is not legal, however, it is a fallacy. As long as you give credit to the original creator or publisher of the content, it is legal to curate content.

Curation can be broken down into the following steps:

Assimilation

The first step involves gathering data from different sources that are relevant to your brand and engages your audience.

Filtration

Since, not all content is worth publishing, you need to filter the best pieces and segregate them.

Segregation

Based on the type of content such as blog, podcast, video or so, you need to decide on the channel on which you will publish it.

Presentation

Once, groundwork is complete you can creatively accumulate the content and publish it on the right platforms.

Benefits of Content Curation

Saves a lot of time

The obvious benefit of content curation is time-saving. For content writers handling multiple accounts this approach keeps them afloat on the ocean of content.

Build strong relationships

In the process of curation, brands get the opportunity to build healthy relationships with peers as well as brand followers. It is often seen as a passive way of branding wherein, brands share valuable information without promoting themselves directly. This in turn increases brand goodwill.

Know the taste of your audience

In the digital world, just acquiring an audience is not enough; you need to keep them engaged. For new entrants, this requires some testing and experimenting. Curated content works best in the initial phase of online exposure of any brand. Once you have determined what content drives the most engagement you can employ professionals to produce such content on a regular basis to keep your followers glued to your brand.

Drawbacks of Content Curation

You need to be cautious of the source of content 

For the sake of your brand image, it is important to consider the source of the content you refer to. Unsolicited content or the history of the origin of information can cause damage to your reputation.

Representing brand voice is difficult

Each business speaks in its own tone that may or may not align with that of yours. Hence, you need to dig deep into a brand before extracting its content.

Final Verdict

The answer to which of these types of content is better is – both! There needs to be a harmonious relationship between the two. Content creation and curation cannot replace each other but rather work hand in hand.

Remember these points to create your right 60/40 mix:

• Emphasize curated content for your social media platform to balance your self-promotional content and fill in the gaps.
• Based on expertise and reputation, curate content only from high-quality sources.
• Be consistent with your 60/40 pattern in order to expand and retain your online community.
• Finally, don’t simply copy and paste. Curation does not mean duplication. It’s best recommended making curated content attractive for your viewers.

This may not be as easy as it sounds for many. Fret not! At Digital Upstarts, we breathe content and craft the best strategies to aid in accomplishing brand goals. If you want to draw more eyeballs to your online business, just drop us an email at [email protected].

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