Many people have many misconceptions about content curation.

The biggest misconception is that you just have to find content that relates to your industry, put it in a post, and schedule it.

All too often I come across people that don’t even think they need to produce their own content.

They feel that there’s already enough online to share. They also feel they get the same benefits with content curation as they would sharing their own unique content.

It’s unfortunate these misconceptions exist because they really downplay the value and importance of content curation – done the right way.

And yes, there is a right way to do it. When you curate content the right way, it’s possible to have amazing benefits – much more than anyone would ever be able to get when compared to the way most people use it.

Content Curation Begins with Your Content

You know your audience best. Most other people, even those in your industry, do not have the same exact audience you do.

Those differences in audience have an effect when marketing on social media, and marketing in general really. That’s why it’s important to start with your own content.

From publishing your own content to writing product descriptions, you are tailoring it to the unique needs of your audience. You have the opportunity to set them up to really love what you have to share with them.

In addition to that, you start to learn what your audience loves, and what they aren’t too fond of on social media. You’ll see that by noticing the likes, comments, and shares you receive from your posts.

Once you have a good idea of what your audience enjoys on social media, you’ll want to give those people more of what they love. Publishing multiple blog posts on your site is probably not in your list of top priorities. You run a business after all, so you need to tend to other tasks.

So instead of trying to get 5 or more posts up on your blog a day just to keep your audience engaged and happy, you may turn to other sites and the content they publish. That’s when content curation comes into play.

In a sense, everyone is a curator.

Finding the Needles in the Haystack

The Internet is a haystack. The hay is all of the articles that have been and are published every day. The needles are the articles that are perfect for your audience.

That means you must sift through all the hay (articles) on the Internet to find the ones that will “stick” to your audience. This means you should really do your content marketing research.

That isn’t always easy – if you curate content right.

It’s important to read articles you want to post on social media. Sometimes, you may come across information you don’t want your audience to think you endorse. You also might find something that won’t make your audience happy or motivated to share it with their followers.

These are situations you want to avoid and are surely reasons to screen the content you share.

When you find a few pieces of content to share, it’s important to know when the best times are to share them. Think about the activities that are accomplished in the morning, afternoon and evening, and match the content to them.

They will have more of an impact if you can display the information at the right time.

Publish, Curate, Repeat Daily

Don’t get the impression that once you know what your audience wants, you can just stop publishing unique content. From your audience’s perspective, your words are much more favored than someone else’s.

You will usually find more engagement when you publish something that’s yours rather than when you publish someone else’s content. Overall, you may want to take some time to create your own content marketing strategy.

After you publish something of your own, you can move on to finding the day’s best content for your audience. Yesterday’s content may work, but know that people want fresh content these days. They don’t want to see something they already saw a few days ago. Search daily for the best that’s out there and your followers will thank you. That’s the way to content curation right.

Aggregators for Content Curation

Aggregators are content curation tools and they are great. Find one you like and stick with it. It will publish your content for you, so you don’t have to be on social media all day every day. It will maximize the effectiveness of your social media marketing and save you a ton of time and effort.

How do you do content curation? What are your tips?