What is Social Content Curation vs. Creation?

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Video Transcript | Intro

Shared content can be categorized into two main categories: Curated, which is content gathered from trusted sources relevant to your industry, and Created, which is content produced within your organization.

For most organizations, content marketing on Social Media involves a mix of these two types. While the ideal ratio will vary by industry and organization, a good rule of thumb is to share 40% created and 60% curated content, making adjustments to this ratio as you discover what resonates best with your audience.

Created content includes items like blog articles, white papers, infographics, guides, and visuals produced by your organization, as well as the accompanying text of social messages. Even if your organization has a team dedicated to creating branded social content, the social media team should still produce channel-specific content, such as Facebook Live shoots, Instagram photos, Snapchat Stories, and Tweets.

There are many benefits to sharing created content on your social channels, but the most valuable is that it allows you to position your organization as a thought leader, with unique insight, knowledge, and perspective. 

Created content is also better for driving conversions and traffic to your website, especially when the call-to-action is clear and the accompanying copy is also providing value. If there are important product launches or announcements in your organization, make sure that your social team works directly with the rest of the marketing team to help them create assets that will spread the news more effectively.

Social media is not just a megaphone for your branded, internally created content. Organizations may find that that sharing only created content results in minimal engagement. Curated content is a great way to grow your audience and demonstrate your company’s position as a trusted advisor in your industry. Curating content from trusted sources provides your audience with a diversity of viewpoints and helps balance out the self-promotional content you’re sharing. 

A practical benefit of curated content is that it requires little in the way of resources, which can be helpful for organizations that don’t have a dedicated content team. It can also be a great way to build new relationships within your industry while positioning your brand as being “in the know”. When choosing content for curation, think carefully about whether it’s valuable to your audience, and ensure it aligns with the personas you’re trying to target and the values your organization espouses.

Looking for more? Checkout our blog for our full guide on content curation.