Original Content Vs Curated Content: Which Is More Valuable?

A well-balanced content marketing strategy always includes two core parts:

• Content creation
• Content curation

Both of these content ensure a consistent content flow to your brand-owned marketing channels.

Which of the two is more valuable, and how should they be implemented into overall content management?

What makes this question unique is that it isn’t limited to any one platform. Original versus curated content is as relevant to blogs as it is to social networks, for example. It can be asked by marketers, webmasters, bloggers, and business owners alike. The answer is also not so cut and dry as selecting which holds the most benefit for any one person.

The truth is, both are highly valuable, and both have their place in the scheme of things. 

It is more about finding the right combination of the two.

Original Content

It should be obvious why original content is important. You are creating something new and unique, that can be identified under your brand, business or personal. When that content is curated by others, it furthers your scope and visibility. 

This, in turn, has benefits such as increasing traffic, solidifying your reputation as an expert in your field, and expanding your social presence.

Content should be created for all different sources of your brand. That means blogs, business sites, guest posts on other sites, your social networks, and so on. Likewise, different types of content should be made, from text posts to images, and even infographics or videos. Anything you can make that is unique will have a positive impact.

The downside to this is that the creation of content takes a great deal of time and energy. You need fresh ideas, platforms to release it on, and sometimes a piece might not get the attention you have hoped. 

Indeed, there is no method for reaching viral status that anyone can pinpoint. It is just a matter of quality versus timing, and very often a complete fluke.

The only way to achieve results from your content creation process is to have a clear strategy: Why is your brand investing in content creation? What is it you want to achieve and what’s your higher-level plan?

Knowing answers to these questions will help you get focused and only spend time and energy on content that fits your plan. Text Optimizer is a great tool to help you create a well-informed content creation strategy. The tool uses semantic analysis to cluster your main topic into concepts and subtopics your target audience is researching online:

Curated Content

On the other hand, there is curated content. This is work created by someone else and reposted or collected by you. With full rights to the person who made it, you are able to piggyback on the success of that content, while giving them the added benefits of visibility by sharing them out. So it is a mutual relationship that many choose to foster.

Most commonly, you see curation on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Sharing a link in a status update could be content curation. So could pinning something to your board. Or just retweeting an amusing or relevant comment that is relevant to your industry.

The benefits of content curation are less direct but more continuous than in creating your own work. You can quickly share items throughout the day, and that gives you regular results. But they are going to be fleeting, like a quick injection of activity. You also run the risk of sending them elsewhere, rather than getting them to stick around.

You need to have a balance of both unique and curated content to get the best possible results.

There are many ways to curate content including:

• Share a link on your social media profile
• Use Flipboard to collect all your links in one place and update your followers on a regular basis
• Use Paper.li to tweet your selected links automatically
• Create an email digest to send out on a regular basis and keep your subscribers updated on the recent trends and useful resources. Here are a few examples of business email newsletters that are done particularly well.
• Set up a branded hashtag to collect your customer reviews and publicize them across multiple channels
• Create video slideshows featuring your curated content
• Create social media graphics based on what someone said or researched. Creatopy is a great tool for that because you can create one graphic and then resize it easily to fit any of your social media channels!

[An example of visual creation through Creatopy]

Content curation can be the driving source behind creating your own interest-based micro-community which, according to Megaphone Marketing, is the future of social media:

The shift to private social networking isn’t just about DMs, it includes Facebook Groups – now numbering more than 620 million niche groups and showing no signs of slowing down – that can be set to public, private, or secret and allows strangers to build communities around shared interests.

How Much Of Each?

There is no magic number. No matter who you ask, they are always going to say that it is dependent on the case. 

One thing is for sure, you should be posting regular original content on all of your social platforms, from your blog to your pages and profiles. This could be several times a month, or several times a week. The latter is probably going to be more beneficial.

As for curated content, you should also do this regularly, but not so much as to overpower your original work. A couple of posts a day at each account should give you a good groove to work on.

When you are curating content, always cite your sources and tag them on social media accounts. Apart from being ethical, this tactic helps build strong connections with creators!

The most important way to find that balance is through collecting data. Watch the analytics for all accounts and sites, and adjust accordingly. 

Monitor the activity of users, such as how often they visit the page, read the content you post, and when that activity drops off or surges. That provides the information you need to create an informed and decisive plan of action.

It all comes down to how well you integrate your calls-to-action into your content creation and curation tactics. 

Whenever you are publishing anything on your on- and off-site channels, think about what you’d like your audience to do upon reading this (and clicking a link). Experiment with different kinds of engagement methods including web push notifications, conversational forms and AI-based chatbots.

Finteza is an on-site web analytics suite that will help you identify your best-working content creation and curation tactics to focus on what brings results:

Conclusion

Content curation and content creation are both powerful strategies that can drive your brand’s growth. Create your strategy and experiment with all kinds of formats and frequencies. Good luck!

A note from Denise… I’m curious, what type of content do you post most: original content or curated content? Let us know the comments below!

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