To put it plainly, curation is the gathering, organizing and online presentation of content in order to gain a specific response. It has been suggested that the need to curate is part of the human nature. To collect and arrange things in a visually pleasing manner, always looking for something new to refresh and complete our collections.
Image sourced from – http://www.toprankblog.com/2013/02/content-curation-best-practices/
With the World heading very much technological and digitally social, curation no longer involves keeping collections to ourselves. Social networking sites allow us to post, display and collect content from individuals with the same interests and knowledge on specific topics from around the web.
“Just as individuals naturally curate, so do publishers. As Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute explains: “Content curation has been around since the dawn of the publishing industry. The job of the editor was to take the best information from around their industry and present that information in a manner that makes sense to readers.” ” – http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/2013/jul/16/content-marketing
The initial idea of content curation is to allow brands to provide an area which consumers can return to time and time again for information and consistent updates on a specific topic. By creating this environment, brands can gain what is known as an impartial authority by providing more than their own views and content. This is beneficial as it lowers any mistrust from consumers who may suspect they are being sold to unwillingly. Your company can appear more trustworthy when it posts from third parties as well as your own.
Publishing has become sufficiently utilized by brands, the benefits of content curation should be investigated more. The articles being posted online average at around 2 million per day. An example of successful curation is Pepsi Pulse. It curates a mixture of currently recognized pop cultures, original content (such as celebrity competitions and deals) with a mixture of entertainment news.
“iQ — a technology-focussed magazine created by IT company Intel, features a mix of original reporting by Intel employees alongside curated content from the likes of Mashable. By adopting this content blend of differing voices of employees and non-employees, Intel can foster and maintain its image as a top technology provider, without seeming contrived or biased.” – http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/2013/jul/16/content-marketing
Content curation also eliminates the financial burdens that come with content market programs. An added bonus is the increase of reducing the risk in the curation process from content marketing platforms. They filtered the information to determine which is appropriate or inappropriate to publish. This improves the simplicity of curation and dissolves the assumption that curation would be too time consuming.
Overall content curation can be hugely beneficial to brands who realize how important being an online authoritative source of information, for an audience to regularly visit, can be. In a world full of fast moving success and failures content curation is a great way to help prolong the life and reputation of a brand.