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Curating quality content is one of the most effective ways to keep your customers and clients engaged and add value to your relationship. And the best part is that it doesn’t need to take a lot time to show them you know and care about their needs.

Most content curators – businesses or bloggers – create their own content from a variety of sources, typically something they’ve read, seen or heard on the internet. The most common way to share whatever you’re curating is to use a link to the article, video clip, podcast…whatever, and then add your commentary.

Your commentary is the key to your success. Instead of just sharing information, you’re giving it depth, and that’s what makes it “curated.” You are telling your community why you believe this information is important for them – and anyone they know who has that same interest or need. Your knowledge and perspective add value. Merely sharing a link is not really curating content.

Content to curate can come from anywhere. If you provide healthcare services, for example, you are likely to find information about the conditions you treat – say a new drug that your patients might learn about from a TV ad – or some study that makes news. You can share that information and tell your patients what you believe are the strong truths – or strong myths – about the article you are citing and passing along. By the way, it doesn’t need to be an article from a journal, newspaper or general magazine. It can be a TV news clip, a radio news clip, something from a newsletter, a podcast…

The same idea can apply to law firms, accounting firms and financial planners, though you should always be mindful of professional standards and rules and regulations that govern your communications with clients.

If you have a consumer business, you can look at all sorts of content. If you have a restaurant or food-related business, you might want to talk about seasonal items or pass along recipes that relate to the customers you want to attract. If you have a clothing store, you’ll to pass along fashion trends and how they relate to your customers (and your inventory). An auto-parts store can find a wealth of seasonal and year-round tips to pass along. Just add value and a personal touch. You only need a few sentences or a few paragraphs to put your perspective on it.

Once you have your content, you have numerous, highly interconnected channels to get the word out:

• Post it as a blog on your website – and if it’s appropriate, refer readers to a specific page on your site so they can take some specific action. One advantage to a blog post is that you can cite multiple sources in one place. This will give your readers more perspective and let them know you do your homework when you tell them something.
• Post a link to the curated content with your own very short comment on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media you use.
• Send an eblast to your customer/client list that includes the link and why you believe it’s important to them. You can also provide a call to action and direct them to a specific page on your website.
• Compile your blogs into a monthly newsletter that you can also post on your website. If you have links to earlier blogs or newsletters, that will help you reinforce your messages – and keep readers on your site longer.

We highly encourage you to be yourself when you curate content, but maintain your professionalism:

• Provide accurate links and attribution for all of the information you pass along.
• Make sure you spell all words correctly and have good syntax – because nothing discredits you faster than sloppiness or confusion about what you’re saying.

You can form a partnership with NicheLabs for curating content. You know what’s important to tell your clients and customers – and why. We know how to prepare and distribute your message across all communications channels, and we can act as your second set of eyes to make sure your message is on point and all words are spelled correctly.

We can help you with the big picture, too, by developing an overall marketing strategy that ties your content curation to your website, SEO and all channels of marketing communications. Call us at 888-978-9254, or send us an email using our website contact form. An expanded website, news coverage, advertising and a granular SEO program can help expand your universe. We love to talk about marketing, best practices for SEO programs, brand messaging and content strategy.