Digital marketing has been growing at an amazing rate since its inception back in 1990, and that growth is expected to continue. The benefits of strong digital marketing are almost endless—from customer loyalty to brand awareness and everything in between.
Creating awesome content can be quite tough. Add to that the option to choose between content creation and content curation and it’s no wonder even expert marketers are left feeling somewhat lost.
In this article, we’ll discuss these two important digital marketing elements for a better understanding of how they work and why every business needs them. We’ll also look at how to strike a good balance between curation and creation.
Understanding Content Curation
Consumers rely more and more on digital content to make decisions when it comes to their spending. As such, businesses can’t deny the importance of creating content that will successfully attract their target audience and keep them hooked.
For this reason, content curation may not seem like a good idea because it’s assumed this kind of content isn’t focused the way original content is. If you find your content from reliable sources, it can be just as good as the content you create yourself.
Curated content is ideal for small business owners or marketers who don’t have a lot of time. The right content curation strategies can increase website traffic and help boost rankings quite effectively. It’s also a good way to show your audience that you’re more than a company trying to get people to buy your product or use your service.
Understanding Content Creation
Content creation is the foundation of most businesses’ marketing strategies. It’s made specifically for unique target audiences and with many different goals in mind. To build a brand voice that truly resonates with your audience, you need to have original content that represents your brand.
Creating original content can take many forms, like making helpful YouTube guides, writing thought-provoking articles, or or conducting thorough product assessments.
This Mattress guide from Eachnight is a prime example for content creation. This guide covers a wide range of topics, including product comparisons, mattress types and their characteristics, mattress sizes, sleeping positions, specific requirements, and more. As you can tell, it requires creativity, expertise, and often a significant amount of time and effort to create such content.
Original content created for your business enhances your brand authenticity and has SEO-related benefits, which is something no digital marketing campaign can afford to neglect. Creating content yourself will help you build trust with your audience and connect on a deeper level.
Any original topics you can discuss, ideas for marketing campaigns, and even social media posts you create yourself are considered your own content. It offers you a chance to speak directly to your audience and instill faith while establishing credibility.
The Wins and Losses of Content Curation
Content curation isn’t just a rosy path of finding nice content to share with your audience. There are several benefits and drawbacks to the process and knowing them will help you make good decisions.
Win: Saves Time
Content curation doesn’t suck up nearly as much time as creating original content does. You’ll find it easier to create and maintain a consistent content schedule and focus on other aspects of your marketing strategies.
Win: Builds Relationships
With curated content, you can build relationships within your company’s industry. By sharing the content of professionals in the industry, you’re effectively networking with them.
Loss: Risk of Losing Brand Voice
Because you’re using content you didn’t create, there’s no way to really insert your brand’s voice. You also risk confusing your audience with different kinds of content, unless you can find a way to always work in your company’s personality and aesthetic.
Loss: Maintaining Originality Can Be Challenging
When you’re using curated content, you’re using other people’s content. This can easily lead down a path that lacks any originality so always keep that in mind. Don’t let curated content smother your distinctiveness and innovation.
The Wins and Losses of Content Creation
Much like content curation has pros and cons, content creation also has good things to consider as well as a few negative aspects to keep in mind.
Win: Google Loves Original Content
Google is a huge fan of unique content, especially if you’ve created your content with an eye on SEO. If generating traffic and boosting your rank is an important KPI, original content is a great tool.
Win: Builds Brand Identity
When you create your own content, you’re able to tap into unique storytelling to create and polish your brand identity. After all, no one knows and understands your brand like you do and can tailor your content as well as you can.
Loss: Quality Content Can Be Time-Consuming
Creating high-quality original content isn’t easy and does take time investment and consistency. Creating high-value content on a regular basis will require quite a time-hungry investment on your part.
Loss: Outsourcing May Be Necessary
Let’s be honest: few business owners and marketers are great at writing content. You may have to hire freelancers or content marketing agencies to help you create original and high-quality content.
In fact, 30% of marketing professionals outsource their content marketing tasks which includes content creation.
Finding the Right Balance
Maintaining a good middle ground between content curation and content creation is important.
Pro-Tip: Aim to use 40% curated content and have 60% originally created content. That way, you can reap the benefits of content curation without losing your brand voice or allowing your content to be too broad and
Did you miss our previous article…
https://onlinemarketingagencies.net/unlocking-the-power-of-micro-influencers-a-guide-based-on-real-experiences/
