One of the biggest benefits touted with content curation is it’s faster, quicker, and easier than creating content from scratch. Is that really the case?
I came across a post from Averetek that discusses this briefly and provides the best summation on how to start thinking about the content you create (or curate):
So here’s my two cents: Think about your website content strategy from the audience’s point of view. Do what best serves them and try not to annoy folks with boring content no matter if it’s original, syndicated or curated. Boring content won’t gain followers. Is Curation the Easy Way Out for Content Marketing?
I couldn’t have said it better.
Provide content, both curated and created that is going to inspire your audience. Provide content that they will enjoy and appreciate.
Make this the guiding strategy of any content marketing you do.
What About the Technical Side?
Creating content from scratch I believe will always take more time and effort than content curation.
That’s not to say that curation is a cakewalk. Good curation, that is curation that provides value to your audience takes time.
There is an aspect that isn’t talked about much with curation.
Both creation and curation feed off each other. The better you or your organization gets at creating content the better you’ll be at curating content. This works in reverse, the more you curate the better content and ideas you’ll start to generate.
What If You Are Starting From Scratch?
I’ll throw this in as a bonus. If you’re starting from scratch I would suggest you start with curation.
The reason is simple, starting with curation allows you to get to know your market and audience. It allows you to find and sift through the existing ideas, thoughts, and memes.
Finally, starting with curation is less time intensive as well. This is especially the case if you haven’t written much or your organization hasn’t created content. Another benefit of starting with curation is it get’s you into the rhythm required to produce content.
For both, creation and curation what wins over the long haul is consistency. I’ve found for most people/organizations starting with curation provides a good foundation of consistency that provides the catalyst for good created content.
