How to find good social media content to curate

Some call it content curation; others content sharing. But no matter what name you use, the process of culling through content produced outside of your organization and disseminating it to your social media followers is an important part of your content marketing strategy.

So, how do you find quality, relevant content to share? Here are six ways to cut through the clutter and hone in on the valuable content that will keep your readers engaged and seeing you as a helpful resource.

Hashtags

Hashtags, such as #contentmarketing, make social media searchable. Identify relevant keywords for your industry and use the related hashtags to find and share the conversation with your followers.

Google Alerts

These can function similarly to hashtags, but search outside the of social media channels. In addition to setting up Google alerts for your organization (always a good idea!), set up Google alerts for industry keywords and other relevant terms to help uncover news to share.

Lists of influencers

On social media, influencers can be a great source of information. Twitter allows you to create lists of their handles, which can be separated by topic or industry segment to keep them organized and make finding content easier.

Peer Accounts

This could be competitors, partners or other organizations in industries related to yours, but it doesn’t mean copying what they do or say online. Take this opportunity to see what they are sharing and what is resonating with their followers and consider how you can adapt these trends for yourself — in a way that makes sense for your target audience.

Media

Trade media has its eye on industry happenings and trends, and these entities tend to be active on social media because it is another way for them to share their content. Follow them on social media, subscribe to their blogs and newsletters and start sharing this valuable industry insight to your readers (and it’s even better if you can share an article that mentions your organization!)

Curation tools

To get a little assistance finding content to curate, some people turn to curation tools. Some are free (or free to a point), whereas others require a subscription. A quick online search will produce lists of these tools and reviews which can help you decide if one is right for you.

What other ways do you find content to curate? Let us know in the comments.