Content Curation: A Rising Tide for Marketing and Beyond

Much like social media was touted as the “next big thing” for marketers to embrace during the end of the last decade, content curation is now emerging as the new next big thing for 2011 and beyond. The term may be new to many, but evidence of its use is available all around us, as consumers and marketers alike try to tame the flood of digital information in today’s world: The Drudge Report and The Huffington Post, many of the industry insight newsletters you likely receive in your inbox, and even your retweets on Twitter.

In looking at these examples, most people are surprised—in a good way—to realize that content curation isn’t as complicated or overwhelming as they thought. In fact, it’s really just a formal name for a process many of us do on a daily basis: identify, organize and share the best and most relevant online content on a specific topic with an audience of stakeholders.

If it’s that simple, why is it becoming so important to marketers today? There are many reasons—it boosts SEO standing, builds industry awareness, and engages customers and prospects, among others. However, there are two larger trends happening that will push content curation into a spotlight above and beyond just the marketing function.

Lines Blur Between Creators & Curators

Although marketers can gain tremendous value from undertaking a content curation strategy, it’s not just a marketing tool. In fact, the adoption of curation for marketing purposes has had a notable impact on companies across industries and among executives within all business functions. Take, for example, how many companies today use “crowd sourcing” to get ideas for new offerings, sort through them to find some that are promising and eventually bring new products to market. Or, consider Bring a Trailer, a site that gathers auto-listings from eBay, Craigslist and AutoTrader for car enthusiasts looking to purchase hard to find cars, whose business concept is entirely driven by curation. In other words, the model for how companies create, manage and engage with content has changed forever—a change that will also affect those who consume this content.

Take, for example, the recent AOL-Huffington Post deal, which marks the latest in several moves by AOL to be an online leader in content. Although AOL used to be a search company (remember the days of AOL keywords?), it since then has morphed into a search-content hybrid; with the addition of The Huffington Post, there is a further element of both original and curated content. Or consider the Washington Post’s recent news-aggregation website, Trove, which allows readers to build their own news site based on topics of their choice.

Leads and Leadership Grow Closer

Technology for disseminating thought leadership content and measuring its impact is more readily available than ever before. This not only makes content curation faster and easier for marketers, but it also answers a question that has forever pitted marketing teams against sales staff: how are your marketing efforts enabling me to make sales?

The chasm is closing. Marketing initiatives to generate leads and position a company as a thought leader are increasingly becoming one and the same. Prospects, who can see firsthand—by way of a newsletter, microsite or other content—that a company thoroughly understands their customers’ needs, trends in the market and what’s coming up next, are more willing to put their trust and their dollars behind that businesses’ services and products.

Content curation is still very much in its infancy phase, but is already re-shaping the way marketers tackle their goals, and perhaps more importantly, how publishers, salespeople, customers and other stakeholders relate to and with content. Those who have not yet embraced this new-normal will miss out on having a voice that’s louder than their competitors and the bottom line benefits that go along with that status.