Content Curation Workflows: A Bufferchat Recap

This week in #bufferchat, we all shared our content curation workflows! We discussed the value of including curated content into a marketing plan, how to make time to discover and read new content, tools for managing and sharing content, and much more.

Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and networking with nearly 400 other smart marketers and community managers. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join in to whichever chat time works best for you!

For our community in Asia and Australia (or anyone in other timezones that like this time the best!): 4 pm AEST (Sydney time, UTC+10)

For our community in North/South America, Europe and Africa (or others!): 9 am PT (California time)

This week’s stats:
1st Bufferchat: 101 participants; 361 tweets; reach of 807,399
2nd Bufferchat: 293 participants; 1,872 tweets; reach of 1,757,017

Q1: How would you define content curation?

From the community:

• “Content curation is the sorting through of large amounts of content to present the best in a meaningful & organized way.” @northcuttHQ
• “What content can I share that is valuable for my followers and audience? “Give value” is my number one goal.” @rouxroamer
• “Seems that good curation is scouring the interwebs to find information your audience might not find themselves.” @sollmana
• “Weeding through the noise to find the hidden gems and thought leaders in your field, all leading to shareable content.” @nicoleyoley159
• “Content curation is, for me, 1st about getting smarter. If I read, share the best stuff, then we all win (me & my audience).” @dariasteigman

See all the great answers to question 1 here!

Q2: How can content curation be a valuable part of your marketing plan?

From the community:

• “Good content curation helps connect w/ your audience through sharing & learning together with them about latest trends & news.” @90DigitalAgency
• “Content curation done well & authentically shows that you value others’ voices, not just your own.” @paperbird
• “Content curation positions you as an industry expert, helps with SEO, and helps your audience get to know you in many ways!” @laura_bauman
• “Curation = good fit for small biz marketing. No writers? No problem! Pull great stuff together in a newsletter.” @andymci
• “An intentional focus will always tell a better story and attract a following or client base.” @karalayne

See all the great answers to question 2 here!

Q3: What’s your workflow look like for discovering/reading all of the content you want to share?

From the community:

• “Gotta love @feedly for collecting all of my favorite posts! @BuzzSumo is awesome for finding time sensitive content.” @lifeofaworkgirl
• “Designated days to dive deep & designated quick checks throughout the day for hot topics.” @empwradventure
• “I read a lot. What I like goes to Instapaper. Two days a week I take 1 hour to “read’n’publish” this content.” @fez_de
• “Social listening is also a HUGE part of content curation. Browsing feeds, lists + hashtags can improve output.” @Wilde_Agency
• “I use @Pocket to keep track of stories that catch my eye then read them at my leisure.” @kathryndlewis

See all the great answers to question 3 here!

Q4: What tools do you use to help you sift through and manage all of your content?

From the community:

• “@IFTTT is life saver in managing content too. You can create amazing recipes. Try it, if not already.” @kumarmanish9
• “We use @Pocket to save, @buffer to schedule, and good old Excel to organize content we’ve posted and might want to repost.” @lavehmarketing
• “It is mostly manual for me. I will look through and re-buffer from time to time. @CrateTeam is awesome for discovery!” @J_Rouser
• “Tools I like to curate content from: @drumupio, Google Alerts, @LinkedInPulse, @mashsocialmedia.” @winniegiang
• “@evernote – ideas, @Pocket – offline readings, @bannersnack – visual design, @Flipboard – curate content.” @katairobi

See all the great answers to question 4 here!

Q5: What platforms can you use to deliver curated content to your followers?

From the community:

• “Being B2B, I use LinkedIn & Twitter mostly. Tried a blog, but the internal buy-in wasn’t there.” @thepaperfairy
• “Infographics – capture the info that people want to see and make it visual. We digest images 600x faster.” @lifeofaworkgirl
• “I do link roundups w/ commentary on my blog & send that out via social media.” @MarciSischo
• “And don’t forget podcasts, meetups, SlideShare, and YouTube + FB vids for sharing your curated learnings!” @andymci
• “The platforms your audience utilizes.” @GingerAttaway

See all the great answers to question 5 here!

Q6: How can you stand out and differentiate yourself from others who are also sharing curated content?

From the community:

• “Don’t just share to share. Mix curation + original content. Make it your own. Always take time to evaluate.” @baileyludlam
• “For tweets, I try to add my own anecdote (if there’s space) ((usually it’s an emoji)), because my quirkiness > others.” @paige_sandhu
• “Add ur own insight/value to the content. 2) Consider imagery with the post, it can up engagement.” @mwilton13
• “Don’t just share content. Be selective. Be social. The less content you share, the more valuable it’ll be.” @martinlieberman
• “I mainly create and curate visual content that tells a story. It provides value and minimizes having to vet long reads.” @thedavepepper

See all the great answers to question 6 here!

Q7: Let’s share! What are your 3 favorite blogs to curate content from?

There were so many awesome blogs named – see all the great blog suggestions in question 7 here!

—

Thank you so much to our community for sharing your awesome insights and for participating in this chat!

Catch #bufferchat each Wednesday at 9 am PST, 12 pm EST, 5 pm BST **OR** at 4 pm AEST (Sydney time, UTC+10). Join our new Slack community with over 2,000 members to continue these awesome conversations all week long!

Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Image sources: UnSplash