In the past, locating relevant content online was a significant challenge. Today, we face the opposite problem. The sheer volume of information and entertainment online makes it tough to unearth quality content amidst a deluge of frivolous videos and misinformation.
How can one navigate this content overload and uncover genuinely valuable material to enhance work performance and share with one’s audience? Content curation tools are an excellent starting point.
Table of contents
- What is content curation?
- What’s the difference between content marketing vs. content curation?
- Effective content creation tools
What is content curation?
Content curation involves sifting through the vast expanse of online content, collecting the most insightful and engaging pieces to share with a specific audience.
Content marketing vs. content curation
Content curation should not be mistaken for content marketing. Content curation revolves around sharing content from external sources, as opposed to generating and promoting original content.
For instance, a social media marketer might curate top-performing or trending content from other blogs within their industry and disseminate these articles through their company’s Twitter account throughout the day.
Here are a few additional ways marketers can leverage content curation tools:
- Identify the most shared and discussed stories in their field to spark blog post ideas
- Find high-quality sources to link to within their written content
- Draw inspiration from top-performing headlines
6 of the most effective content curation tools
While content curation can be enjoyable, it can become overwhelming without assistance. Fortunately, numerous excellent content curation tools are available to streamline the process and save time. Here are our top six picks to explore.
#1: Buzzsumo
As a former content and social media marketer, Buzzsumo served as my go-to resource for discovering the most shareable content that resonated with a broad audience. While not your conventional content curation tool, Buzzsumo allows you to input any keyword or domain and presents a ranked list of the most shared content related to that topic.
For instance, when I enter the keyword “self-driving cars,” the first article displayed is from TechCrunch, boasting 62K social shares.
Buzzsumo also enables sorting by date range, content type (guest posts, infographics, videos, etc.), setting alerts, viewing backlinks, following specific authors, and more. Given that these articles are already widely shared, they are likely to resonate with your intended audience.
#2: Pocket
Did you know that, on average, people spend 10 hours per day glued to a screen, according to a study conducted by Nielsen Company? A significant portion of this screen time likely involves browsing the internet or scrolling through social media feeds.
During these digital excursions, you probably encounter numerous relevant articles aligned with your content curation needs. You might bookmark these or make a mental note to revisit them later, only to have them slip your mind. Pocket is the perfect solution to prevent this from happening.
Via Geeky Gadgets Pocket is available as both an app and a browser extension, allowing you to save articles for later reading or linking in a single, organized location. Pocket allows for easy article tagging, enabling the grouping of relevant topics or themes. It also includes a robust search function to locate articles within your Pocket account effortlessly.
#3: Feedly
If you were fond of Google Reader, Feedly serves as an excellent alternative, acting as an RSS feed to curate content around specific keywords, topics, domains, and more. You can easily categorize content into boards and flag items to read later. Feedly definitely alleviates the burden of manual content curation.
While the free version supports up to 100 feeds, offers organizational capabilities, and allows sharing across various social platforms, the Pro (around $5/month) and Team ($18/month) plans provide unlimited feeds, enhanced support, and more robust integrations. Try it out for free and then select the plan best suited to your content curation requirements.
#4: Curata
Curata falls under the enterprise category of content curation tools designed for businesses with more sophisticated curation needs. The strength of Curata lies in its INSPIRE discover and recommendation engine. This engine empowers Curata to identify truly tailored, high-quality content aligned with your specific needs, based on a customizable profile.
Via Curata The only drawback to Curata is its cost. It lacks a free version, and the most affordable plans start at $499/month. However, if budget allows and you seek a highly robust solution, Curata might be the answer for your complex curating needs. (It can also handle other tasks, such as content management and reporting.)
#5: Quora
If you’re seeking content that addresses niche questions within specific industry-related topics, Quora is the ideal solution. Quora centers around finding accurate and efficient answers to your specific questions. As their website states, “Quora has content you will feel good about having read.”
Quora also functions as a keyword research tool and is an excellent resource for uncovering question-based keywords to target with your content.
#6: Scoop.it
Scoop.it is a powerful yet user-friendly content creation tool. Scoop.it operates by crawling over 35 million web pages daily and then organizing this content into the most relevant topics. The tool simplifies the process of filtering, editing, and sharing relevant content.
“With an interface reminiscent of Pinterest, Scoop.it aims to make finding relevant, shareable articles simple,” says Mike Templeman of Forbes.
Content curation made easy
These powerful tools effectively save time, elevate content quality, boost audience engagement, and enhance content-sharing efforts with minimal effort on your end. As demonstrated, a wide array of excellent options are available to explore.