I don’t know if you’ve heard, but it’s a little crowded on the Internet. Right now in North America alone there are an estimated 313 million active Internet users, and it’s estimated that 128.6 billion emails are sent every day by businesses around the world. And just in the past month, 56 million posts were published on WordPress-hosted sites.
And amid the hurricane of noise, your brand has the overwhelming task of competing against other users and brands for attention. You may find yourself asking, How on earth can I provide my audience with content that adds value to their lives, educates consumers about my product and contributes to a bigger conversation? The answer is a mix of curated and original content working together to tell your brand story.
Defining Content Creation and Curation
The difference between creating and curating content is the difference between painting a beautiful work of art and selecting which works are displayed in a gallery.
“Creation” is your brand’s original content that captures your unique voice and point of view. “Curation” is strategically selecting and sharing relevant external content with your audience to play a leadership role in a larger conversation. Both work together to create a distinctive brand voice and persona used to engage your audience.
Here are the benefits of content creation and curation:
Creation of Original Content
The main benefit of content creation is your home-court advantage: You know your customers, readers and supporters, which means you can create content that taps into their desires and needs and meets them in a helpful way.
My coworker Ellie Baldini supports content creation efforts on our account team. Here’s her take on why it works: “Creating content allows you to precisely align with your brand’s core messaging. Its main purpose is to further solidify the organization’s overarching content strategy.”
But don’t just take it from Ellie and me—here are some brands reaping the results of doing that well.
Free People
The clothing brand Free People does a great job creating unique, original content that speaks to their audience. Their BLDG 25 blog and dreamy short films featuring well-known actors and models sum up the adventurous, good-vibes aspirations of their young female target market—starring their clothing, of course.