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Everyone always focuses on the creation of content. Then, they focus on the marketing of content. 

But what about the curation of content?

It sounds fancy, like something gallerists do, but businesses and brands don’t often use it because they’re not sure where to start, how to set up curation, and how to find pieces that are both relevant and engaging, but not coming from competitors. 

The other issue is that it often feels that content curation is a task in itself. Automating it would be the perfect solution to cut down on time and effort — and the good news is that there are quite a few tools out there to help you roundup the best content. 

What is Content Curation?

Content curation is great for marketers, content creators, and audiences. It consists of collecting and rounding up both your own brand’s content as well as content from other sources. 

You would then share these “roundups” with your audiences across social networks and communication channels. For example, you can do review and roundup blog posts, or send out the occasional newsletter campaign to your subscribers. 

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Now, the best part about content curation is that you don’t have to limit yourself to articles. You can share podcast episodes, infographics, social media posts, e-books, and more. It’s choosing what to share that might get complicated for you. 

What Are Some Features of Well-Curated Content?

You should know that content that works well and draws social shares differs across the types. 


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For example, analysis shows that blog posts at least 3,000 words long are the ones that get the most clicks:

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Curated content does follow a few general rules, though:

  • It should be of use and value to your audiences
  • Remember the book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuk? Well your curated content shouldn’t focus on straight offers. Plan to pepper direct links to products or services sparingly 
  • Give a sense of your brand voice and story
  • Don’t make it a chore — otherwise, you’ll definitely avoid it at some point

Fortunately, there are easy tools that can help gather these curated articles, curated news, and other types of content for distribution through multiple channels. 

What is an RSS Feed?

Much of the early days of the web have either vanished or evolved. But RSS feeds remain alive and well. They’re still used — but the new age of RSS feeds have supercharged the way that content types are aggregated. 

That’s really what an RSS feed is designed for. RSS feeds are the stripped down versions of the original content. It stands for “really simple syndication,” so, right away, you can tell that RSS feeds are meant for distribution. 

Content aggregated on RSS feeds are usually text versions, but the fact that features like Facebook’s News Feed or tools like Google Reader offer this kind of “aggregated” experience means that RSS feeds have had to be upgraded. 

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Now, here’s the thing about RSS feeds. Not only are they customizable, readers can read curated articles at their own leisure. 

How to Setup an RSS Feed

So here’s the question: How do you set up RSS feeds for content curation?

Depending on the platform you use, you can create RSS feeds with a push of a button. Popular publishing platforms like WordPress and Blogger include this feature. You can also use a couple of tools like Feedly or Feedreader to collect individual RSS feeds. 


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Businesses, on the other hand, can use content curation tools specifically designed to collect and share the best (read: relevant and engaged) content across multiple platforms. 

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The obvious benefit is that businesses can automate scheduling, add multiple social accounts, and only focus on aggregated content that’s at the top of your industry. 

However, using a content curation platform also allows you to measure the results of your audience’s engagement with your brand. 

Conclusion

The best thing about setting up and using RSS feeds is that readers can engage directly with your content. Yes, social media acts as a content aggregator, but many of these platforms either don’t want users to leave or you simply have to scroll through too much noise to get to the “good stuff.” RSS feeds, on the other hand, completely streamline and declutter access to your best content. 

Content curation shouldn’t be a chore and DrumUp can help you automate scheduling, analytics, relevant keywords, hashtags, and more. Learn more about DrumUp’s simple user interface powered by smart, custom workflows to make the most of your content today.