No single marketer needs to use all content curation tools in existence. Much like anything else in business, you’re looking to fit the square peg in the square holes. What that means is you should know where all the pegs are and where they fit. Here are a few content curation tools all marketers should learn about and consider using.
1. BuzzSumo – Multipurpose Tool
Many content curation tools do much more than curate. Often, they do things related to search engine optimization, such as keyword research. BuzzSumo is a simple but effective tool that allows content research from a single dashboard, and offers alerts whenever something industry related content is published.
2. Pinterest – Combining Social Networking and Curation
Not all tools are apps that automate processes. Some tools exist as social networks that your company may already be in, such as Pinterest. Originally designed as a way to view wedding-related paraphernalia, Pinterest has grown beyond its borders and covers everything under the sun in the form of shared or “pinned” pictures.
You can use Pinterest to follow people in your industry and monitor their posts. Think of it as an aggregated list of creators related to your offering. Whenever you’re content curating, all you need to do is load up your feed and sift through it.
3. MyCurator – WordPress Curation Tool
Many businesses use WordPress, and for good reason – it is simple without being to creatively restrictive. It allows use for a number of useful plugins, among which includes MyCurator. It combines website management with content curation. Train the AI to figure out which articles are relevant, let it filter out the spam, and look through the results. It even helps automate curated posts by filling it with an attribution link, an image, as well as an excerpt.
4. Spundge – Adaptive Content Aggregation
Spundge lets content curators setup keywords and find content relevant to those keywords. While this is similar to many other tools, it differs by learning what you’re actually interested in. If you’re having trouble visualizing it, think of how your video history in YouTube affects what it recommends to you. The use of a learning tool does come at a caveat – if you’re not careful, it may end up omitting results that would have otherwise been chosen.
5. List.ly – Crowdsourced Curation
Lists are a popular article format, and for good reason. It allows readers to skim it for relevant information while simultaneously providing deeper content in the form of the main text. It’s no surprise then that there is a site which is basically a list of lists, covering almost every topic under the sun. Users vote on which items are relevant or irrelevant, allowing for a form of crowdsourced content curation. You can either look through pre-existing lists or create your own, just in case one doesn’t exist within your parameters. It even has a WordPress plugin.
6. Storify – Curation and Management Tool
Storify promotes itself as a content management tool, and it includes content curation. It allows for storyboard management and creation. It’s great for team leaders as well as curators, as it allows managers to give content for others to curate. As a bonus, it contains live blogging tools as well as hashtag campaign functionality. WordPress users will be delighted to know that a plugin is available.
7. ContentGems – Content Feeds
The problem with content curation is sifting through the dirt. Not everything will be sharable, relevant, or good. ContentGems solves that problem by giving you the keys to a kingdom of RSS feeds. Drop in a few keywords and pick the feeds most relevant to the business. It has a number of advanced filters, such as social signals, and uses a dynamic stream to keep your curation on its toes.
8. Post Planner – Automated Post Tool
Finding content isn’t the only challenge faced by marketers. Posting them at the right time can be an ordeal without a scheduling and automated tool, which Post Planner helpfully is. It looks through your Facebook page and figures out which times would be best to post content, and which ones would get the most engagement. This can improve your page’s performance, increasing the odds of a post going viral.
9. Triberr – Community Focused Curation
One of the advantages of content curation is how it can help you create a community. Your social networking account becomes the go-to place for substance, and people will flock around it and form a group. With Triberr, the reverse is also true – from a community, you can curate content. You can join various tribes, which are divided according to theme and topic, and start curating content from there.
10. Scoop.it – Curate, Publish, and Monitor
You have enough to do without juggling enough programs to fill your desktop, which is where Scoop.it enters the picture. Not only does it allow you to find relevant content, it lets you share them directly to your pages. It also allows for return-of-investment measurement, allowing you to figure out which content gets click and which ones you should ignore in the future.
Content curation is as important as content creation. There are millions of creators in the world, and it’s a disservice to them, your business, and your community, to not share their work. Put in the work, and your business will benefit from it. Ignore it, and you’ll fall behind competition who knew it was worth the effort to look beyond their own creations.