Content Creation vs. Content Curation: What’s The Difference and Which Should You Be Doing?

Dec 29, 2016 | Digital Marketing, SEO

Content curation versus content creation – it’s one of the most highly debated topics when it comes to social media marketing. And each one has their advantages and drawbacks. So, which one is right for your business? Before making that decision, let’s look at what each one means.

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What is content creation?

Content creation means you are creating your own unique content that helps to establish your place as a leader in your industry and among your peers.

It helps build your brand and people look to you for your perspective, not someone else’s, on a particular subject or niche.

According to Lucy Rendler-Kaplan, a marketing veteran, and writer for Social Media Week, being excellent at content creation will allow you to cater to the needs of your audience, set your brand apart, and provide value to your customers or clients. She goes on to say:

Once your audience, and individuals outside that group, realize that you are consistently sharing information created with the consumer in mind, they will want to come back for more, and bring friends along with them. That is, of course, if your content is strong and useful in the first place. And while the world of content marketing might seem large, it is actually rather small to some extent. Many marketers and content creators, especially B2B ones, follow the same leaders, read the same blogs, and receive the same newsletters. Without more content creators joining the web every day, we would all receive and access the same information online. Play your part in our content ecosystem, and develop your ideas that will hopefully inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

However, as a general rule, content creation does take more work on your part, and more time and resources to create.

According to Wikipedia, content curation is the process of gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest. Services or people that implement content curation are called curators. Curation services can be used by businesses as well as end users.

What is content curation?

Content curation, on the other hand, is sharing carefully chosen and curated articles, photos, or other media, that your target audience would be interested in seeing.

Content curation is similar to what has been used in museums and galleries that select items for collection and display. You are doing the same thing but in your niche area.

While content creation does take more time, at least in my experience, don’t make the mistake of thinking content curation is easy or a lazy way of marketing. Far from it.

When you are curating content you should also be adding your own insights into your posts for the best results, as well as encouraging your audience to get involved.

And, you have to mindful that you are curating content that works for your business. Staying on target is not always easy either. Peg Fitzpatrick, from Sprout Social, writes:

Once your audience, and individuals outside that group, realize that you are consistently sharing information created with the consumer in mind, they will want to come back for more, and bring friends along with them. That is, of course, if your content is strong and useful in the first place. And while the world of content marketing might seem large, it is actually rather small to some extent. Many marketers and content creators, especially B2B ones, follow the same leaders, read the same blogs, and receive the same newsletters. Without more content creators joining the web every day, we would all receive and access the same information online. Play your part in our content ecosystem, and develop your ideas that will hopefully inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

For more tips on how to curate content like a pro, check out her article 9 Ways the Pros Curate Content for Success.

Which is right for your social media marketing?

Determining which is the right way to go, as I stated in my lead, is a heated and much-debated topic. But, I am going to go with the answer of BOTH.

And, that’s not a “cop-out” answer either. I truly think every blogger and website owner will benefit from having a combination of both created and curated content when coming up with their social media marketing plan.

What has worked best for your business or blog? Feel free to share and let’s get a discussion going. 🙂

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Nora Kramer

Designer + Brand Strategist at Nora Kramer Designs

Nora Kramer is a graphic designer, website developer, and online marketing consultant, based in the Tampa Bay, Florida area, with over two decades of experience in graphic design, website development and company branding. She also has a passion for photography and writing. Nora received the Charlie Award (1st Place) in 2002 for "Best Magazine Feature Article of the Year" from the Florida Magazine Association for a cover feature article she wrote for "Create," a graphic design magazine. You can follow all of her social media channels at about.me/norakramer.

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