Content Curation – 5 Ways to start conversations with your social media.

19 Sep 2014

Set Realistic Goals: If you’re still in the initial phase in which you’re making a name for yourself while building credibility and trust, don’t expect to get millions of likes and shares in a split second, even if your content is truly amazing. Accept the fact that online conversations will never be perfect substitutes for face-to-face interactions and try to bond with your readers by upgrading your content and making it more palatable.
Humanize Your Content: If your social content makes your readers think that you are as lifeless as a mannequin from a Fifth Avenue store, now may be a good time to follow a different approach. Let the veil down and create personalized content that enables users to discover who you are, what you stand for, and most importantly, what you can do for them. Introduce yourself just like you would during a face-to-face interaction (minus the awkward gestures and long pauses). Write freely, express your enthusiasm and present your goals, brand and product features and benefits in a more spontaneous manner.
Be Helpful and Engaging: All your readers are wondering: what’s in it for me? Aside from the fact that you let them contemplate your beautiful pictures and read the story of your life, what else are you willing to bring to the table? The key is to provide real value to your readers, before trying to convert them into buyers. If you’re a blogger and you let your blog visitors admire your outfit of the day, tell them where they could find the products that you’re flaunting with such great pride. Provide timely answers to their questions. Offer additional details to keep the conversation going. As long as you know everything about your audience and your own field of activity, you should never run out of things to say. Be witty, be friendly, but most importantly, be yourself, since everybody else is already taken.
Let Your Readers Hop on Board: Let your readers take control. Ask your clients, prospects and collaborators to share their ideas with you. You should create the context and come up with adequate commentary for the input that they’ve sent you. According to Heidi Cohen, this type of web content that resembles a collage may enable you to lift old barriers in content creation and profit from the expertise (and the level of popularity) of your favorite contributors.
Invest Time and Energy in Curated Content: Use interesting, trending third party web writing to make a statement. Add your comments to the original article and present it from your perspective. Don’t forget to include changes in images, headline, tone and also context. Here’s an extra tip: leverage the incredible power of seduction of amazing photos that are relevant to your topic and write magnetic, attention-grabbing headlines to make your visitors read the rest of the article and interact with you. Content curation lets you organize and collect some of the most existing things that may be floating around the Internet without a life jacket and share them for the greater good. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to curate content and prove that you are a true connoisseur.