Whitespace: Go forth and multiply - why SMEs need to be content curators

Issue 72: April 2011

As the social media age moves into its adolescence, networked consumers are demanding more from businesses than an exchange of goods and services alone, they're also expecting brands to be new media content developers that share stories and provide insight.

In many cases content development is an easy ask for larger businesses with marketing and PR departments, but how do small businesses cope with the challenge of creating original, affordable content?

Fortunately the answer is closer than many SMEs might think. In fact, it's as close as the nearest search engine, a conduit to a world of content that's in desperate need for sense-making, sharing and ordering: in other words 'curation'.

This month's Whitespace investigates an idea put forward in Steven Rosenbaum's new book Curation Nation, which argues businesses of all sizes are on a level playing field when it comes to capturing the mindshare of customers and clients.

Online hunting and gathering

Content curation is a service that personalises information for both B2B and B2C markets. It's about collecting and filtering information on behalf of an audience simply because technology can't accurately contextualise online content.

Curation isn't merely cutting and pasting. And it isn't just about editing either. Curators find content from online news, blogs, tweets or photo and video sharing sites to create a new editorial mash-up that's tailored to their audience's interests.

This information is then presented on a brand's blog, microblog, social media page or specialist curation platform. It may sound like stealing but it's not. In the share and share alike world of the Internet it's acceptable to borrow content created by other parties provided the source is attributed.

From cupcakes bakers to bike stores, beverage makers to accounting firms, a wealth of detail-rich citizen journalist and professionally developed content is ripe and ready to be reworked into new stories that can make an SME's social media presence a valuable source of information.

Thought leadership made easy

Importantly, content curation helps SMEs to achieve 'thought leader' status on niche topics. Most SMEs already possess a wealth of information that's shared with customers on a face-to-face basis, the online environment merely helps them do this for a larger group.

Of course SME owners don't always have the time to write reams of original content; that's why gathering, editing and commenting on existing content is a smart idea, and an approach that's more likely to result in a brand being noticed by search engines.

Quite simply, the more active a brand is online, the more Google's algorithms are likely to place the company's name at the top of its search results. But while this process so far might sound easy, there is a trick to getting content curation right.

A key theme presented by Curation Nation is that brands must curate content that reflects its audience's shared values. That means doing more than using collected content to promote products and services; it's about adding opinions, offering relevance and, above all else, being interesting.

Ways to curate information

According to social media strategist Rohit Bhargava, companies large and small can add value to the mass of information available online by following one of four content curation models.

Aggregation: The process of gathering the most relevant information on a topic in one location. Ultimately this is more about volume than context with the presentation of long lists that offer an audience a useful directory of information.

Distillation: Similar to aggregation but more precise. This model dictates that only the most important or relevant ideas are presented, a process that suggests an SME is an expert in its field. Ultimately it's all about simplicity and a low volume of information.

Elevation: Offering expert analysis on matters that affect a market is vital for SMEs, especial those in the B2B world. This approach brings together smaller chunks of information from various sources and weaves them together to reveal larger trends.

The mash-up: This more journalistic approach takes multiple and often contrasting points of view to deliver a comprehensive analysis; Wikipedia does this on a large scale, but SMEs can offer their own repositories of niche information.

Chronology: When viewed sequentially information takes on a new meaning and reveals fresh insight. By reviewing the history of a product, market or idea, an SME can show how experiences change or how trends disappear and reemerge.

Do your market a favour

The one-size-fits-all approach to the online content development that includes putting up an inwardly focused web page and creating a genetic Facebook profile is quickly becoming history.

As internet users continue to be inundated with information, an opportunity has emerged for all businesses to be more meaningful content providers by collecting and commenting on information that matters to their market and other stakeholders.

Where do you start? By thinking like the market, and considering what they want out of my small business brand? From this point it's all about searching, collecting and contextualising, and reaping the rewards of a higher online profile in the process.

Whitespace is published monthly by the Australian Institute of Management - Qld & NT. Sign up to have a copy sent direct to your mailbox.