Consistently producing quality content is no easy task. Even with a well-organized content calendar, deciding what to publish can feel overwhelming. You might run out of ideas, second-guess your approach, or simply not know where to start.
That’s where a mix of content creation and content curation can help. Each has its strengths and limitations, but when used together, they can build a more effective and balanced content strategy. Let’s explore how you can use both creation and curation to keep your content fresh, relevant, and engaging.
The Difference Between Content Creation And Curation
Before we dive in, let’s get our definitions in place.
Content creation is the process of developing original material from the ground up. This includes blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, or social media posts. These showcase your unique perspective, expertise, and brand voice. It’s your concepts and ideas packaged in a way that serves your audience.
Content curation, on the other hand, is the skill of discovering, collecting, and re-sharing valuable existing content that’s applicable to your audience. But here’s the interesting part – it’s not just random sharing. Great curation includes adding your own remarks, opinions, or background information, making the content more valuable for your particular audience.
Consider content creation to be cooking a meal from scratch. You put together the ingredients and prepare it yourself. Content curation is like putting together a meal spread that is already made. While the cooking is done by someone else, you put thought into selecting which dishes should be included and why.
Why Content Creation Matters
Brand Authority and Thought Leadership
Unique content establishes you as a subject-matter expert. It shows that you’re knowledgeable in your field and are well-versed with what’s going on. As you create more content, people begin to see you as an authority. This goes a long way toward building trust and credibility.
Creative Freedom
Content creation offers plenty of flexibility. From topic selection to execution, you have a wide range of options. This freedom gives you more room for original ideation. Exploring various formats, styles, and platforms allows you to discover what works best for your brand.
SEO Advantage
Search engines favor unique, great-quality content. If you produce something original and beneficial, you're likely to rank higher on search pages, and your site is more likely to be visited through organic traffic. In fact, content creation is an integral component of on-page SEO.
Deeper Connection With The Audience
Original content allows you to speak directly to your audience’s unique pain points, challenges, and interests. You can craft your message based on their preferences and even involve them in the creation process. For example, consider running polls to ask what type of content they’d like to see.
Why Content Curation Matters
Higher Speed
You can share great content with your audience fast. Just found a great industry report? It can be shared with your thoughts on the same day. It’s already out there; you just need to think quickly and repurpose it in the best way possible.
Relationship Building
By curating other people’s content in your industry, you are establishing relationships. Mention the original author, include thoughtful remarks, and you’re networking while adding value.
Varied Insights
Curation enables you to present different insights and knowledge that supplement your own. This keeps your content stream fresh and indicates that you’re aware of industry updates. When you share content from reputable sources, it reinforces that you're staying current and informed.
Efficiency
Let’s get real – curation is inexpensive. You’re making use of pre-existing content instead of producing everything in-house. If you have a few systems in place for curation, you can make the process even more efficient, saving plenty of time and effort.
Challenges Of Content Creation
- Time and Resource Consuming: It takes time to produce quality original content. Lots of it. From research to writing to design to editing, you’re talking considerable time investment per piece. Without putting in this time, you can’t expect the content to excel.
- Specialized Skill Requirements: Not all members of your team may be a skilled writer, designer, or video producer. You may need to do training or hire experts. If you need to produce large amounts of high quality content, this becomes even more critical.
- Creative Burnout: Developing new ideas on a regular basis can be draining. Even the best minds get stuck sometimes, and that constant pressure of innovating is suffocating. This is a risk that has to be managed throughout the entire creative process.
- Higher Costs: Original content requires a higher budget. This includes paying creators, buying tools, or investing in promotion to make people see your content. It is a significant consideration teams must always keep in mind as they ideate.
Challenges Of Content Curation
- Copyright and Attribution: Sharing content legally and ethically is an important consideration. You have to be mindful of any copyright or credit attribution issues that may come up. To avoid these, thorough research as well as overall industry understanding is essential.
- Brand Consistency: Curated content may not always perfectly match your brand voice and values. You have to be selective regarding what you are sharing. Whatever is curated needs to be relevant for you. The exercise is pointless if your curation doesn’t fit your brand voice and themes.
- Over-Reliance Risk: Curating too much without adding original value can make your audience question your expertise. It can come across as a low-effort activity to some. People may question your credibility if there is such over-reliance.
- Quality Control: Not all content is equal. You have to have high standards for what you’re putting out on your pages. This takes time and judgment to be able to discern effectively.
How To Balance Content Creation And Curation Effectively
The most effective content strategies mix both approaches strategically. Here's how to think about it:
The 80/20 Rule
Most successful brands adopt an 80/20 strategy, but the proportion differs. Some produce 80% original and 20% curated content, while others reverse it based on resources and objectives.
Content Types By Approach
Original content can be used for cornerstones such as in-depth how-to's, case studies, or opinion articles. Curation can be used for day-to-day social media updates, industry news summaries, or inspirational content.
Seasonal Adjustments
Be more curatorial during peak season or when resources are low. When resources are plentiful, invest in creating original content.
Audience Feedback
Listen to what your audience responds to most. If they enjoy your original case studies but barely touch curated articles, shift gears accordingly.
Brands That Excel At Both
Certain brands have found the mix of content creation and curation that works best for them. Buzzfeed have positioned themselves as experts in this practice. While they curate a lot of content on their social media pages from other sources, they have a formidable repository of original content as well.
Red Bull is another brand that excels at both content creation as well curation. They post high-quality content, as well as videos of the athletes associated with them. They balance both seamlessly, making it fit well with their overall brand messaging.
While Zomato has earned praise for their original content creation, they also curate effectively. Social media posts on their various initiatives and company updates are frequently shared. They are also famous for their memes, which is one of the most common examples of curated content.
The Bottom Line
The question isn’t really whether content curation or creation is better – it’s how you can blend both approaches to create a content marketing strategy that works for your specific situation, resources, and goals.
What’s most important is that you’re consistently delivering value, nurturing relationships, and positioning your brand as a credible authority within your niche. Now review your content calendar and consider: where can you introduce more balance between creating and curating? Your audience (and your sanity) will thank you for it!
FAQs
What Is The Difference Between Curating And Creating?
When content is created, it is made from scratch, right from ideating to final execution. Curation on the other hand, refers to sharing existing content in a different manner such as reposting with thoughts.
What Is An Example Of Content Creation And Curation?
Filming a video and posting it as a reel on an Instagram page is an example of content creation. Reposting another video from another page with a unique caption is an example of content curation.
What Is The Difference Between A Content Curator And A Content Writer?
A content curator’s role is more strategic and research-driven, as their key responsibility is to identify the best pieces of content to be used. A content writer on the other hand, writes original content in accordance with the guidelines given to them.
How To Become A Content Curator?
To become a content curator, strong research and communication skills are essential. A basic understanding of social media and online marketing is beneficial and helps provide a good foundation for this role.
What Software Is Best For Content Creation?
The ideal software depends on your requirements, but some reliable ones are Canva, Hootsuite, and Pixabay.