I received a tweet last week in response to my last blog post about curating local content on Twitter. I realized pretty quickly, there was no way I could explain the basics or the why behind curating content in just 140 characters. 

Let me try to explain why curating content is so important…

If you have a Facebook business page and a Twitter account – and you want to successfully engage your fans and followers, you need to post content consistently. After a couple of days without a strategy, you will soon be asking yourself, “what should I post about today?” 

Curating content – knowing how to do it and what type of content to look for, is key to feeding the social media machine. I recommend posting to your Facebook business page once a day (4-5 times a week), and tweeting at least 3-5 times a day, to really see results. Of course there is no “magic number” – the key is being consistent. So often, I run across abandoned REALTOR® Facebook business pages.  I call them Facebook graveyards because there has been no activity on them for weeks or months.

And unless you are cranking out an enormous amount of blog posts to use as unique content – you will need to curate content.

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I do this everyday for our channels. Now granted, at Inman News and Inman Next – we have an enormous amount of content that we create just for those channels. However, for our other channels like Agent Reboot and Real Estate Connect – I am constantly on the lookout for interesting content.

The key to curating content is knowing your audience, and knowing your brand. I am going to give you an example of how I curate content for one of our channels.

Here is how I do it for Real Estate Connect:

 Audience:

• C-Level executives, franchises, MLS/association executives, start-up companies, entrepreneurs, marketing directors and top REALTORS®
• Some local agents and brokers — many from out of town

Brand

• Connect has a long-standing history of being the ‘go-to’ event for industry leaders
• Content of the event is focused on: the intersection of technology and real estate

Where do I curate content?

I am constantly on the lookout for interesting videos or blog posts from our speakers (using Google Alerts) and I have a Twitter list just for speakers. I review this list once or twice a day and re-tweet interesting content. I also mix in special offers and logistics about the event, including travel. Lastly, I promote the beautiful “City by the Bay” through photos on Pinterest, personal photos I take on Instagram, great local sites like CurbedSF or 7×7 that offer articles explaining the local flavor, and local real estate Facebook pages like Pacific Union.

But what is the one little thing that makes a big difference?

When I curate content, I always try to tag the source on their Facebook page and/ or their Twitter account. The value is greater exposure and many times they will repost, like, comment or retweet. 

https://twitter.com/InmanConnect/status/216602840892846080

 

https://twitter.com/InmanConnect/status/218154372868218881

How about for your business?

If I were a REALTOR®, here are six things I would do to curate great content:

1. Twitter lists: I would make a list of all the local news sources in my area and another list of some of the local leaders (celebrities, politicians, hometown heroes, and business owners)
2. Google alerts: I would create a daily alert for 3-4 neighborhoods or cities that I market to.
3. Photos: I would take 30-40 local photos that tell the story about my local area. I would Instagram those photos and then use those for 30-40 days worth of content.
4. Zite: This is one of the best apps for curating local content and displaying it on an elegant display on your iPad. Create custom searches based on your audience and your brand.
5. Past Clients: I would individually email (or call) 20 past clients (my favorite ones, of course) and ask them if I can pop by to snap a photo of them in their home or get a quick 15 second video testimonial using apps like Tout or Viddy. Each one of those 20 photos is 20 pieces of great content. Bonus benefit– I just scheduled 20 appointments with past clients!
6. Current Clients: I would ask myself – how can I tell the story of the homes I am listing in a unique way? How about a video like this?