7 Powerful Content Strategies That Require No Content At All

So many people get distracted with the challenge of creating enormous blog posts. They set the bar too high, get scared, overthink, and the result is wasted time with nothing to show for it.

The reality is, all that's really needed is to share a little of what's already out on the web.

Just today I was browsing this very interesting article on Docurated where they profiled over 31 ways to grab highly targeted traffic just by sharing other people's content.

Here are seven incredibly effective content strategies that will bring you floods of website traffic:

Use BuzzSumo & Buffer

“I recommend you source content through both Buzzsumo searches and alerts, and then Buffer it (using followerwonk to get ideal tweet times for your audience, but buffering to all your social accounts) combined with Sharedby.co, which gives all your links a top navigational bar with your branding and links, ensuring you stay top of mind even when sending people to other websites.”

Think broad.

Before you delve in to content curation, it’s important to remember why you’re doing it in the first place. In my opinion, you’re doing it to help build trust, rapport, and dialogue. All of these are long-term assets that you have to work hard to earn. One sure-fire way of destroying any of them is a direct sales pitch — that’s just not what social media is for.

The way I coach clients to avoid being salesy is very simple. First I ask them what they do, who they sell it to, and what benefit that brings to their customer. Then I question them more about the needs of the end customer to try and uncover their deeper needs and motivations.

Know your audience.

The secret to great content is finding something that resonates with your readers. What are they looking for and how do they want it displayed?

A lot of this is to do with how your users live their daily lives. Are they reading on the bus to work or are they taking a quiet evening to search a particular topic? A good curator will know the former wants shorter content, like blog posts and infographics, while the latter has room for more in-depth discussions.

Find lesser known sources.

Work to curate from lesser known websites because others are less likely to curate them, and that makes your resources more valuable. One way to accomplish this is by subscribing to email newsletters from lesser-known publications that consistently produce high-quality content and newsletters that curate from a variety of resources.

Consolidate your sources!

Identify your top sources of quality content that you’ll be using for content curation and consolidate them in one place for a streamlined workflow and easy access.

If your sources are email newsletters, create a folder or label devoted to only that content and create filters or email rules that funnel those newsletters so you don’t have to hunt and peck for them when you’re ready to curate.

Don't schedule too far in advance

The best content is going to be relevant and topical, otherwise it will be old news that your audience is less likely to engage with.

So while it may be tempting to schedule a whole month’s worth of content, I advise against it. You should pair your own content with similar breaking news stories for the best effect, which means working a few days ahead of schedule at most.

Hire a part-time, virtual, Content Curator!

Within three weeks of starting, she has put together a comprehensive strategic plan represented by a compelling Gantt Chart. Now we can see where we are headed and feel confident that we won’t get lost or overwhelmed.

With a ton of past content to mine for gems and an equal number of ideas for the future, having someone to focus on this specific aspect of our growing business, which provides legal services to small businesses, has been a big weight off our shoulders.