Buzz Words Be Damned! High Quality Content Has Always Been Curated.

By Leslie Billera

Last month, NPR’s Scott Simon eloquently mused over the current use – and in his mind, overuse – of the word “curate” in a witty commentary on the subject.

Simon notes that ‘curate’ has been stolen from museum walls and applied to everything from cosmetics to music in what he dubs “curate abuse.”

He is right, of course.

As Simon reminds us, curate means to: “choose, present and preserve items of value.”

When it comes to your personal or corporate brand, there’s nothing more valuable than content.

High Value Content: Why It Counts

“We have put more resources and dollars into creating content than anything else in my department,” said Linda Boff, General Electrics’ Director of Global Digital Marketing, at this year’s October 2 Executive Marketing Summit.

Boff went on to say that GE’s ever-evolving content calendar includes an investment in long-term content that “has legs for a long time.”

Putting significant financial resources behind content doesn’t come naturally to all companies, but smart brands like General Electric know that placing a dollar value on content is an investment in keeping the GE brand positioned the way they want to be perceived.

A company’s content is the high octane jet fuel of their brand. You can’t move forward, let alone fly high, without it.

Whether it’s tweeted in under 140 characters, filmed for YouTube or written in long or short form (bylines, case studies, Q&A’s, etc.), quality content is critical. Whip speed social media included, words still matter.

The Art and Science of Curating Content

When done well, curating content matches up with the Simon’s definition of the word:

• Choose: Choosing the right type of content (video, social media, magazine article, etc.) to best express your point is important. Think strategically to ensure you make the right choices and use your resources wisely.
  • This concept can also be applied to word choice: choosing the right words – and stringing them together – is indeed an art (albeit an all-to-often under-appreciated one).
• 
  Present: This is the actionable part – from technical content to video to snappy marketing copy, you need to create and present your message in a way that cuts through the clutter, reflects the tone of your brand identity and makes an impact.
• 
  Preserve:  Preserving your reputation – and that of your brand – is driven by high quality content. A vast cache of quality content can achieve numerous goals, from increasing your Google search placement to impressing a prospect.

Hail to the Chief (Content Officer)!

“When it comes to content, it’s about creation, curation and dissemination,” says Michelle Pittman, JCPR’s Chief Content Officer.

We live by this mantra at JCPR. Create the right brand content; curate it to include the perfect brand attributes, strike the right tone, and always be accurate; and disseminate it to the people who need to know about it.

After all, if JCPR didn’t deeply believe in the power of full-bodied, high quality content, we certainly wouldn’t have a Chief Content Officer, let alone a team of expert scribes at the ready.

And fear not: if you haven’t invested in content to date, it’s never too late to curate.

Tags: Writing, content, Brand