I recently went to a conference where a big financial company showcased its new automated content curation system. Their solution to the content marketing challenge that many companies face is to hire an outside firm to gather the best financial services content from the web and display it on their site as a value-added service for customers.
On the surface, this seems like a very elegant solution. I mean, why spend the time and money to create original content when you can curate unlimited content from the web and present it as your own customer portal? An intoxicating idea.
This is a popular trend but it is also problematic because it flies in the face of other marketing considerations …
1. Why should I trust you with my news?
If I really am interested in this subject matter, there are thousands of other places I can get the same thing. The fact that this company is curating the content makes me inherently distrustful that it is going to be complete and unbiased information.
2. Whose problem are you solving?
What makes this company specially suited to create this content? Nothing. They are actually outsourcing the job to an algorithm. They don’t add any unique value to the process, so they aren’t meeting MY content needs. They are just fulfilling THEIR need to publish something and tick off the content marketing requirement or possibly boost their SEO, but are they really addressing a customer’s need?
3. One size does not fit all
The company serves consumers, retail institutions and other banks. Those are threes distinct customer segments with wildly different content needs. Yet there is only one news feed. How is one content stream going to address the information needs of all three market segments in a meaningful way?
4. It’s all about customization
Taking it down to an individual level, one of the big mega-trends is customization. We want it our way. Even the idea that something CAN be customized is more appealing than one product that is supposed to be for everybody. I want to tweak and filter my personal news stream, not just accept what somebody else thinks is important.
5. Human or machine?
This company was turning over its content marketing to a company who had developed a software program to curate the content. At that point, content is not king, it is a commodity. There is no value-add. Further, trusting your consumer messaging to a machine is probably a problem waiting to happen.
While these observations came to mind in my conversation with the banking executive, these concerns are probably relevant for anybody considering a content curation strategy.
Now, there are certainly very legitimate uses for content curation when it is coming from a true trusted authority and its really helping customers navigate through an overwhelming amount of information.
But before jumping on the content curation bandwgon, take a step back and look at what you are really trying to accomplish. What are the possible risks versus benefits of creating (and controlling) what is showing up in your company’s content stream?
What are your thoughts on the plusses and minuses of content curation?
Image: Gushing fire hydrant by Joseph Robertson