Products & Launches · 3 min read
How to Launch a Content Curation Program for Your Brand
Short answer
A brand curation program needs a clear goal and audience, a shared source list, written rules for what you share and how you credit it, a weekly workflow with named owners, a light approval step and a monthly review of what worked.
Key takeaways
- Write the goal and the audience down before choosing sources.
- Editorial rules prevent most problems: what you never share, how you credit, who approves.
- A shared source list keeps the program running when people are away.
- Review monthly: which links, sources and comments got responses.
Many brands curate informally: someone shares a good article now and then. A program makes it consistent, so the account stays useful every week and doesn't depend on one person remembering.
What should the program achieve?
One clear goal, written down, that every curated post serves.
Examples: "Be the account our customers check for the week's best advice on bookkeeping." "Keep our community informed about changes in accessibility law." The goal decides which sources to trust, what to skip and how to measure success.
Who is it for?
One audience description that's specific enough to say no with.
"Owners of small accounting firms in the US" lets you skip enterprise software news and celebrity finance tips. Keep it next to the goal.
What rules should you write?
A short editorial page covering what you share, what you never share, how you credit and who approves.
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| Share | Practical advice, research, regulation changes, good tools |
| Never share | Competitors' sales pages, unverified claims, political content, anything we haven't read |
| Credit | Author's X handle, "via @handle" for whoever led us to it |
| Comment | Every link gets one line of our own |
| Mix | About 60% curated, 30% original, 10% promotion |
| Approval | Second reader checks posts on sensitive topics before they go out |
Where do the links come from?
A shared source list of trusted accounts, sites and keywords, saved and exported so the whole team can use it.
Build it in the Crate Builder, export it as JSON, and keep the file somewhere the team can find it. Anyone covering for the owner can import it and pick up where they left off. How to build a source list covers choosing sources.
What does a week look like?
Daily reading, batched writing, a quick review and scheduled posting.
- Daily, 15 minutes: open the crate, save candidates.
- Twice a week: write comments for the best candidates in the Share Queue.
- Before posting: a second reader checks anything sensitive.
- Scheduling: fill in dates and times, export the CSV for your scheduler, or post by hand.
- Weekly: check the mix against your target in the Content Mix Planner.
How do you launch it?
Start with a month's trial, announce nothing, and review at the end.
You don't need to announce a curation program. Just start. After a month, review which curated posts led to replies, saves or clicks, which sources they came from and which kinds of comments worked. Keep the rules that helped, change the ones that didn't, and set the next month's ratio.
How do you measure it?
Replies, saves and clicks on curated posts, and whether the audience starts sending you links.
The strongest sign that curation is working is when followers start tagging you in things they think you'd share. That means they see the account as a place good work goes.
What can go wrong, and how do you prevent it?
Sharing something inaccurate or off-brand, a program that stops when one person is away, and a slow slide into all promotion.
Each has a simple safeguard. A second reader for sensitive topics catches most accuracy and tone problems. A shared, exported source list and written rules let anyone keep the program going. A monthly check of the posting mix against your target shows drift before followers notice it.
If a mistake does go out, correct it publicly and quickly. A brand that owns its errors keeps more trust than one that deletes and hopes nobody saw.
Questions
Can a brand share competitors' content?
Sometimes. Sharing a competitor's genuinely useful educational content can build trust. Most brands set a rule against sharing competitors' product or sales pages.
Who should run curation in a small team?
One owner who reads daily and writes the posts, with a second person as backup and reviewer. Rotate if the load is shared.
How many curated posts should a brand publish?
Enough to keep the account useful between original posts, often one to three a day. Set a ratio and stick with it for a month before adjusting.
Should curated posts mention that they're curated?
There's no need for a label. Crediting the author and writing your own line makes it clear whose work it is.