Scroll… scroll… scroll… stop. Read. Think. Laugh. Come away a tiny bit better off.

What made you stop and read that tweet, that Instagram post, or that LinkedIn update? We each see 50 bazillion status updates per day and we can only read a handful of them. If you're paying good money to put out content for your company, don't you want someone to actually look at it? Click To Tweet

In a fast-paced, content-hungry world, the worst thing you do is write like: blah, blah, blah. Words matter so choose them well.

So, What Should I Post?

If your company has lots of visually stimulating, cool, cute or evocative stuff going on every day, you’re lucky. Maybe you run an animal shelter or a zip line business. Try not to rub it in.

Most companies spend each day making a fantastic product or providing an invaluable service; it’s just not so easy to see. Maybe you’re a law firm, a SaaS company, or a managed IT provider. Customers need you — badly — but it’s a real challenge to illustrate your activity in a Facebook post. Besides, you don’t have time to snap photos all day or otherwise author amazing, original content.

The solution for many companies, especially those in the B2B space, is to curate content that demonstrates your thought leadership. Show that you read industry journals and follow prominent experts. Share their content and add your own thoughtful insights.

That last part is crucial but often overlooked. Let’s say it again: Add your own thoughtful insights. To succeed with curated content you need to contribute to the conversation.

Remember writing book reports for school? You weren't supposed to just recap what happened in the book. You were supposed to show some kind of fresh insight. #dontbeboring Click To TweetApply the same concept here. Show that you’ve actually read the article or watched the video that you’re sharing. Below, we share some examples of how not to write boring lead-ins for curated content.

Boring vs. Engaging Lead-ins

Below are some examples of real social media lead-ins for curated content. Here are some things to look for as you read them:

• Evoking emotions to hold interest
• Asking questions to spur engagement
• Tagging other users to increase reach and invoke authority
•  Providing just enough useful information to warrant a click-through

A lead-in for an estate planning checklist:

Boring option:

Some people won’t want to talk about estate planning, but it is reality and it’s better to be prepared.

Better option:

Step 1: Get the whole family together and tell them why they’re there. You don’t want to blindside anyone with this awkward topic! #estateplanning #estateplanningchecklist

A lead-in for an article about why small manufacturers should consider cloud solutions: 

Boring:

Cloud computing isn’t just for the office. See how manufacturers are using it. 

Better option:

Who wouldn’t love to reduce costly downtime? That’s just one of the benefits your small manufacturing business will reap by switching to cloud-hosted IT. What are the others? #manufacturing #cloudsolutions

A lead-in to an article about the importance of networking to your job search:

Boring:

It used to be a great resume would be what gets you in the door for an interview. Now, your connections and how they talk about you is how you land an interview.

Better option:

It used to be a great resume got you in the door for an interview. But according to @gary_burnison of @Korn_Ferry, you should seek out someone who works for the company and establish a rapport with them. Networking is everything! https://bit.ly/2t1CZle #jobsearch

A lead-in to an article about why corporate culture is crucial for retention:

Boring:

A positive corporate culture can attract employees who stay for the long run. Did you know it can also increase revenue?

Better option:

A new study from @GrantThorntonUS and @OxfordEconomics ties corporate culture directly to revenue growth. If you’re retaining employees for 6 years or more, on average, you’re likely in good shape. If not…

Make it Personal if You Can

When you post as the voice of a company you don’t always get to speak in first-person or express personal views. However, if you are a recognized face/voice of your brand, go for it! Keep it positive but insightful. You could say things like, “This writer makes a great point about X, but I would have also mentioned Y, wouldn’t you?”

A Word on Images

Here we’ve focused on writing only. Naturally, images play a major role in attracting attention to your social media posts. Most of the time, when you’re sharing content from others, the social platform will go ahead and populate the image using something from the source. The results may or may not work well. If you use Sprout Social or other scheduling platforms, you can upload your own images. There is much to say about choosing good images and about how images and words work together. However, we will save that for another article!