At the heart of our social media approach is creating content which resonates with our audience, so we can build relationships and trust. But, let’s face it, we’re not all writers or graphic designers. Sometimes the most practical approach is to find content from others to share with our audience. There’s a skill to being an expert curator of content – but the challenge for many is “where do I find content?”

I’ve got a few ideas. Let’s go.

Leverage your community

You might find you’re already part of vibrant Facebook or Linked In communities. See what content people are sharing.

Either use those as a news source or check out those sites and bookmark them for yourself to get a bank of sites which create awesome content for your audience.

Otherwise, search Facebook for your industry and see what groups pop up!

Forums

Reddit’s front page might be tough to wade through for industry-specific news, but you’d be surprised how often there are thriving communities around niche topics within subreddits. Also, check out linked or related subreddits to make sure you’re covering all of your sources.

As an extension to this, depending on your industry, you might find a classic old-school forum exists which has great content. It’s always worth seeing if large catch-all forums like Whirlpool have topics which relate to your industry and can be used for inspiration.

RSS it up

Sometimes the fastest way to get across the latest news is to subscribe to your favourite blogs and websites using and RSS reader, rather than waiting to come across content by chance on social media. This means that you’re always on the front foot of the latest news.

To find sites to subscribe to, look through sites you’ve shared on social media in the past as a starting point and add them to your preferred RSS reader, like Feedly.

Key dates

If you’re looking for content ideas, you might find content around key dates is a useful source.

Each month, I list the upcoming key dates for inspiration in your content calendar, so you can use these as a starting point. Perhaps it’s Halloween, Christmas, or Star Wars Day – see what content people have created in the past about it, whether you’re using Google or Pinterest.

You might find that there’s an article or a blog with some content which is perfect for your community.

Filter the feed

There are quite a few services which show you trending news, like BuzzSumo and Alltop. But sometimes your niche means that these global trends aren’t always relevant.

Nuzzel is an email service which looks at the key stories the people you’re following on Twitter are all sharing – which means you can see the key industry issues being talked about.

Inbox it

Your inbox can be your special place to get the best content.

Email newsletters should be the best of the best content from a site, so use newsletters to help you filter out the best content from a site. If you’re subscribed to newsletters from sites like Medium, it also personalises your content based on people you follow and topics you’re interested in, so you’re sent just the most relevant articles.

Hashtags

If your industry has a common set of hashtags or there are thematic hashtags associated with your industry (e.g. #inspiration), then regularly sweep Twitter and Instagram for hashtags which suit your business.

If you’re going to Regram on Instagram, ensure you credit the original creator of the work.

Analytics

Often we share content on the fly and don’t always think of them as content sources we can mine regularly. But look at the content you’ve shared over the past few months on social media with new eyes.

In fact, export your Twitter or Facebook Page analytics and see which posts have been shared or interacted with the most by your followers or community. Perhaps those are the best websites to subscribe to via RSS or newsletter so you don’t miss a post.

Related Post: The Surprising Ways Your Analytics Can Inspire New Content Ideas

Reframe your thinking

You might already have access to all of these content sources. You will be part of Facebook communities, hang out on Instagram, have newsletters in your inbox.

It’s really now about thinking about the story you want to tell about your business – what culture and community do you want to create? – and finding content to reflect that.

You might well already have access to all of these things for your personal use, but perhaps it’s time to change your perspective and consider how it can also be used for your business, too.

Any other nifty sources I’ve missed? Let me know in the comments!

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Want to work with Rachel?

Rachel Beaney is a writer and social media content specialist, helping businesses connect with their audiences.

She’s worked with local, national and global companies, in addition to not-for-profits and government bodies. She loves helping businesses tell their stories with creative and data-driven solutions.

She is based in Sydney, Australia.

Want to work together? Rachel would love to hear from you. Get in touch today.