A Week of Content: The Top Stories from the Web 2nd Edition

A Week of Content is part of Content Heroes curation strategy. Here, we celebrate the best stories from around the web that talk about content marketing, writing, and anything in-between.

This week, we have picked four stories that have stood out to us – some are valuable and insightful, whilst others are provocative and link-worthy.

Check out our favourite content picks from around the web below, or grab the entire list as a readlist.

If you enjoy this weeks picks, you’ll love last weeks‘.

The Line Of Least Resistance

by Sorin Pintilie on Smashing Magazine.

Smashing Magazine is great. My e-mail address is currently signed up to 107 blogs and websites for updates. As you can expect, as a content marketer, I’ve fine-tuned who I receive e-mail from so that anything that lands in my inbox is either a) from a respected website or b) from somebody I know personally or professionally.

I don’t check out all of these websites everyday, but among the ones I catch up with regularly, Smashing Magazine is included. Why? There’s just something about their content that I like.

This week, the stand out article for me is The Line of Least Resistance. Written by Sorin Pintilie, this editorial talks about human behaviour, and how one of our natural instincts is to be lazy. Basically, we like to take the shortest path – the path of least resistance.

The write-up is full of fantastic information, quotes, and it sums up with a very important point – context is everything.

Top 10 Marketing Mishaps of 2013

by Rachel Barnes on Marketing Magazine.

This year we have seen some exceptional content marketing – the likes of Coca Cola, IKEA, Red Bull and John Lewis have produced a level of marketing that others brands can only hope to achieve.

Of course, we have seen some catastrophic marketing too.

Remember Hyundai’s suicide advert? How about the horsemeat scandal? This year, it hasn’t just been global brands that have fallen foul of the public eye, either, because the Government has too – think ‘In the UK illegally? GO HOME OR FACE ARREST’.

In our eyes, the biggest upset of the year came from Johnnie Walker, who decided it would be a good idea to bring Bruce Lee back to life with CGI to promote its label in China. It ended up offending millions of people and coincided with the 40th anniversary of the stars death. Not good, Walker.

Bruce Lee didn’t even drink alcohol…

15 Psychological Triggers to Convert Leads into Customers

by Akshay Nanavati on KISSmetrics.

The most valuable story we have read this week has been from the KISSmetrics blog. One of the biggest issues faced by business owners online is converting leads into customers. I myself have been victim to this. Nanavati’s article talks about the driving forces behind human behaviour and how you can use emotional response to your advantage. There’s lots of advice and a lot of experience in this article, and the best part is each heading has its own actionable takeaway.

For me, the best point in the article is ‘inspiring curiosity’. Curiosity inspires action, and it is one of the most powerful emotional responses which will get your leads to act.

If you struggle to convert your leads into customers, this is an article you should definitely check out.

Will Content Marketing’s Future Look More Like LinkedIn Pulse?

by Matthew Kumin on Clickz.

LinkedIn is not the greatest platform for content marketing in my opinion. Its core function, to be a social network for professionals, limits its ability in this area. However, back in April, LinkedIn acquired Pulse (an incredibly popular news reader available on the web and mobile) for $90 million in stock and cash.

The aim of LinkedIn’s buyout was to improve the way in which the company delivers content to its users. The story on Clickz is all about the future of content marketing and how purposeful content that zeroes in on your customer’s specific needs helps you gain a deeper level of engagement and develop customer loyalty.

This is an in-depth piece that has lots of value in it.

Loving these posts?

Tune in next week for the next four and follow us on Twitter @Content_Hero for more great shares.