#content win

What makes content curation successful? Usefulness.

At its essence, good curation comes down to acting as a filter; it's about helping your audience discover new, interesting content that's relevant to their interests.

Under Armour's Twitter account (@UnderArmour; 424k followers) is a great example of this sort of useful content curation. The athletic clothing and accessories manufacturer features plenty of brand-building posts—photos of shoes, athletes, and inspirational quotes—but it also often highlights utilitarian content as well.

These pieces—such as recipes and work-out tips—aren't necissarily directly related to the products, but they reinforce the importance of health and exercise. They're also truly useful, which helps in the long-run to build brand affinity.

Here are a couple examples of recent tweets from the company's account:

5 MUSCLE-BUILDING BREAKFASTS: Chow down on these protein-packed morning meals: http://t.co/3cwPElY2le pic.twitter.com/UOQthHDUkK

— Under Armour (@UnderArmour)

January 13, 2015

Get inspired. Try out these helpful tips on how you can make meal prep easier: http://t.co/p4i0heXqbo pic.twitter.com/K859lDoQCF

— Under Armour (@UnderArmour)

A few weeks ago we asked Joe Chernov, VP of Content at HubSpot, which brand he thinks is producing inspirational content marketing. His choice was The First Round Review, which he called "one of the smartest blogs on the Internet."

After hearing Chernov’s high praise we took a closer look at the site and quickly realized why he loves it so much.

The blog is published by a VC group, First Round Capital, but it doesn’t feel like a company mouthpiece at all. There is no overt praising of the firm or bland press releases. Instead, there are stories and pieces of actionable advice from knowledgeable start-up experts.

The content is read and frequently shared because it is truly useful. The pieces aren’t vague or filled with buzzwords; they’re engaging, well-written, and help to solve real problems the intended audience is struggling with. 

The key to the blog’s success can be seen immediately on the homepage. Rather than featuring the latest story or most shared pieces first, there is a big link to the manifesto.

The details of the manifesto, like the rest of the blog, are lucid and intelligent:

We'll get out of the way and let experts speak directly to you about what they believe is most important. (That's why we choose not to use bylines.)

Every article will serve up tactics that you can use today to change your company and your career.

We will never be boring. The stories you find on here are crafted to teach, to engage and to stick.