Best Designs of the Year, 2013 Content Predictions, Social Media Sins

The Strategist picks the day’s most relevant and interesting stories about the world of content from around the web. Here’s what you should be reading today:

Best Content Designs of 2012

NewsCred profiles the best brands in content design of this past year.

The list includes Perrier, which has a green-colored website with a spacious layout and a scrolling system that copies the shape of a Perrier bottle. There’s also the Kate Spade website, which is sleek and expertly blurs the content and marketing lines, and The Cut, New York Magazine’s style blog that “takes the large, editorial feel of a fashion magazine and brings it to the digital era.”

Other winners are Mercedes Benz, Coca-Cola, Whole Foods, and Red Bull.

Content Marketing Predictions for 2013

Business2Community’s Amanda Nelson gave her predictions about what will happen with content marketing in 2013.

She says that brands will try to newsjack stories to generate media coverage, that more companies are going to hire chief content officers, and that more visual content, such as infographics, ebook covers, and videos will be released.

Blogging won’t just be for blogging anymore, but for developing leads and creating sales opportunities, and content will be shorter and in smaller bursts.

Sins of Social Media Content
ClickZ’s Lee Odden reports on the biggest mistakes marketers make when creating social content. He says that the content should not be all about the company.

Instead, he says, “Business marketers can achieve much better success with social content by empathizing with customer needs, interests, goals, and pain points.”

To receive feedback and shares, a brand must give to their followers before expecting to get. If a brand isn’t analyzing the content they are putting out, then it’s pretty much of waste of time and an overlooking of optimization opportunities.

LA Times and Chicago Tribune in Block

According to the New York Times, Tribune, which just got out of bankruptcy protection, is expected to sell its properties, The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribute. It is most likely that the Tribune will sell its newspapers together rather than individually.

A prospective buyer might be Aaron Kushner, who is the chief executive of Freedom Communications and publisher of California’s Orange County Register.

Resolutions for Independent Workers in 2013

Forbes’ Carol Tice gives suggestions that every “solopreneur” should follow in 2013.

Making a business efficient is absolutely necessary. If a task can be outsourced, it should be. Freelancers need to research rates in their niches and figure out what they are worth as well. Collaboration with other solopreneurs is essential.

Since independent workers don’t go into offices, they need to make their own connections in order to sustain and grow their careers.

What Marketers Can Take from the Media

Mashable’s Stacy Martinet writes about what marketers can learn from the media going into the new year.

Companies need to fully integrate, combine departments, and get the best talent in the social media, marketing, and public relations sectors to work together and achieve the same goals.

Brands have to make sure a rapid response is in place in case a campaign goes wrong, and follow it up with a Plan B. Design is a huge draw for consumers as visual popularity (including Pinterest and Instagram) rise. Websites and social media sites need to be visually compelling.

The Top 10 Stories of 2012, by AdFreak

AdWeek’s AdFreak brand ranked the top 10 stories on the site this past year. 

Honda put out a Ferris Bueller ad, a father used his scantily clad daughter to sell his car on eBay, and Maxipad came up with a brilliant response to a rant on Facebook.