Good question, similar to "what's a great restaurant" or "what makes for a beautiful woman?" No one right answer and it depends on who the "consumer" is.
My recent post on books for intelligent content marketing shows my preference for psychology and how people think. Obviously, when it comes to writing on the Web for business purposes, you've got to consider the preferences of your readers/clients/prospective buyers.
I'm reading a book called Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, by Sally Hogshead. This is an unbelievably intelligent book that will fascinate your socks off and give you a barrel full of ideas for content marketing.
Fascinate explains the triggers behind viral marketing campaigns. I've never read anything quite like it before. Although many of the stories are familiar to me, Ms. Hogshead puts them into a marketing context.
Whether the book talks about fascinating personalities or products, it's enlightening and useful from a marketing viewpoint.
Here are the 7 triggers that cause us to be fascinated by people and stuff:
