WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS THING CALLED CONTENT?

The latest buzz Content and Content Marketing?

Content and content marketing was the focus of Amelia Torode's DM to me on twitter this morning asking -

"Had quick question, I am writing a feature on "content" - when you use the word (if you do) what exactly do you mean by that? Hope all good!"

 I've been thinking a lot about the latest trend of content marketing because it has been so important as a driver of quality traffic for ALLOW.I define content as anything that I can create or co-create that engages with an audience. I exclude our product features per se although talking about our product features and content associated with them is part of our content marketing strategy. We use content frequently to educate our audience and exemplify the need for our product, we also use it to explore issues with the community of interest that we have gathered around ALLOW.The results have been outstanding. Content led visitors to the site spend over 5 minute which is 300% better than PPC or display. They are more likely to convert. The best audience conversion comes through social media backed up by organic SEO. We have tried many different types of content and all work well, with video being a particularly strong performer but even the standard blog post (image + text) is effective.We seek to share our opinion, progress, news and education through our content and we keep sales messaging to a real minimum if at all.Content and content marketing works in my opinion because it is a gift from your brand to your audience. It shows you want to engage, share and give back. It's part of a strategy moving from mass communications to mass interactions which I talk about in my trust building book - Why Should Anyone Buy From You?Got a comment? What is your content strategy?CopyBlogger as always is ahead of the game for content marketing - it's a great guide.Thanks to Amelia for prompting this post.Justin