Ten years ago, we conducted a poll on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ (remember that?) asking a single question: what is content?
Obviously, it was a loaded question even back then. In 2013, we shared the 40+ answers we received from a wide range of marketing experts to demonstrate how broad and full of potential the world of content marketing is. Their answers are preserved below, so you can look back at how content definitions have changed in the past decade (and how they haven’t).
But first, it’s worth overviewing some of the general trends that surfaced in this exercise, and what they tell us about how content is defined today.
What is content? Ten years ago, definitions varied
When we first reviewed the answers we received, we noticed a few prominent patterns to the responses. Broadly, we could even sort the responses into three categories. According to marketing thought leaders of 2013, content was either:
- Practical and informational
- Experiential and use-based, or …
- Simply too ambiguous to define any which way
Despite content marketing’s evolution in the decade since, what stands out about reading back through these responses in 2023 is just how much they got right. In fact, revisiting these experts’ insights proves an excellent opportunity to reflect on how much content marketing has stayed the same – especially when it comes to how to use it to make a real difference to our audiences.
Below are the 40+ responses we received from our original poll in 2013. When we first wrote about these results, we wanted to provide perspective on what the future of content might look like by asking the people who were thinking about it all the time. Ironically, revisiting their responses now only makes the exercise even more valuable.
Content is Information (practical, functional, tactical)
@ MeetTheBossTV – Content is: engaging, relevant, reliable, interesting, entertaining or enlightening in the form of text, image, video or audio.
Heidi Cohen G+ – Content is high quality, useful information that conveys a story presented in a contextually relevant manner with the goal of soliciting an emotion or engagement. Delivered live or asynchronously content can be expressed using a variety of formats including text, images, video, audio and/or presentations. When used for marketing purposes, content should incorporate the organization’s branding, be void of any form of promotion, and use a call-to-action to be trackable.
Scott Hepburn G+ – Information designed for consumption, seasoned for enjoyment, and packaged to share.
Bryan Eisenberg (Facebook) – Think of Web content as the public conversation that happens between you and the visitor, whether the conversation is one-way (from you to the visitor), two-way (between the visitor and you), or conversation among visitors.
@ derekhalpern – Content comes in any form (audio, text, video), and it informs, entertains, enlightens, or teaches people who consume it.
Courtney Ramirez G+ – It’s the stuff you publish – which covers writing, visuals, video, presentations – etc. It can be published on blogs, webpages, social accounts, etc.
@ dogwalkblog – words, photos, video, sound
Kevin Cain G+ – Content is a compilation of information, ideas, and messages that are translated into some kind of written, visual, or audible format for others to consume.
David Erickson (Facebook) – Relevant, compelling, timely and valued knowledge and/or entertainment.
Evyenia Wilkins G+ – Content is anything you produce that your audience can consume with its senses.
@ bigboxcar – Content is anything produced & published either sporadically or planned. And this content can be used to then create more content.
Sarah Webster Worsham (Facebook) – Content is something that provides information to the viewer/reader/etc. Good content provides value.
@ MjGlobalCom – foto, video, blog, infographic, interview, article, montage, editorial, review, mashup, meme, story, song, how-to, lists, tips
@ contenttribe – Information that is useful, has a context, easy to consume, device agnostic, shareable and non intrusive.
Todd Greene G+ – Simple: Information. Good, or bad
@ _nicoleespears – Original and opinion-charged copy with a focused message and personalized voice.
@ scotcarlson – Information –designed for consumption & further distribution across the web (ideally includes multimedia and sharing elements).
Charlene Burke G+ – Content fills a space. The space defines the type of content.
@ derekedmond – any medium designed to execute a message. Could be text, video, image, audio, etc
@ lifewithlevi – Quality words that make sense. Whether humorous, informational, or advertorial, content needs to be relevant AND engaging.
@ brettasnyder – Content is any form of authentic communication b/t a business owner & audience that serves to solve a problem/help the audience
@ JLBraaten – I’d define content as information presented on the web
Content is Experience (Useful, Purposeful, Outcome Oriented)
Avinash Kaushik G+ – Content is anything that adds value to the reader’s life. It can add value by making them smarter, making them laugh, making them do their job better, rush to their child to share the video, make a contribution to a charity.
Vincent Green G+ – I am content on a warm summer’s night with a roaring fire in the pit and some cool beer. Some scotch & cigars to close. Content in the fact that my content is generating. Mmmmmmmmm
Mike Grehan (Facebook) – I wish we’d stop talking about content – manure is content and so is cold porridge… not many people want to consume it though! How about creating an “experience” as opposed to content?
Kathryn Aragon G+ – Content is any information that builds trust and authority among your ideal customers.
@ jillvan – Think of your brand as having legs. The left leg, content, makes people care. The right leg is delivering on your brand promise.
Joan Damico G+ – Content is any communication in any medium that serves a purpose, whether it be to influence, educate, inform, warn, express one’s self or spark conversation within a given context.
Joe Pulizzi G+ – Compelling information that informs, engages or amuses.
Chris Baggott (Facebook) – An element that engages a person
Lyndon NA G+ – Anything on a URL that can be used (be it read, looked at, downloaded or interacted with).
Brian Massey G+ – My definition of content is “information with a purpose for a targeted audience.” Information may be text, video, audio, photos, etc. Purpose might be to educate, entertain, or persuade (convert).
@ connell_vs_life – Relevant information – whether it be written or auditory or visual that someone wants to digest, and dissect and experience.
Dan Bischoff G+ – Such a broad question. Could be spam, could be some technical writing on the back of a product, could be ad copy, etc. In marketing, what it should be is: anything that creates brand advocacy, leads potential customers down the conversion path, or nurtures leads and current customers.
@ brianhalligan – Content: units of visual or auditory info that drive reactions by telling stories, asking questions, or supporting conclusions
Kevin Dugan G+ – Content is broadly defined because it’s changing. I think the definition is the issue and the opportunity. It’s also defined differently based on your background. Content is the monkey in the middle of the audience and the outcome. Yeah, Zen, right?
Barry Feldman G+ – I’ll simply say: the answers to customers’ questions
Andrew Johnson G+ – Content is anything created to be engaging, clever, insightful, beautiful and intelligent, and should fundamentally connect with your target audience.
“Content” is Too Ambiguous to Define
Matthew T. Grant G+ – Lee – your question, and many of the answers, highlights what is problematic about the term “content”. If one can reasonably begin a response with “Content is anything…” then content isn’t anything in particular. “Content,” in the end, is the generic binary term to “form,” where form could be a physical form—a box, a jar, a bottle—or a conventional form of media—a video, a show, an essay, a blog post, a play, a novel. Thus, I like the definitions above that basically say “content=information,” in the sense that content is the stuff that goes in various forms.
Olivier Blanchard (Facebook) – The thing about the term “content” is that it’s just vague enough to mean everything and anything, which is to say it doesn’t mean anything at all. It’s essentially a word that means “stuff to fill an empty space with.” It could be photos, video, marketing copy, thorough analysis, poetry, farts, vacuous nonsense, cat hair or cheese cubes. The only thing it hints at is that there is a finite volume of the space it must fill. Ironically, the word itself is a vessel for more content: Here’s an empty word. Now fill it with meaning.
Tom Webster (Facebook) – I’ve always hated the term, to be honest. It reminds me of the eternal cereal box disclaimer: contents may settle due to handling.
10 years later: How do YOU define “content”?
Did you notice how many of these experts objected to the idea of calling what they did “content” at all? Even back then, marketers were growing tired of the stigma of genericism surrounding the term and its applications.
While the name has (for better or worse) clearly stuck around, we’d like to think this attitude has, too: Content may be a lot of things, but GOOD content is never “just” content. Instead, it’s an “experience” or “educating and entertaining information sharing” or “anything created to be insightful, beautiful, or intelligent.”
In 2024, we’re all swimming in more content – and content marketing – than ever before. Even beyond all of the interesting insights we can glean from reexamining these responses knowing what we know now, maybe the most important takeaway from these answers is the chance to remind ourselves of what content can be, rather than just what it is.
Even back in 2013, experts wanted their content to be more than just consumable. They wanted it to connect with their audience, provide valuable insights and information, and make their brands stand out. It’s a goal that’s only become more relevant 10 years later.
What did you take away from these responses? How do you think content has changed in the ten years since we asked for them? How has it stayed the same? Did revisiting these responses change how you’re thinking about content right now?
Perhaps most importantly, how would you define content in 2024? And what do you think it might look like in 2034? We’ll ask you again then!
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