As bloggers/marketers/service providers we want the public to talk about us. We want a conversation between us and the consumer of our information or product, and user generated content is a vital part of the conversation.

Frank Strong from CopyBlogger offered this advice from his post “Why Content Marketing is the New Branding.”:

The essence of a brand lies within its meaning. And words have meaning. Words matter.

Strong points out that “content is currency,” an easily forgotten idea even in a community of active online contributors. Though we may be generating content ourselves, if the content is not moving and being shared, then the content is not accruing value. Successful branding now requires that there be a healthy conversation with consumers, so it’s important to know what methods of conversing are more likely to be disseminated and talked about by the consumer.

There is always a slight sense of terror when reading a brilliant blog post that has been posted for three weeks, only to find that no one has commented on the brilliance. Any comment is better than no comment because someone is reading and engaging the conversation. The most-followed blogs don’t answer every question or present every angle in one post. They prompt us to ask, remark and join the conversation.

Other top stories in social-media marketing:

1. Crowdfunding is becoming a more widely recognized idea to help a small spark ignite the support of the masses. Check out Tech Crunch and Search Engine Watch’s ideas for using crowdfunding in different markets.
2. Brian Solis interviewed David Batstone, president of Not For Sale, a nonprofit dedicated to ending human trafficking. The video interview shares what it’s like for nonprofits to compete for attention in a media flooded world.
3. SEOmoz Blog offers some great insight into using Google AdWords.
4. Search Engine Roundtable comments on Google’s recent announcement regarding exact-match domains.