Marketing Interactions

Marketing Beyond the Chit Chat in Social Media

I was just reading a post written by Margie Clayman, Myth: Marketing consists of just talking to people (or what is social media marketing?). Margie asked her community the question What is marketing? to begin to get at the premise for social media marketing beyond those vague terms of "engagement" and questioning how just "talking to people" (if that's the definition of social media marketing) can actually impact the outcome of selling stuff. This is a great topic! Of course, Margie always comes up with great topics for discussion.

Margie's post had me flashing back to the reactions of many people to social media when it first hit the web waves. I remember people saying that they didn't care if someone just ate a PB&J or that they didn't want to hear what their favorite jeans (brand) thought on a regular basis.

That stuff is still out there but I see a lot of evolution in the way people "talk" to people on social media. Then again, I see a lot of people talking for the sake of talking - mostly to themselves, so who knows?

I think that in order to answer the question, What is social media marketing?, we have to back up a bit to why people go online in the first place. Since I focus on B2B marketing, I'm going to limit my perspective to people interacting online for business reasons.

The Quest for Information

Research shows that pretty much all business people start online with search when they are looking for information. If we start there, then we realize that the next step is a query.

A query is based on a question the person want's answered. How they arrive at the answer depends on what phrases or keywords they type into the search field. But it's also critical to understand that "search" has changed with the availability of social platforms. For example, those of us on Twitter often search by hashtags, such as #contentmarketing or #B2B.

On LinkedIn or Focus.com we may ask questions of a community of people interested in the topic on our minds. That's also become a form of search enabled by social platforms.

Social Media Marketing Benefits from Q&A

As human beings, we learn through asking and answering questions. As business people, we have priorities to address and problems to solve to meet objectives. When faced with a problem, the first thing most of us do is ask, How do I fix that? What are my options? Or even, Why should I fix it? Do I really need to?

Robert Rose wrote a fabulous post on How Asking "Why" Can Get You To The Larger Story over on the CMI blog. I also talk about the role and value of questions in my post on content marketing where I wrote about theory vs. practice. Note that questions are way too valuable to only be applied to one facet of marketing. In my opinion, you can use them for just about anything related to marketing and sales.

Applying human nature to social media marketing, B2B marketers will accomplish their goals if they match up their use social media to answering the questions the people who could buy from them are asking.

This takes social media marketing beyond just "talking to people" to actually providing useful information that helps them solve problems by learning what they need to know to do so successfully.

It's the quality and helpfulness of the "talking" that makes the difference, as well as the intention behind it. Although the end goal of marketing must be to sell stuff, the execution must be about providing value your prospects recognize in order to achieve it — whether that's in social media or takes other forms.

Of course, this is only my perspective. What's yours? What does Social Media Marketing mean to you?

Relevance is Not an Option

B2B marketers are focused on lead generation more than they are on lead nurturing. The problem is that without the nurturing, generating leads is merely an exercise in trying to scrape the 10% who may be ready to buy and then dumping the rest into an afterthought category.

Likewise, 78% of marketers say that they're ramping up their social media use this year. One of their main metrics is the number of followers, likes or RSS feed subscriptions they can amass.

The problem with all of this isn't the number of people who click to follow, it's how marketers are going about engaging them.

Take a look at what happens when your messaging isn't perceived as "relevant":

• 49% unsubcribed to email streams they'd opted into previously
• 43% have "unliked" a company on Facebook, 38% due to irrelevance
• 52% have unfollowed a brand on Twitter

[See the report The Social Media Breakup]

Part of what causes this is that companies make assumptions about what customers want via a relationship on social media. A new study by IBM found that the perception gap is likely wider than you think:

 

The study recommends that, "Instead of asking why your company should engage in social media, ask why a customer would choose to interact with your company in a social platform. Recast social interaction strategies to focus on giving customers the value they seek and the customer intimacy will come."

In other words, whether social media, email, blogging, articles, white papers, eBooks, videos, podcasts, etc., the perceived value of the content is what you're being judged on every time. In all cases, just showing up is not going to work.

Before you set your expectations too high, consider that many customers in this study said they chose to interact with brands that they already had a strong relationship with. Perhaps the ramp up strategy for social media should actually be customer nurturing instead of new lead generation. Or, maybe it means using it later in your lead nurturing programs to create cross-over between channels once you've started building that relationship.

Those are just a few things to think about.

But the gist is that we do need to think about them. We need to listen and plan before we engage. We need to decide on which goals are the most appropriate for our company to pursue, given what we hear. And we need to make sure that the experience we offer across all our channels is consistently, well, relevant.

After all, 75% of executives say they believe that reaching out to customers via social media will improve customer advocacy. Unfortunately only 38% of customers agree.

I'd say we have some work to do.

The Biggest Question When Using B2B Social Media

Sometimes I become a bit skeptical when I see the huge uptake in social media by B2B marketers. In fact, recent research by Junta42 and Marketing Profs finds that use of social media is the top B2B tactic in use as identified by 79% of 985 marketers. Unfortunately, only 31% of those marketers said they found it effective.

In a recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services study, only 12% of 2,100 executives say that their companies are using social media effectively.

So what's the biggest question to ask when using B2B social media in marketing?

Will it blend?

It's this disconnect that needs to be corrected before B2B marketers will begin to generate the results that social media--used well--can help them to achieve.

Social Media is Content Marketing.

It's not some offshoot that sits in a silo like a toy to be brought out and used when it suddenly occurs to you:

Oh, I should go Tweet that!

Or post it on Facebook or share it with a LinkedIn group, etc.

Just as there is art and science in creating contagious content that your prospects' value, the same should be applied—in parallel—to social media.

When you create an article or a blog post or any content asset worth sharing, you should also create Tweets and snippets for sharing via your social media accounts. Do it intentionally and during the development of your content.

Look at how it flows from your outward-facing profiles. After all, that's how many people will evaluate whether or not they want to follow you. The click through and scan what you're posting to see if you're—wait for it—interesting and relevant to them.

It's a solid practice to Tweet things more than once as the common theory is that Tweets have a shelf life of about an hour to drive response. However, considering it from a profile perspective, which leaves a better impression:

The Biggest Question When Using B2B Social Media + link [posted 6 hours ago]

The Biggest Question When Using B2B Social Media + link [posted 4 hours ago]

The Biggest Question When Using B2B Social Media + link [posted 2 hours ago]

OR

The Biggest Question When Using B2B Social Media + link [posted 6 hours ago]

Will your social media blend? + link [posted 4 hours ago]

Only 12% of executives say social media is effective - Here's how to change that. + link #HBR [posted 2 hours ago]

You'd be surprised how many profiles look like the first version. Even with a few other RTs and original Tweets, when someone scrolls your profile to evaluate your potential value to them as a news filter, the first version is immediately recognizable and smacks of self-interest.

Imagine what it looks like on your Facebook page if you have your Tweets sync'd to post in both places. Yikes! Facebook is different than Twitter. It deserves a different posting treatment. In fact, be very careful that you don't take the lazy way out and automate all your social media accounts to broadcast the same stuff simultaneously. It's obvious and lazy.

Each destination should have a unique twist, style and presentation. And this can work even if you're posting links to the same content on several platforms. It just requires a bit of thought and planning rather than executing social media as a fait accompli each time you publish new content.

Social media will drive results if you treat it with respect rather than as just another megaphone. Really, no one cares. You need to show them why they should. And that means your social media participation needs to be an inclusive component of your content marketing strategy.

How do your audiences differ from one platform to another?

Or even within the same platform? Are you posting the exact same thing to all 18 groups you belong to on LinkedIn, for example? Some people likely belong to more than one of the groups you do. Have you thought about the impression that makes?

Twitter restricts what you can say to 140 characters. Facebook doesn't. Each group in LinkedIn is created around a specific topic. Establishing the right context is important on all of them.

Oh, and social media is definitely content marketing. Now that marketers are becoming publishers working without a net and outside of our "controlled" web environments, everything we post online is content, leads to more content and is responsible for having an impact on the perception of our company's reputation, credibility, intentions and humanness.

Go take a look at how you're using social media just as others will. Does it blend?

Writing is a Critical B2B Marketing Skill

I was reading an article written by Denny Hatch (a long-time copywriting expert) discussing why professional copywriting is critical for marketing where he shared this story he recalled:

"What do you do?" a guy at a cocktail party was asked.

"I'm a brain surgeon," was the reply. "What do you do?"

"I'm a writer."

"Ah," said the brain surgeon. "I've often thought that when I retire I'd like to try some writing."

"And when I retire," said the writer, "I plan try a little brain surgery."

The story resonated with me for a lot of reasons, but one of them is because I see a lot of B2B marketers without the passion or skill for developing content. I'm not talking about branding or corporate positioning as such. I'm talking about content creation and development that keeps pace with the demands of prospects and customers across their buying process or lifetime relationship with the company.

Writing is a skill. It's a skill that gets rusty if you don't practice it...a lot. The last few years, the role of marketing has changed from that of a conductor to the need to become an active participant. Instead of coordinating external sources for short-term campaign execution, marketers need to take real-time action. That means writing.

Things like blog posts, commenting in discussion groups, sharing on social media, creating articles for nurturing programs, email messaging and more. Sure, you can still outsource writing projects, but some of these arenas for participation require real-time content development with a personalized touch.

For example, if an immediate informational need arises and your agency says - sure, I can have that for you in two weeks - you've just missed an opportunity if you can't step up to the plate and write engaging content that can be published now.

[If you don't believe me, David Meerman Scott just published a book about Real-Time Marketing. Ann Handley's book Content Rules has also just been released making it a bit difficult to ignore the momentum heading in this direction.]

The other consideration is that there are certain mediums that require you to paricipate directly, without the help of a writer. LinkedIn is a case in point. Although not formal, the way you write is still a reflection on both you and your company.

All of this said, here are 4 things I think may be stopping marketers from improving their writing skills:

• Thinking every content asset must be a masterpiece of formatting and graphic design.
• Lack of understanding that short article formats work well if the content provides meaty, useful insights. An 800 word, tightly-focused article is more than ample for engagement and asks for less time than a bigger piece. Your prospects and customers are crazy-busy. You know that, right?
• Not knowing buyers and customers well enough to write for them — being unsure how to flip focus from company and products to address their needs can be a huge obstacle marketers need to overcome.
• Unsure of where to start. Think of this as blank-page syndrome that results from a lack of content strategy.
• Being crazy-busy yourselves.

Yes, that last one will likely rise to the top. But here's the thing. Writing isn't optional. If marketers are going to succeed with content marketing and marketing on the Internet, we're going to have to close the writing gap and step up.

Marketing is driven by content. The Internet, publishing technology and social media will only demand more fuel (content) to feed the beast. Your best plan of action is to start tuning up your keyboards and flex those writing muscles. You're going to need them in top form to create competitive advantage for your company.

B2B Lead Nurturing and Social Media

I'm hearing a lot of questions and conversations about Social Media as something that's a stand alone from lead nurturing and demand gen. I'm getting really irritated by all the people who say they can't 100% prove it works so therefore ROI doesn't exist.The basic contention being that there's a lot of activity going on, but not many results to be seen.

In a LinkedIn discussion, I posted this response a few months ago to try and lay out a more integrated way of looking at the role I see social media playing within an integrated marketing strategy. I thought it might be useful to share it here.

See what you think:

If I might suggest an alternative way to look at lead generation and social media. Social media is more of an awareness and interest generator, than it is a lead generator. This said, I think determining contribution depends on how far back you can monitor.

For example, LinkedIn is one of the top referrers to my blog. It's right up there with Twitter and Facebook. I have generated a number of very nice deals in the last two years from prospects who contact me after reading my blog. When I speak with them I learn they originally received exposure to my work through one of these networks.

The best strategy is linking everything you (your company) do together. It's not so much about one interaction/distribution option as it is that they all work together and eventually lead prospects back to your own web properties - whether blog or website (or both). The kicker is to have the right content available at all locations that encourages them to seek out more of your content and then encourages them to inquire to learn more.

Social media is only one ingredient of lead generation. If you use it as a stand alone, I doubt you'll see much success. But, used in concert with other vehicles, I've seen it produce great results.

If you look at connected pathways, you may be surprised at how leads actually find you.

A simple scenario of what this looks like:

• A Tweet promotes a webinar I'm giving.
• A prospect sees the Tweet and signs up for the webinar.
• After the webinar they request a connection on LinkedIn and I agree.
• While at Linkedin, they see a link to a blog post they find interesting and click to read more.
• While at the blog they like what they see and subscribe to the RSS feed.
• After a while, they see something that makes them curious and post a comment asking a question in reference to a blog post.
• I answer them.
• They visit my website and fill out the contact form to request a conversation.
• We speak and I earn a new project. (I've actually earned several new projects in the last year that reflect variations on this scenario)

**one qualifier, the above happens over time even though it doesn't read that way.

So what gets credit for the lead? Twitter, the webinar, LinkedIn, the blog, my website?

Before you ask - no I don't have sophisticated software that tracks this stuff. I ask questions to learn how this happens. I'm seeing more and more of this as time goes on. This said, some of my clients do have the tools and we're seeing some nice momentum building in their pipelines from the incorporation of social media into their marketing programs.

Perhaps as a way to measure, you might set benchmarks for your programs without social media and then add it in and see what changes. If your traffic, lead quality and revenues are going up, that just may have something to do with it.

 

How to Get More Social on Twitter

For some B2B marketers, Twitter isn't intuitive. I could come up with a list of reasons why not, but you can probably do that on your own. The thing is that many B2B companies want to establish a social media presence. They want to get their companies on the social media map so they don't miss an opportunity. The kicker is that it's not always as easy as it looks.

Earlier this week, I wrote about 5 Things to Consider BEFORE Using Social Media. Today, I'd like to offer some tips for what to do once you get started - if you choose to engage on Twitter.

Through some very unscientific experience, I've discovered a few things:

• Using Twitter handles in Tweets gets more Re-Tweets.
  We are, after all, people. People like seeing their handle in a Tweet. It will go into their mentions where they will see it. They'll include you in their Thanks Tweet or RT your Tweet with a "Thanks" - giving your Tweet more exposure. Others also identify with Twitter handles they recognize and are more likely to click the link you share or Re-Tweet.


• Always attribute.
  I can't tell you how many Tweets I see with the title of a post and a link. That's it. And, you know what? That's lazy. If you want people to notice and respond to your Tweets, include the name of the blog, person, company or other identifying characteristic so those you Tweet about know you have and so that others are more likely to recognize why they should click.


• Be Creative.
  Don't always use the title of a blog post or article when you Tweet. Find something interesting to say, ask a question or something else that will entice people to engage.


• Add a little something personal.
  When you Tweet or RT, add a phrase or word that puts your spin on the Tweet. Yes, some people use all their characters requiring us to restructure their Tweets to fit in our comment, but it can be done with a bit of thought. Just keep the main idea, the link and the attribution handles. If you want to become known as a relied-upon resource, add your $0.02 to show people why they should follow you for access to great content they find useful.


• Ask for Help.
  Putting a "Pls RT" at the end of your Tweets can help encourage people to do so. I wouldn't suggest doing this all the time, but sometimes we have something really great we want to share. Asking will encourage even lurkers to take action and help you spread the word.


• Be humble when you Tweet about YOUR stuff.
  Do not be a sleazy, self-promotional putz. You know what I mean. The kind that posts about a "GREAT MUST READ" article, but after the click your audience sees it's your own stuff. Just put it out there to share with the best hook you've got and set it free. If it strikes a chord, people will RT your Tweet. And it's okay to RT with thanks once or twice, but don't do it every time. Do make sure to acknowledge people with a "Thanks for the RTs" Tweet or by direct message.


• Use Hashtags.
  I forget about this one often myself, but many people have columns set up to follow hashtags (e.g. #marketing, #B2B, etc.) so you can gain a lot of additional exposure to those who may not be followers by using them. Do a bit of research and find out what tags the audience you want to attract is following. Then, make sure your Tweets are really relevant to that tag.


• RT someone you don't know well.
  Look for new people who are Tweeting great stuff that aren't on everyone's radar. Help them get exposure and they'll repay the favor. Plus, it feels good to share a new find! And, the person you RT will feel good, too. I've met a lot of new people with great ideas by reaching out.

I think one of the things that gets confusing about Twitter is that the stream moves so fast. It can feel overwhelming and become a time suck if you let it. I was speaking with Trish Bertuzzi (@bridgegroupinc) one day and we joked that we should only Tweet while eating in order to limit our time! Of course that didn't work, but it sounded good at the time.

Instead of just grabbing things to post and moving on, take the time to put some thought into what you post - even if you post less. Remember that when we Tweet for business we've got goals to accomplish. What you choose to Tweet and how you choose to do so should be built around those goals.

Take the time to search for a Twitter handle, to create a great message and to construct it so that you leave 20 characters available for someone to easily RT. It'll pay off.

But we all need to remember that it's not just about the links. Sometimes it's about sharing a thought or idea or answering someone's question, responding to their ideas. Keep an eye out for those opportunities. They can lead to some amazing exchanges.

What would you add to my list above? Anything you disagree with?

Oh - and please follow me on Twitter @ardath421, if you're so inclined.

5 Things to Consider BEFORE Using Social Media

Many companies I work with today are enthusiastic about diving into social media. It's shiny object syndrome at its finest. The problem I find most prevalent is that companies have no realistic idea about what it takes to launch and support a social media program.

It takes a lot more than creating an account and setting up a profile with the best of intentions to participate.

Here are 5 things to consider before you choose to add social media to your marketing mix:

1. Prospect Preferences. Do you know where your prospects hang out online? Do they engage in social media? If so, is their involvement based on personal or professional reasons. (e.g. many people use Facebook for family and friends, keeping it separate from business) 


2. Content. How much of it do you have? Do you have plans to continuously develop a flow of content with the variety of contexts you need to meet expectations in different social media venues? Is your company stance to gate content or make it freely available? Is all this content focused on your prospects' perspectives? Is it helpful? Do your prospects engage well with the content you already share with them? In other words, will they be receptive to more of it? If not, fix that first.


3. Resources. How many people do you have that can spend time working on social media efforts? What? Just you? How much free time do you have in your current schedule? Social media is not free. Take a look at #2 above and then consider how much time it actually takes to keep up with conversational threads, developing and sharing your content—-as well as that of others—contributing to conversations, answering questions, etc.
   
   Are you a writer? If not, make sure you line up writing resources to contribute content you can use. If you think you can force people (engineers, product managers, customer service agents, executives, etc. to write blog posts, think again. It's harder to get busy people to make time to write than you'd ever imagine.) Solely interacting in social media by curating other people's content (not your own) may make you a relied-upon resource, but it won't make you a thought leader that people seek out for ideas.


4. Long-term Commitment. Social media is not something you start and expect to see amazing results with in 3 months or less. It's definitely the turtle that beats the hare in this race. It can take 6 months to a year to develop the following, engagement and participation that leads to directly attributed sales gains.
   
   And, if you start, what impression will you make if you stop and your accounts become inactive? Social media requires commitment. You must be prepared to measure short-term wins and long-term goals accordingly. And those goals must be reasonable and achievable or you'll be setting yourself up for failure. Getting pushy and trying to make it happen faster can (will) backfire.


5. Connection Points. How can you integrate your social media efforts with your existing marketing programs? Set up a plan to develop cross-over and help your prospects find the content they're searching for regardless of where they look. Make sure you've got calls to action designed to help them migrate from one platform to another to follow your ideas and engage with your content—and your company.
   
   How will you share what's going on in social media internally across your company so that when the subject comes up, your customer service agents, salespeople, installers, etc. know how to respond? For B2B companies, social media is not a singular effort but a plural one. If people are out of the loop and get blindsided, it can be problematic—both for your company's reputation and your own dealings with other departments within the company.

Social media can be a boon for marketers and companies. But it does require planning and commitment that's often out of reach for many marketing departments already spread thin.

The best advice I can share is to do your research and stockpile some content (or create an editorial calendar) before you begin. Incorporate it with your existing marketing programs from the start to give it legs. Choose one tool that matches your prospects' preferences and apply yourself to becoming the best at it. Measure as you go. Then add more platforms/tools as you and plan to be prepared before continuing to expand your efforts. 

Consider starting with a blog. A blog is the surest way to generate the content you need to fuel sharing on other social media platforms. Plus, with the proper planning, you can incorporate blog posts into newsletters and nurturing sends right away. This said, go back and really take a hard look at the list above before you commit.

How to Get UnLinked on LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a very valuable tool for B2B professionals to meet colleagues they'd never otherwise have access to, network with those they don't see very often and engage in conversations on topics of interest. It's also one heck of a community for getting to know your prospects and customers.

LinkedIn can also expose a lack of integrity and authenticity in a heartbeat.

Here's an example of how that can happen:

Yesterday, I received an email from a colleague telling me about a woman he'd met on LinkedIn who was asking for advice on finding a job with a marketing automation vendor. Since that's not his specialty, he suggested that she contact me. She thanked him for the referral to me. I know this because my colleague forwarded me the email trail of their discussion along with his note.

An hour or so later, I received an invitation to connect on LinkedIn from the woman which I accepted.

Next, I received the exact same email that she had sent to my colleague:

Date: 7/22/2010
Subject: Thank you!
Thank you so much for connecting with me virtually! I just wanted to introduce myself and see if I may be able to help you in anyway and initiate connecting further.

If I may, I am writing to you because my current employer which is a small marketing automation provider, lost its funding. As a result, I am initiating an aggressive job search campaign. I am a well-qualified sales/business development executive with a 15+ track record of surpassing sale quotas.

If you have any questions about my background or would just like to see how we may be able to help one another, please email me or dial...

No salutation. Nothing personalized. Word-for-word the same exact message as if the exchange between her and my colleague never happened. If you get this message, just click delete. I have a feeling it's being sent to more people than the two of us.

What a turn off!

Will I help this person? NO.

Am I even interested in being connected to her? NOPE.

Do I feel slimed? YEP.

The point of this rant is that building a network takes time, care and respect. LinkedIn is tied to your professional reputation, your integrity. Trust me, if this woman's name ever comes up in conversation my response won't be favorable.

You never know who people know or the side conversations that can happen beyond your visibility. It's a small world out there - getting smaller by the day. If you don't have respect for others or for yourself, it will become obvious faster than you think.

The sad part is that she could have started a relationship. She could have met some people who could introduce her to others who could help her find a new position. She could have made the experience valuable for others and for herself. But she didn't. 

She has just been "unlinked" - removed from my connections.

Takeaways from The Great Content Marketing Experiment

Last week, John Bottom (@basebot) from Base One Group in the UK took a unique approach to his presentation at the IDM conference. He designed an experiment to show 150 B2B marketers the impact that can be achieved with content marketing.

He asked attendees to answer the following questions before the conference:

What the single biggest benefit of social media to your brand?

What is the single biggest obstacle to achieving it?

His firm then compiled all the responses into an eBook, Opportunities & Threats with the goal of getting it downloaded 1,000 times in real time during the conference.

The experiment fell short of the 1,000 downloads, achieving 570 during the allotted time period, but I'll bet there's more to come.

Take a look at what was accomplished:

Doing a search on Google for "Great Content Marketing Experiment" returned 320 results. That's how many people John was able to persuade to publish content about the experiment - from blog posts to media coverage to videos, etc.

Taking a brief look:

The number 1 result is a post on Mark Schaefer's blog {grow} that was tweeted 40 times.

RebeccaS posted it to Sphinn (a bookmarking site) where it was Sphunn 11 times.

A video taken asking attendees at IDM the questions used for the eBook was viewed 92 times.

The video John made explaining the experiment was viewed 172 times.

Social Media UK published a post with a slideshare about Convincing the Skeptics that was viewed 70 times and garnered 10 Tweets.

I could go on, but you get the gist.

In looking at the statistics on http://bit.ly/cUOsuY - the link to the PDF - it shows that 571 unique downloads happened with a total of 607 clicks. It also shows 63 tweets were made promoting the link.

But the interest generated didn't stop there. The link to the live blog where John posted about the experiment during the conference was clicked 477 times and Tweeted 92 times.

The hashtag #GCME was adopted and many more Tweets talked about the experiment.

That's a heck of a lot of exposure and engagement!

Here's what's surprising. Companies spend months planning launches. John sent his first email requesting support from his network on May 14th. The experiment took place 5 days later.

Some Takeaways for B2B Marketers:

Seeding is critical. This is why it's important to establish a presence on social media to build a network of people interested in what you have to say and share. Building credibility in advance of needing it is the key to John's success with this program. There's no earthly reason B2B marketers cannot create this type of response from their own networks if they work toward that goal. 

Social Media is about more than lead generation. Because John spends more time being helpful than asking for stuff from his network, many of us were happy to help and trusted that the content he would provide during the experiment would be relevant and valuable to our interests. He did not disappoint. And, now, when we need some help, guess who will likely be first in line to give back? Yes, John.

We've got to get past this idea that social media is all about what it can do for us. The key is to always give more than you get. Just like you do with your best offline relationships. Online doesn't change that. It's just the medium.

Goose the Gate. If there had been a form in front of the PDF, do you think 570 people would have downloaded the eBook? Doubtful. But that doesn't mean John can't find out about a lot of the people who expressed interest.

• He can see who Tweeted and determine whether they're potential prospects.
• He can follow blog and Twitter comments.
• He could have placed a call to action in the PDF and monitored response to that.
• Or - and here's the big one - he could count on the contagiousness of his content to inspire people to reach out and connect with him. Yes, that happens with really good content promoted to the right target audience.

I know that the experiment was focused mostly on the download goal, but so much more was accomplished that it should inspire B2B marketers about how to create solid content marketing programs that drive results.

This does not mean that you enlist your network every time you have a new content asset. But, if you consistently produce contagious content, focus on sharing and helping others spread the word about what's important to them, what you'll find is that this type of thing just happens.

With social media in the mix, marketers don't have to go it alone. Grow your networks and inspire them to share your content. That's the new way of building awareness in a peer-driven, digital environment. All it takes is the willingness to let go of a bit of control and the creativity to create great content that your audience finds relevant and valuable.

Thanks to John for bringing this experiment to us. It set a great example for content marketing.