We all know that content is king in marketing in these days. If you don't have great content, it really doesn't matter what cool channels you're using. But how do companies think about creating truly compelling content, especially if you're steeped in the world of traditional pitches, white papers, and promotions?

Scott Anderson, Vice President of Customer Communications for HP's Technology Solutions Group (which serves business customers) provided a great answer during a BtoB webinar today on how business technology buyers use media in the buying process.

According to Anderson, HP has made three major investments in content creation in the last two years:

• Build a new editorial team staffed especially by technology journalists, rather than marcom people. As he noted, journalists typically have both a more skeptical eye and better story telling skills 
• Organize a platform to enable HP's subject matter experts (engineers, consultants, etc.) to bring their own voices directly into the market (rather than being "translated" by the marcom staff) with blogs, forums, and other conversational contributions
• Create more opportunities for HP customers to share their own stories and ideas at events and online.

Has HP fully swept out the old and embraced the new? Of course not. You can easily find all manner of traditional features and functions promotional content from HP -- and not all of it is useless. According to buyer research presented by tech publisher CMP during today's webinar, many buyers do actually want to see the technical details, so long as it comes during the right phase in the buying process.

Most important, though, HP has taken three important steps forward in creating a more content-rich, content-driven, and conversational approach to the marketplace: Tell better stories, share expertise and knowledge in authentic ways, and help your customers talk to each other about the issues you care about most. Not a bad model.

AdWeek reported on a new study by the Corporate Executive Board suggesting that marketers are moving to an "open-source" approach.  Instead of a single ad agency, marketers increasingly hire a diverse set of marketing partners based on specialized expertise.  The agencies' "proximity to individual consumer segments equips them with the knowledge needed to craft deeply resonant communications."  For Truman Company, this is a nice affirmation that we are on the right track with our focus on executives as distinct market segment.

Daniel Goleman, famous for his concept of Emotional Intelligence, has a new book called Social Intelligence:  The Science of Human Relationships.  Goleman makes a persuasive case that our brains are naturally inclined towards empathy, cooperation, and altruism.   The emotional state of one person directly affects the people with whom they relate.  In effect, "we are wired to connect." 

Goleman's research may explain why, with the maturing of the Internet into Web 2.0, media that support collaboration and connection continue to explode.  Witness the growth of MySpace, YouTube, blogs and wikis.  People are less interested in passively consuming information as individuals.  They want to be engaged, to connect with others, to help create their own experience.  The same holds true for a business audience.  B2B marketing has always been about relationships, networking and word-of-mouth.   

Some say that business isn't personal.  Maybe that's true.  But if it isn't personal, it is certainly social. 

It's hard to know sometimes if B2B marketers are following consumer marketers or vice versa.  Right now it seems B2C is running a little bit ahead in embracing Web 2.0 principles like social networking and user-generated content.  The Wall Street Journal's year-end advertising roundup, "Best (and Worst) Ads of '06" is a good example.

"The low-key approach is a major reversal for an industry long keen on marketing messages delivered with a sledge hammer. It comes as new technologies -- such as digital video recorders -- give consumers more control over what ads they see. As a result, marketers' top priority is no longer selling but simply getting the public to watch an ad.

'There is a blurring of the line between advertising and entertainment,' says Greg Stern, chief executive officer of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. 'You have to bring consumers in first just to be able to talk to them.'"

B2B marketers would be wise to take a page from their consumer cousins -- with a few important twists.  First, while consumers are gaining control, executives are losing control.  They have less time than ever.  The pace of change and the complexity of their jobs continues to increase exponentially.  Second, the blurring of the line is not between advertising and entertainment, as it is for consumers, but between advertising and educating.  Executives want to learn something they can apply to their own jobs -- to make them more effective, more productive, more insightful.   B2B marketers should think about what information they can provide that first helps their customers do their jobs better beyond the simple answer of buying the providers product or service.  Educate first, sell second.