I feel like I see some companies everywhere - from Burger King to The Simpsons - and let's not forget how Presidential hopefuls have been infiltrating the social website hubs...

The secondary issue, beyond just having a presence at all these social media and networking sites, is connecting with your existing audience while simultaneously enticing new growth. There's a new plug-in (linked in my name) that encourages users to add the personal or company profile in accordance to the social traffic site they were referred to, which could water these planted seeds a lot quicker...

Agreed, Mark. In fact, I discovered how valuable the seeds have been to my business. In the almost three years since it launched, our seeds are well-developed seedlings. Online nurturing has helped us grow far faster than had we not done it this way.

Now, if only I could get some sleep and have time for golf! :(

Mark,

Right on! Like most seeds, some will grow, some won't. Since we are unable to predict accurately, the more seeds planted, the better.

Kate: I liked how Scoble described the Presidential hopefuls' attempts to build a "Political Starfish". You can watch his Fast Company video here:

http://tinyurl.com/23t4uv

I also looked at the plugin you've pointed to and it certainly looks interesting. Would be cool if it included the visitor's name in the greeting, just to up the personalization a bit – but that's being nitpicky. I'll have to check it out further!

Elaine: Nice to hear a real life example of the theory in action. Can you cite any specific "seeds" that have been more effective than others?

(Also, have you considered planting some seeds along some golf courses? That way you can kill two birds with one stone!)

This is true, it's the same reason i started my own blog.

Nice post, Mark. I like the Johnny Appleseed parallel.

Personally, I look forward to the day when I don't have to stoop to plant quite so many seeds, when OpenSocial or similar allows me to simultaneously sow in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. I think it will encourage other businesses -- who perhaps don't have the marketing resources that Jeep has -- to participate, as well.

Lewis: True! However, I'd caution against planting seeds you're not going to cultivate. Better not to be there than have too many seeds die.

David: Saw your post and commented. Having a hub is an important thing. Connecting the seeds back to it is also key, so others can learn where else to find your brand online.

Ann: Good point, Ann. The beauty, however, of this strategy is that you can start small. For example, you can start with a few YouTube videos and embed those on your site. A Facebook profile could be next, with the videos embedded there as well. Twitter updates can be connected to your blog and FB profile – and so on and so forth.

As I state above, it's better to plant seeds when you know you can feed them. OpenSocial will most certainly open up the game, but that doesn't mean companies with smaller budgets have to wait to get involved.

Great post Mark. We have been providing services to consumer companies regarging planting seeds (as you say) and I have just landed an account for a b 2 b client. There are so many whys you can get seeds planted for both consumer and b 2 b.

It is no different then what traditional PR firms do with various media. It is just more effective.

I am totally with you. I am responsible for "building community" among Microsoft partners that work with the Public Sector (Gov't and Education).

I've started planting seeds (very small ones for now) (including a Facebook fan page, see: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=19336142112)

Only challenge w/in a large company is, the perception of "control."

The concern among some w/in a large company is that, "if the conversation is taking place outside of our web domain, what does that mean?"

It's a paradigm shift.

Whoops, looks like the seed isn't getting planted because of the extra ")"

The Facebook page is:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=19336142112

:-)

Thanks for the great article. Does anyone have any insight on how this can apply in the business to business realm? I really get that this works for B2C and for consultants/freelancers, and I would like to understand how this can be tweaked for a more complex B2B service (I'm a marketing manager for a managed outsourced IT firm)

Thanks!

Mark, in answer to your question, the seeds sown online through writing content, blogging and publishing have helped a great deal, not only for the company site's SEO, but for reputation and credibility. I've coupled this with very targeted seed planting and relationship building.

Amber:

We just began a project with a business service company to do just this. I have to admit it is the first outside the consumer world, but we have a great plan and we expect good results.

Harry, without revealing too much, think you can give us some more details?

Mark -- I love this post and your concept overall. I think you've managed to break down the movement we're witnessing into an idea that every marketer can grasp.

Mark,
Excellent point and I would add that it doesn't have to be 'work'. I try to have fun when I plant my online seeds.
My biggest challenge has been when to stop planting (if ever). There always seems to be a new place to plant a seed.
Thanks

Jeremy: Conversations outside of your web domain are wonderful. For one, it's great to know that people are talking about your company. They're doing it offline too, but at least you can track what's being said online! Offline, there is no control. Online, you can at least respond and learn. That's a key argument for helping people understand why it's so important to be engaged.

Matt: Thanks for the feedback. Interesting to note that when I sent this article to a client, he wrote back that it helped him really get a good grasp of the idea and opened his eyes as well. So this isn't just for marketers, it's for our clients too!

Josef: Never stop, keep planting. But, remember, it's important to keep cultivating what you've been planting.

With regard to social media marketing, you definitely need to perceive before you can protect, participate and project.

Myriad blogs, specialist forums and other social media provide the soapboxes for sharing brand, product and service experiences.

The right combination of technology and human analysis makes listening to consumers on the internet possible and can provide proactive insight that is fast, candid and less expensive than reactive MR.

People really have to understand their peer-to-peer marketing and word of mouth before they get involved in social marketing.

Extracting insight from online dialogue helps in understanding and engaging with consumers. As Katrina Burchell, Unilever points out:"User-generated content sites are very much our consumers', so the insights they give us about what they're interested in, what they're watching and what they're doing can be invaluable."

Mark, my job with this client will be to do what I try to do for myself and that is to be involved in my prospect’s world. I have profiles on a number of social networking sites (that make sense for me), I make regular posts on these sites, and make comments as I have here. I do the “answers” on Linkedin and the forum here on marketingprofs.

I try to find out were people I want to work with are spending their time online and then I spend time with them. I also try to build relationships with other bloggers so if I have something of interest to say they might listen and spread the word. If they would let me blog for them I would do that as well, but I am not for this client. I will be prowling the web with my client’s interest at heart to gather information and leads that help them increase sales.

We currently provide a similar service for consumer companies by tapping into MySpace and FaceBook. We engage where the client likes to be and with what they like to do. Now I am doing the same thing for our b 2 b clients. I have many years experience in marketing and especially business service marketing and 14 years Internet experience so this is right down my alley. With MySpace and FaceBook my business partner who is in his early 30’s handles content and works with a team of younger marketers. With the b 2 b world, it requires a lot more business knowledge so this has to be done by experienced professionals.

This service is very much like pubic relations, but just for the web.

Yes and this concept fits well with the concept of marketing experimentation. You try things to see what works. You plant seeds and some grow and some don't but you have to keep going.

Jonathan: I like that quote by Katrina Burchell. We need to see and hear more like it. The more clients talk about the success of their "seed planting" plans, the more reasons others have to try the same thing.

Harry: Thanks so much for sharing a little bit about your business here. Would love to see a post somewhere about the intricacies of B2B versus B2C marketing in this sphere. Does it all come down to one-to-one conversations (online or off) regardless of who you're talking to?

Neil: There's a little of that "Do it wrong quickly" (Mike Moran book) mentality in your comment and I'm a real believer in that approach. You should check out that book, I'm thinking you'd like it.

Mark,

Thanks for the book recommendation.

I am big believer in mistakes as a learning tool. :-)

A best media to promote a product is through internet, But with the support of internet Marketer it will have a good hike in its promotion.