David:    What are the most effective ways of using content marketing for lead generation? How do you qualify your leads to ensure that your list is relevant? And is there a disconnect between social and the bottom line? Those are just 3 of the questions that I intend to ask today's special guest Matt Hodkinson. Matt, welcome to DMR.

Matt:    Good morning David.

David:    Thanks for joining me. Matt is the founder and CEO of Influence Agents, helping IT and professional service firms generate more traffic leads and sales, using effective social media and inbound marketing strategies. So Matt, how do you determine the true value of social media interaction?

Matt:    I think for many business owners, David, it's got to come down to the bottom line. That's clearly where they're thinking is going to be. No matter how airy-fairy we tend to be sometimes talking about the conversational value and the intangible of social media, many business owners will still be thinking, on some level, on "How is this going to benefit my business?" Clearly social media, in terms of its invention, we didn't originally think about it as a bit of a business tool, and yet, it seems to be that, that's the way it's happened.

Now that there's no escaping that, I think business owners will inevitably be thinking, this has got to be a tool for fueling the bottom line for fueling sales and "How can I best do that?" I think in terms of measuring, in terms of that engagement, it's incredibly important not to be a broadcaster. It's incredibly important not to just be talking about your products and services. In fact, if talking about your products and services at all. I don't think there's a place for sales. There's no place for that push marketing approach. Yet, we still see, obviously a great many people doing that.