Today, there’s a lot being asked from B2B marketers in order succeed in their lead generation campaigns. They’re called to do social. Their content needs to be prime quality. Even classical methods like telemarketing and email are called to implement the elements that give more power to the prospect than to the business.

But on the other hand, are the same aspects of social and content-driven marketing also making you and every other marketer a target?

Take Google+ for example. This post by digital marketing expert Chris Abraham describes just how much of it exposes who you are online. Every blog. Every picture. Every experience you’ve detailed on the web. Anyone who follows you or searches you is likely to find out everything.

Isn’t that exactly what marketers want?

Well, perhaps not entirely but marketing is still about using information to identify potential customers. That’s the very first step in the lead generation process. And now, with so many businesses and brands on G+ (as well as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and let’s not forget LinkedIn), these same businesses are generating the same information that other B2B marketers can use.

Now is that a bad thing?

To be perfectly frank, it depends on how one-sided you want your marketing to be. And if the social marketing trends haven’t taught you already, one-sided business relationships are going the way of the dinosaur. You want to know about your target market but you let them know only a little about you. Is that really a fair deal? The following advantages are a lot of fairer:

  • They can’t complain if you don’t – Some think you’re a brave soul for standing up against spammers or demanding where they got your information. The reality though is these are the same people who promote themselves on forums, ask prospects their email address, and are looking to meet their own quotas. So the next time you tire of all the spam, look in the mirror and you’ll have a right to tell others to do the same.
  • Rules of targeting still apply – Of course, none of the new developments in today’s marketing have changed the importance of targeting. If anything, the surge of information online just made it more challenging. You can still tailor your blogs, call scripts, and email templates to address a relevant audience. What then is the problem when the information you shared also is an opportunity for someone to help you when you need it?

Perhaps the real threat is that it’s not just marketers looking everyone up. However, that doesn’t mean they should be on the Internet’s Most Wanted List for violating online ‘privacy’. The truth is everyone else is out to spread word about their own company and make their own money.