The bicycle shop in my town puts out a bike pump in front of their store on weekends, so passing cyclists can inflate their tires.
The bike pump is a great way for the store to contribute something to the local biking community and solve a common problem. The store is just down the street from two coffee shops where local bicyclists often meet on weekend mornings. A new bike share station is just outside the store.
The pump also serves to remind the local bicyclists that the store is there as a resource. It costs the store little effort and earns them some gratitude. Note that the bike shop isn’t giving away the pump itself – that’s carefully chained to the store.
What’s your bicycle pump? What can you do easily to solve your potential customers’ problems and contribute to their community?
One way to do this, in the B2B context, is to provide content – no strings attached. Answer people’s questions on your blog. Provide helpful videos or infographics. Get your customers or prospects a little further down the road than they were before.
A little useful content, provided at the right time and in the right place, can start to build a relationship.
Anne Janzer 
Great example, Anne. I believe that simplicity, usefulness, and ease of understanding are key characteristics of the value, too.
True – and sometimes missing in marketing content!
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Agree with the comment above. this is really a good example of how marketing should attract more audience – bring value. And I also agree with analogy you gave about content. Because it’s the same thing, online marketing provides (and must provide) value for potential customers and it is important.