34 Minutes of Darkness: Entergy New Orleans Scores Big in Social Media Crises Management

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img-Despite-partial-blackout-Super-Bowl-a-success-for-New-OrleansIt was just a month ago, almost to the day, when the Twitterverse exploded with news that the lights went out during the Super Bowl game.  231,500 Tweets per Minute (TPM) to be exact.  Okay, I admit the Beyoncé half-time show generated over 5 million Tweets, but Super Bowl XLVII will be remembered for its period of darkness, perhaps more so than the game itself.

Entergy New Orleans, the utility company powering the Superdome, quickly went into crises management mode. After all, they’ve had lots of communications experience powering the storm laden Gulf coast and southern states, and most notably having dealt with Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans back in August, 2005.

Social media has changed crises communications forever.  The old way of assembling the crises team and calling in the PR firm to craft a corporate statement for a newswire service is so yesterday. You need to act swiftly, recognizing the hyper velocity and amplification of social networks!

Let’s look at the Entergy response to the crises which exhibits five key principles in crises management that are applicable to all companies:

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How to Integrate Social Media into B2B Marketing

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. SantiMB . / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

I came across some interesting peer research on recommended best practices in social media  integration for B2B marketers. The  study was conducted by the ITSMA (Information Technology Services Marketing Association) in 2011 but is still relevant today.

The research found B2B marketing campaigns are most successful when social media is integrated into the overall marketing strategy; emphasis is placed on customer relationships; and when social media is used to drive traffic to traditional marketing channels such as websites and events.

Read the excellent study findings and suggestions on how marketers can transform B2B marketing and social media within a larger, integrated marketing strategy  focused on customer relationships: Continue reading →

5 Steps for Building a Content Marketing Strategy

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According to a 2011 study by the Content Marketing Institute, 90% of B2B marketers are participating in content marketing and plan to allocate 26% of their total 2012 marketing budgets on this practice.

One of the best ways to build a brand and deepen customer relationships is via content marketing.  It’s fundamentally the creation, publication, and distribution of relevant, high-value content, tailored to the needs of targeted groups.  The Content Marketing Institute’s definition also includes the desire by vendors to attract, acquire, and engage with audiences.

Marketers are communicators of value and have been transformed into educators. Buyers are seeking information from vendors on how to solve business issues. Companies that embrace good content marketing practices are destined for more leads, conversions, and sales.

With the explosion of easy online sharing and distribution of information, marketers now have a way to scale and reach many more people.  Good content is an integral part of search and social media networking, and can take many forms, including articles, case studies, blogs, whitepapers, and videos.  Many people are responding well to visual content over plain text.  It won’t be long before we see more of the social network Pinterest in the B2B marketing world.

Let’s look at 5 content marketing strategy steps aligned with a buyer’s journey:

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