A Content Strategy that Brings New Meaning to Metrics

When you land at NetBase.com, the online home of a company that sells serious software to major enterprises, a comic book character greets you — NetBase calls him “Captain Insight,” a super hero of “social intelligence.” The masked man has the super power needed to unlock the customer’s mind.

When you’re done with the Marvel-style sequence, you can click into some of the usual content you’d expect to find on a software company’s website. However, between now and election day, you’re more likely to point your cursor at a more mysterious element —a gauge marked “Obama.”

You’ll then discover a “real-time mood meter,” a dashboard of sorts with dials that deliver up-to-the-minute voter sentiment on the upcoming election. Indicators display the sentiment of Twitter users who, in the previous 10 minutes, have expressed opinions on the four presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Have a look:

“Marketers respond to very creative marketing.”

NetBase CMO Lisa Joy Rosner made the above claim, and backed it up with very compelling evidence. In an interview, I asked Lisa to explain the thinking behind the unusual content offering. She took the conversation back in time to this year’s SXSW show — the multimedia bonanza that takes place each March in Austin.

Lisa walked me through the integrated campaign they conducted for the conference called “What Women Want.” A fascinating research project, NetBase put its own natural language processing technology to work to examine, via social media, the things women want most.

The project culminated in a playful, surprising infographic worthy of water cooler conversations, and then some.

The release of the data did not go unnoticed. Netbase’s website activity skyrocketed, and record numbers of target customers landed on the site, connected with the brand, and “entered the NetBase funnel.”

Who do women want in the oval office?

Lisa and the NetBase marketing team envisioned an encore of sorts, where once again the company’s social media intelligence tool would be applied. This time out they’d gauge public sentiment regarding the candidates in the weeks and days leading up to the election.

Forbes responded to the release of the 2012 Election Mood Meter, and another content marketing star was born.

But there’s a whole lot more to this interesting story….

In this edition of Content Marketing Minds, NetBase’s Lisa Joy Rosner tells you all about:

1. How NetBase leverages content marketing strategy to position itself amongst the 273 companies in the social intelligence listening space

2. How the company markets to marketers using social media to sell a social media solution

3. The impact and reach of these two creative content marketing campaigns

4. How NetBase serves the social intelligence needs of leading brands such as Coca-Cola, Taco Bell, and Kraft Foods across various disciplines within the enterprise

… … and of course:

1. What women really want

Thanks for tuning in. Feel free to comment and nominate a favorite content marketing campaign for a future episode of the program.

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