Social Media is very sensitive and can be equated to a magnifying glass on everything good or bad about you. If you followed the 2008 presidential race, you know how critical Social Media was of the presidential candidates as well as Palin. In light of the tragic events in Arizona, the public scrutiny on Sarah Palin through Social Media have hit an all time high.

I’ll dissect the Social Media backlash against Palin as it’s one of the best long term examples of what not to do and how an Internet Marketing firm can handle the damage. This post isn’t an issue of political affiliation but rather to understand the monumental effects of Social Media – for better or for worse.

Statements Accessible Anytime

One of the most powerful things about the Internet is the archival of data. Every Tweet, every email, every status update and every comment is most likely saved in one form or another. Even content you published on a blog but took down can be resurrected to promote a political agenda or hold someone accountable. The key thing is realizing what context your content will be placed in the future.

The publicized cross hairs map by Palin.

The above image, published months ago by Sarah Palin came under heavy scrutiny following the shooting in Tuscon, Arizona that left Representative Gabrielle Giffords in the hospital and 6 others dead. While Palin couldn’t have foreseen someone shooting Giffords (which was loosely implied on the image), the backlash is phenomenal as the image and her comments are now put in to a new context following the attack. Afters new broke of the shooting, the site that hosted the image, Take Back The 20 was taken down immediately.

The site’s removal didn’t stop journalists, bloggers and other from digging up cached copies of the images and references on Palin’s Twitter profile and Facebook page encouraging voters to “reload.”

While the two combined don’t directly encourage violence, the media has placed some blame on Palin for promoting a negative message. The Washing Independent has more information on the quote

Dissecting The Backlash

Social Media amplifies what you say. It’s the first channel many consumers turn to when they voice their problems with large companies or even other people. The events that unfolded in Arizona had many people express their anger for Palin’s political rhetoirc. Some felt Palin was responsible for promoting violence against a US Representative and should be held accountable. Others argued that blaming Palin for the shooting was irresponsible and borderline hypocritical.

Both points of view were given a voice through Social Media. A very loud one at that.

The debate came to Palin’s Facebook page where moderators quickly deleted any negative comments against her. Does Sarah Palin have the right to delete negative comments on her Facebook Page? Yes – it’s an advantage afforded to us when using Social Media but can be equated to a double edged sword. Deleting a comment if it’s spam or promoting hate speech is the right thing to do but you hit a grey area when it comes to a debate. Even though Facebook’s Terms Of Use allows Palin to moderate the conversation on her Facebook page, the side effect is more backlash.

The comment scrubbing that took place on Palin’s Facebook page is comparable to the Streisand effect. The effect, as applied to the comment moderation going on is best summed up by John Gilmore: “The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.”

What can this teach us about Social Media and how to deal with a backlash of this magnitude?

Crisis Prevention – Preventing Revolts Before They Happen

The best way to deal with a Social Media crisis is to prevent it before it even begins. When creating content or starting conversations, ask yourself “how will this be interpreted in the future?” Content shared through Social Media isn’t easily forgotten. You’ve seen the ramifications Palin has to face for comments she made almost a year ago, time isn’t an issue when troves of data are not only saved but shared through Social Media.

But what do you when you’re facing a crisis? The best thing to do is own up to it. Social Media forces everyone to be held accountable for their actions. While you may not get enough kudos to cancel out the negative press against you, your image online will fare a lot better. Social Media retains a human element of the conversation and with instant access to information, it’s very easy to prove a point and have the facts back it up. Shying away from that shows people you’re trying to avoid debate and responsibility for your actions. You can’t censor the conversation.

What could Palin have done differently from a Social Media standpoint? She could have left the comments on her Facebook page and invited everyone to an open discussion addressing each individual concern in a blog post. Palin could have taken responsibility and acknowledged the potential message being sent by her Tweets, Facebook status updates and the now offline site that hosted the crosshairs image.

Palin’s actions to scrub the net of any trace she left has only generated a greater outcry against her actions. While the ratio of positive to negative press would still vary dramatically, her image wouldn’t suffer as badly. Instead, we’ll most likely see her most recent actions referenced, even more so when she runs for a political office.

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Like what you see? Contact DigitalEYE Media to jump start your business in the new year to increase conversion and create a passionate community following your brand. View our Portfolio and see the amazing work we’ve done for clients such as Pacific Merchants, sellers of Acacia Hardwood Trays & Bowls and premium Mason Cash pudding basins.

Bruce and Celeste Mannis of Pacific Merchants

Pacific Merchants has been importing and distributing fine kitchenwares for over 18 years, with their earliest days spent operating out of a garage. Now, after many years of hard work and dedication (and subsequent growth), they have clients ranging from major chain stores to restaurants and hotels. Recently, Pacific Merchants decided to make their products available directly to the consumer through the use of a redesigned website and optimized e-store, as well as a targeted Social Media Campaign.

DigitalEYE is excited for the re-launch of the Pacific Merchants Trading Company website, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for its debut in the coming weeks, and for now, become their fan on Facebook or follow them on Twitter!

Foursquare, The Check-in Service

Foursquare is a location-based (sometimes referred to as ‘geo-location’) service that allows users to ‘check in’ to any venue while earning points, badges and the title of a venue’s “mayor” (someone who has checked in the most into a single venue over the past two months). The check-in service creates a competitive environment to explore new locales and share them with friends through its built-in social network.

Analytics

Foursquare provides access to powerful analytics. After going through the “Claim a Venue” process to confirm your business information (which has the tendency to be a bit convoluted despite Foursquare’s attempt to simplify this process), a venue owner can view their customer demographics such as age, gender and time of visit to the venue.

In-bound Marketing

Foursquare extends deal and specials. Coupons that have been distributed by outbound marketing means in the past—television, radio, newspapers, mail—are instead seen in real-time by Foursquare users within a venue’s immediate area. This is free advertising that people are actively seeking out. For example, Chili’s offers a free order of chips and salsa for any table that checks into the restaurant on Foursquare. The possibilities are limitless and the promotions welcomed. What are you willing to offer to get customers into your venue?

Linking to Other Social Networks

Foursquare users can choose to link their Foursquare account to their Facebook and Twitter profiles and Foursquare provides this information in the Analytics page, paving the way for targeted marketing.

Twitter, The Real-Time Network

Twitter extends your restaurant’s presence online by giving your establishment a voice that is often lost in direct advertising. A brand personality leads to improved customer engagement and paves the way for new followers.

Twitter is the best tool for sending quick updates to your venue’s community. Some updates can include new menu items, coupons and happy hour reminders. Your Twitter network receives your announcement instantly, can reply to what you say and retweet it to their entire Twitter network to reach an even larger audience.

Facebook, The Friend Communicator

If Twitter is the de facto micro-update network then Facebook is the be-all and end-all friend network. Its market penetration of 500 million users is the largest of any social network.

FBML (Facebook Mark-Up Language)

Facebook makes it easy for businesses, like your restaurant, to be a part of the Facebook community. Your restaurant can integrate HTML into your Facebook Page by adding the Static FBML application. This enables you to design and program a fully-functioning landing page within your restaurant’s Facebook Page. What should you put on your FBML page? The possibilities are endless.

Customer Service With Facebook

Social media acts as an open channel to provide stellar customer service by directly engaging with your customer base. Seek out your customers and inquire about their visit to your venue. Was the restaurant clean? Were the employees friendly? What did your customer order and would they order it again? If positive, thank them for their feedback and invite them to come back soon. If negative, apologize and thank them for the feedback. Tell the customer you will rectify the situation to make sure it never happens again. Your customers will be shocked (in a good way) at the intimate outreach and impressed that you’re listening. The ability to engage and learn from your customer is the key to building loyalty to your brand and learning how to improve your business.

Syndication

Like Twitter, Facebook also includes an instant update feature. If Facebook can do what Twitter does, why would anyone need a presence on both networks? The answer: not everyone has both a Twitter and Facebook account. While some do, some of your customers won’t. Each network functions differently with advantages and disadvatanges to both. Having a presence on both networks gives your restaurant guarantees a higher brand visibility than if you only choose one.

Local Search: The Review Guide For Customers

Word-Of-Mouth is a Powerful Thing

Customers trust unbiased sources. Google and Yelp provide local search tools for people to use when looking for local attractions, but they’re more than just an online version of the Yellow Pages. Aside from aggregating local data, the greatest thing about these services is the ability to write Reviews. Feedback from your customers is readily available for you and viewable to anyone who searches for your restaurant. Business owners are then able to e-mail their reviewers directly—again, proactively engaging your customers (see the recurring theme?).

Local Search Now As Mobile Apps

Many local search tools are available as Mobile Apps making it easy for anyone to find your restaurant when they’re out and about. This is where keeping your venue’s information updated comes in handy. Anyone searching for a restaurant will be more inclined to pick a venue that not only caters to their taste but also offers accurate information, including your address, phone number, website and business hours. Yelp also enables information on the price range of your menu, whether or not your establishment is good for kids, if you offer delivery service and more.

LinkedIn, The Industry Professional Connector

Professional Networking

LinkedIn shares many of the features you can find on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare: status updates, social networking, messaging and check-in tools. LinkedIn takes these concepts and applies them to professional networking. While you may be able to reach most of your customers through other social networks, LinkedIn is the only network that gives you access to a large number of professionals in your industry. This will be useful when you want to promote your business, offer catering for corporate events, gain advice from long time food aficionados or acquire knowledge to help your business.

Case Study: Golden Spoon

To illustrate the power of social media, here’s a look into the social media marketing efforts of Golden Spoon in Coachella Valley. I have helped manage the social interactions for Golden Spoon across the networks I have mentioned. Golden Spoon’s results clearly show that social media marketing is an effective way to create buzz, improve customer service, encourage store visits and gather invaluable demographics information.

Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter Cross-Integration

These three networks integrate ever-so nicely and create one of the best customer interaction tools on a localized scale.

Our scenario: a customer checks in on Foursquare to one of the Golden Spoon locations in the Coachella Valley. Foursquare allows me to track who checked in, at what time of day, and their Twitter or Facebook accounts if linked to their Foursquare profile. I then contact them using Golden Spoon’s Facebook or Twitter accounts to ask, “How was your frozen yogurt?” or “Did you try our newest flavor?” or “Did you see our Foursquare specials? We have free frozen yogurt for the Mayor!” Each reply generated a response coupled with feedback for Golden Spoon. I then add the customer to the Golden Spoon Twitter and Facebook accounts if they aren’t already a follower or fan. (Social Consolidation, oh my!)

Mobile Fan Club

While Golden Spoon’s Coachella Valley locations are promoted through the standard social media channels, customers can still receive updates about promotions through a mobile fan club which sends out text updates. The execution is simple and compliments the social channels already in use. The owner of these venues shares just how effective mobile messaging can be: “I’ve been in my store in the middle of the day when it’s absolutely dead. I’ll send a message to my mobile fan club saying, ‘Come into the store in the next hour for a buy one get one free frozen yogurt!’ The store will fill up in 20 minutes.”

Foursquare Analytics And Promotions

Here is a look into Foursquare’s analytics. These stats show who checked in, when, their age to and their most recent check-ins. What makes this really powerful is that you can interact with every single person who checked in to your restaurant if you’re using Foursquare.

Facebook And Twitter Engagement

In conjunction with Foursquare, Golden Spoon has utilized Twitter and Facebook to announce its promotions. We often give a short description of a deal and link back to the blog to provide detailed information. The important thing to remember is to include enough information in the Tweet for people to understand the offer without having to go to the blog (Tweets are limited to 140 characters). The post is only meant to elaborate on it; however, you may find it suitable to not include a Blog link at all, depending on the offer.

We also asked Facebook fans and Twitter followers their opinion on Golden Spoon’s flavors and their experience in the stores. However, we were careful not to make every status about Golden Spoon, or else fans and followers would think of our social media efforts as spam. We varied our posts with general questions to promote conversation and build a community. “How is Coachella Valley doing today? How are you going to beat the heat?” This is still relevant to Golden Spoon (eating frozen yogurt when it’s hot helps you cool down) but doesn’t hit you over the head with a self-promoting tone.

Now you have learned what Social Media is and how it can be used to increase business for your restaurant and how I’ve used it to increase interest. If you aren’t using Social Media for your restaurant, why are you waiting? You’ve learned about the tools, understood the process and read the results. Social Media will increase interest and traffic; there is no reason to wait any longer to engage online.

With more than 9 million posts and comments in two days, Google Buzz has stormed the web like a swarm of locusts. An array of strong features, integration with Gmail and lots of press have turned Buzz into an overnight phenomenon.

If you’re like a lot of us, you’ve suddenly found yourself using your Gmail even more than you already were. Spending so much time in Gmail and Buzz, though, inevitably takes away from your Facebook () and Twitter (), and who wants to sacrifice their tweeting and Facebooking?

Luckily if you’re a Gmail user, you don’t have to sacrifice either, even while you’re browsing your e-mail or your buzz.

Gadget Integration Is Your Friend

“The key was using Gmail Labs feature at the bottom of the list called ‘Add any gadget by URL’. This allowed me to add these 3 features to my Gmail sidebar.”

By utilizing third-party gadgets, he transformed his Gmail into a place where he could access his Twitter, Buzz and Facebook straight from his Gmail. Here’s how:

Step By Step: Integrating Your Social Media into Buzz

2. Now go to Settings –> Gadgets. Here you’ll find a place to add Gadget URLs.

3. Add the TwitterGadget App. Any iGoogle gadget will do actually, but the best one in our opinion is TwitterGadget, a fully-functional Twitter service for iGoogle and Gmail. This lets tweet from the sidebar or open up your Twitter with all of your tabs intact. It even supports multiple accounts.

To add it, copy and paste this URL into Gmail’s Gadget settings: “https://twittergadget.appspot.com/gadget-gmail.xml”

4. Add the Facebook Gadget. In the same way you added TwitterGadget, you can add Facebook to your Gmail. While Google has an official Facebook gadget, it doesn’t play nicely with Gmail, so we suggest using the app Ari Milner users: Facebook Gadget by iBruno. It will expand into the rest of your Gmail for easy Facebook management.

To add it, copy and paste this URL into Gmail’s Gadget settings: “http://hosting.gmodules.com/ig/gadgets/file/104971404861070329537/facebook.xml”

5. That’s it! Google Buzz, Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail are now all wrapped up into one. Pretty nifty, no? Let us know about your experience in the comments.