Buzz and Brilliance: Week ending May 4

Over the week we go through a lot of content - news and blog posts, how tos and conceptual posts on the state of the internet.  Every Sunday we share some of our favourites with you.

Check out the links and let us know in the comments if you have any questions or if you read any great posts this week!

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Lara

E-newsletters and Facebook ads are two things that I’ve been really concentrating on lately - there are so many interesting things to learn about how to use them to grow your business.

One of the most important things to remember when sending newsletters is to have a good subject line. If your subject line is boring, who is going to open your email? Here are 25 tips for great subject lines.

Amy Porterfield is my go to Facebook expert and she shared a lot of interesting information on Facebook ads in one of her recent podcasts. The podcast itself as well as the step by step Facebook ad pdf she created explain how and why to try out Facebook’s power editor and how to target ads in the newsfeed only instead of also in the sidebar.

Spin Sucks has a weekly post called Gin and Topics I check religiously every weekend and whenever I see a video I think is hilarious I send it to to Gini in the hopes she’ll include it. This week she did! Corn chips are hilarious.

Karen

Ellen DeGeneres makes me laugh. A lot. She’s also using social media brilliantly to promote her show and be funny for us for longer than an hour a day, five days a week. The story of the game app she’s launched is really interesting to me. It’s wildly successful (understandable given her fame) and is tied to her show only in that she plays the game on the show. Businesses can apply this kind of thinking to their own new media strategies by looking at ways to connect and stay on the minds of customers (and it doesn’t necessarily have to be an app).

It’s easy to make missteps when you first start out using social tools or setting up your website. Darren Rowse (ProBlogger) laid out his own mistakes regarding domain names. I’ve made some of these mistakes and the news is good from Darren’s perspective: they don’t mean you can’t be successful!

One technique for getting traffic to your blog/website is to be controversial. However, as a long-term strategy, it truly isn’t sustainable. I’ve written posts expressing my views about various controversies before and it’s draining. I will only do that if I feel very strongly about something. Otherwise, it’s not worth my time or energy. However, as a business user, it’s important to think about the points Mark Schaefer made, as well as the possible impact on your business.

Though it may be tempting some days to walk away from the internet for a good long time, it’s not something I am likely to do. It was so good to read Paul Miller’s conclusions about how it went when he stayed off the internet for one year.

It’s not social media related, but this article with 10 ways to stay happy as an entrepreneur is one for any business owner to read.

SOCIAL CAPITAL

Social Capital is quickly approaching (it’s May 31 and June 1). Join us this Tuesday for our second #socapott Twitter Chat.  We’ve also announced a lot of great speakers that you won’t want to miss, including Gini Dietrich and Danny Brown!

THE MEDIA MESH

Does everyone hate getting newsletters?

Why Instagram is good for your business

To tweet or not to tweet during tragic breaking news

3 Steps to Recovering from Social Media Backlash

Controversial content can lead to huge pageviews and shares. When innocuous content goes viral, there are generally few worries about negative feedback. The story can be very different for content that goes viral merely because of a controversy that surrounds it.

How many companies - large and small - have posted content that led to a social media backlash? We can probably all think of several examples. It's easier than ever before to take individuals and entities to task for objectionable material. Therefore, it's important for social media content to be carefully considered before hitting the submit button. And if you're not prepared for the possibility of a negative reaction, then it maybe wisest to change course and go in a different direction.

What should you do when you've (inadvertently) stepped over the line?

1) Assess the situation.
How widespread is the negative feedback? Is it gaining momentum that will hurt you? Can it be dealt with on an individual basis or does it warrant a wider public response? The answers to these questions should help determine the appropriate steps to rectify the situation.

2) Respond genuinely and promptly in all forums.
If it's appropriate to modify or take the content down, then it's probably appropriate to issue an apology as well. Even if the intention of the piece was not to offend, make that clear and give an apology that addresses the concerns that have been expressed. Insincerity, defensiveness or avoidance of the real issue will be exposed and create a bigger backlash.

3) Turn it around to something good.
Want to show your followers that you mean what you say? Back it up with action. Depending on the situation, it may be appropriate to donate time, money and/or resources to raising awareness about the related issue.

Edgy, attention-grabbing content is the goal of every individual and entity active in social media today. But efforts to create a unique campaign that spreads can backfire easily if the content strikes the wrong chord with your audience. And if you've had fallout from a campaign once, the last thing you want is to repeat it in the future.

What are some examples of social media backlash? How was it handled? Was the response appropriate and effective?