Using social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to promote your brand and its corresponding site is a great idea – it provides a variety of ways to spread awareness and it is an effective marketing tool for your business. However, you should tread lightly when using Facebook to spread the good word online.

In a recent Coca-Cola Facebook campaign, what started out as a clever and entertaining way to be interactive with Facebook users ended in a lot of negative word of mouth and the potential fall of the marketing agency Coca-Cola used. The social media marketing plan’s goal was to promote Dr. Pepper on Facebook through the use of some clever programming. A program was designed to override the Facebook status box of an opted in user with entertaining, embarrassing quotes that were randomly chosen.

It went smoothly until an inappropriate quote (“What’s wrong with peeing in the shower?”) appeared on a 14-year-old girl’s profile page. The reference was to adult material that did not belong on an account associated with Facebook or Dr. Pepper… let alone the account of a 14-year-old child.

When the girl’s mother saw the status update in her account, she contacted Coca-Cola. “MrsRickman” (the mother’s username) submitted a complaint to the company … and as a response Coca Cola offered her free theater tickets and a hotel stay as an apology. Offended, MrsRickman took her complaint to a UK mom’s website. She received 1300 replies and caused quite a stir for Coca-Cola – so much so, that the marketing agency they used (Lean Mean Fighting Machine) is facing hard times ahead because of it.

According to New Media Age, Coca-Cola claims, ““We were unaware of the meaning of this line when the promotion was approved and have launched an investigation into why it was included. We take full responsibility and will be reviewing our promotional procedures.”

“We have stopped all our ongoing work with Lean Mean Fighting Machine and are reviewing our relationship with the agency. We will take all steps necessary to ensure this does not happen again.”

What you should take away from Coca-Cola’s debacle is this – it is good to become involved with your company’s profile page by updating it with media, statuses, and interacting with users. However, one needs to be diligent in protecting their company’s reputation and brand while employing social media marketing tactics. Any inappropriate status or media that’s posted for an adult audience could easily wind up being seen by minors… and then snowballing into a situation that will cause your company harm, no matter how many people are searching for your business because of the incident.

Read about some of the benefits of social media marketing.

Now that social networking is an important part of running a business, privacy is fast becoming a big issue for users.  Privacy advocates and social media experts took on this issue at the Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy (CFP) held for 4 days at San Jose State University.

The social media bill of rights was on the agenda during the conference and they brought up many concerning issues such as how websites should handle private consumer data, security of data and honesty.

A first draft of the bill was created and you can read it below. You can also get more information or vote on the social networking bill by visiting the website.

“We the users expect social network sites to provide us the following rights in their Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, and implementations of their system”:

1. Honesty: Honor your privacy policy and terms of service.

2. Clarity: Ensure that policies and terms of service are easy to understand.

3. Freedom of speech: Don’t censor without a clear policy and justification.

4. Empowerment: Support privacy-enhancing and assistive technologies.

5. Security: Treat my data as securely as your own, and notify me if it is compromised.

6. Data minimization: Minimize the information I am required to provide and share with others.

7. Control: Let me control my data, and don’t share it with others unless I agree first.

8. Predictability: Don’t change who or what sees my data without my consent.

9. Right to know: Show me how you are using my data and allow me to see who and what has access to it.

10. Right to self-define: Let me create more than one identity and use pseudonyms. Do not link them without my permission.

11. Right to appeal: Allow me to appeal disciplinary actions.

12. Right to leave: Allow me to delete my account, and take my data with me.”

Now that you have read the Social Media Bill of Rights above – how you will vote?

Just when it seems like Facebook has been integrated everywhere possible, I learned that the social networking site has entered somewhere new (no it’s not Twitter): Microsoft Outlook. Last year, when Outlook launched their Social Connector plug-in it was only integrated with LinkedIn and MySpace. The integration with Facebook as well as Windows Live Messenger was announced yesterday. Social Connector is now available on Outlook 2003 and 2007, making it available to millions.

There are people out there that will frown on this new feature because they only use Outlook for ‘work’. However, I think that connecting with other professionals is important and almost expected nowadays. Networking has always been a key component of starting and advancing one’s career (just ask recent college graduates, it was pounded into our heads!). Now networking is easier than ever before due to social sites including Facebook.

Facebook can be used personally as well as professionally as long as it done correctly and with caution. Do you utilize social networks such as Facebook professionally?

Guest blogger:  Collyn Floyd

With the attention span of web users only slightly longer than that of goldfish, it’s awfully hard to keep potential customers engaged on your site.  You’re going to need some snazzy copy if you want them to stick around for a while.  Here are a few tips to get you started:

Make your copy customer-centric. Before you start hammering away at the keyboard, take a minute to identify your target audience.  Think about why they’re visiting your site.  How can your product or service address their “pain”?   Structure your copy around solving the concerns of your customer, not tooting your own horn.

Write for the Web. When you’re writing for the Web, keep in mind that most users skim content; they don’t read word-for-word.   Keep your copy in bite-sized chunks by using copy strategies like shorter paragraphs, bolded text, bullet points, and “call-outs.”

Write with the Inverted Pyramid in mind. Since you know your visitors could stop reading at any moment, put your most important information at the top of the page.  This includes any kind of call to action or conversion point (i.e., newsletter signup, “add to cart” button, etc.).  Less “sexy” copy like product specs or details can go lower on the page.

Get Rid of the Useless Chatter. A wise copy strategy is to minimize distractions and get to the point.  Things to avoid: too much copy on a single page, too many links (especially links that may take your visitors away from your site completely), and too many ads or graphics.  Notice that online retailers like Lands’ End or Target don’t let much get in the way of their customer and products.

Make Your Copy Count. Don’t you hate copy that doesn’t really SAY anything?  For example: “Thank you for visiting company XYZ’s website.  We think you’ll find outstanding value in our products and services.  We’re proud to serve markets around the world and provide solutions that fit your needs”.   Yes, but what do you DO?

Of course, good copywriting for the Web entails these things and much, much more.  Hopefully theseoblog.org will ask me back, and I can share some additional tips!