Social Media Success Stories

As you can tell from previous posts and your own experiences with social media, it is a very useful tool. It doesn’t matter if you’re using it to connect with family and friends or promote a business or cause, it’s going to be seen (and if you did it up righteously, it’ll be seen by a LOT of people!). So, it goes without saying that there are a ton of success stories out there from organizations that use it to get the word out.

Now, I couldn’t drone on and on about who’s doing what and in what arena, “this is how it’s working for them”, nor would I have the time to do so. However, I will recount a small number of them and then list some links for more, if you’re interested in reading about what others have done and why it worked for them. Sound like a deal?

Enhance Me specializes in customizing kids portraits, by switching out the backgrounds to those of more, well, interesting places. I can imagine that kids are amazed by the results and parents are amused as well. I can say, as a parent, that I am interested in knowing more and checking it out (assuming I can find some spare time for fun things).

In any case, the site owner, Victoria Dixon, uses the Top 2 (Twitter and Facebook), as well as a blog to get the word out and build relationships with her customer base. According to Top Rank Blog, where I first read about Ms. Dixon, her company was endorsed by customers on verygoodservice.com…quite a good achievement and a measurable one at that.

The Social Man is a social coaching company with personality and a real affinity for their clients. They use video marketing to get the word out, build relationships and provide value to potential, as well as existing, clients. With coaching channels on both YouTube and Blip.tv, they run a series called “Ask the Social Man” that focuses on answering questions brought to them by listeners, which are largely dating-related. The success of their video channels have served to increase both site visits and sales. Check out this Mashable article for more on the Social Man and other companies using social media.

This next company is one that’s closer to me, as social media has built something of a friendship between me and the owner. Her name is Duni and she has a talent for creating wonderful things with fabric. Since I first traded in my Myspace blog with one on Blogger in 2009 and found her via Entrecard, I’ve seen Duni's shop evolve from handmade purses and makeup bags to including sleep masks, laundry bags and some very comfy-looking PJs! She only uses designer fabric and the product quality is remarkable, which is evident even in the photos.

Social media has proven kind to Duni’s business, as she uses Facebook, a blog and an online shop community (Etsy), which has allowed her to build relationships with current/potential customers and fellow entrepreneurs. In fact, she is an inspiration to me and stands out as someone who runs a business with her personal values intact and even incorporated into the way she does things. It is something I hope to accomplish when I start my own online shop in the near future.

I hope these summaries and links are helpful in showing how successful social media efforts can be.