December 3rd, 2008 by Robin Broitman (updated)

( From Interactive Insights Group)

Need Inspiration?

A great way to get ideas for how your organization can use social media is to check out what others are doing. Here’s a comprehensive list of sites below (and one book) that will get you started.

Did I miss any collections? Please let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to this list.

Described by WOMMA (the Word of Mouth Marketing Association) as: “a “how-to” resource intended to help you gain a better understanding of the different types of word of mouth marketing that exist, as well as how to put them to work for you.” This is a very usable tool that includes searchable database of word-of-mouth/social media case studies. You can also browse by categories such as “Create a Blog,” “Work with Online Communities” and “Establish A User Community.”

Mashable has a list of more than 35 examples of companies who are experimenting with Social Media along with links to examples of their social media effects in action.

Former Forrester analyst Peter Kim has compiled (and is keeping updated) a very long “A to Z” list of companies who are using social media. Examples range from Absolut Vodka’s YouTube Channel to Zappos’ 13 corporate blogs. Peter has recently put these examples into a Wiki framework: Wiki of Social Media Examples for future collaborative efforts. Peter has also provided a list of international social media case studies for Canada, Australia, Germany, Malaysia and the U.K. Note: For those interested- there is also a list of German social media case studies compiled by Benedikt Koehler on his German language blog – Social Media Marketing In Deutschland.

On his blog The Global Social Media Network, Ray has taken Peter’s list a step further and organized the examples into useful categories such as online video, blogs, social networks, widgets, etc.

Get Elastic, the E-Commerce blog has compiled a long list of examples of retailers using social media marketing in helpful categories such as Facebook applications, Youtube Videos and Podcasts, Second Life E-stores and Twitter applications. Separately, Econsultancy maintains a list of US retailers on Twitter and a list of UK retailers on Twitter.

The Association Social Media Wiki has a growing “A to Z” list of some 100+ associations using social media with links to the association’s social media web pages. Ranges from the American Library Association’s Second LIfe intiative to the Urban Land Institute’s blog.

Maintains a directory of Fortune 500 companies that have active public business blogs. The blogs are listed along with links to reviews of the blogs.

Geoff Livingston, author of the book Now is Gone maintains a list of social media case studies on his blog of the same name.

The Stratius Blog has a list of nominees and winners in categories of companies who are using Twitter. Includes companies such as Whole Foods and Jet Blue.

Write-ups on 150+ submissions for the 2008 awards as well as write-ups on the 2007 winners of the Groundswell Awards by Forrrester. The awards showcase organizations that have shown “excellent and effective use of social technologies to advance an organizational or corporate goal.” Nominees in 2008 include social media programs such as Quickbooks’ Community Site and Rubbermaid’s Adventures in Organization blog. For more in-depth case studies, the book Groundswell written by former Forrester Analyst Charlene Li and current Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff cites 65 corporate examples including 25 full case studies in a variety of industries and countries around the world. Click here to check the book out on Amazon: Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

Debbie Weil, author of the “Corporate Blogging Book” has posted a terrific list of 75 “Big Brand” corporate blogs from Accenture to Zillow. The list also includes some big name associations and non-profits.

Lisa Braziel is writing a series of posts taking an in depth look at 26 of Peter Kim’s social media marketing examples including Animal Planet, Clorox, Exxon Mobil, Delmonte Foods, and Best Western.

Provides a list organized into categories such as Business, Education, Entertainment, etc. with links to sub-categories within each.

An extensive A to Z list of corporate blogs on this Wiki, a collaborative tool for PR professionals

The Sniki Wiki Social Media Wikis lists companies (and also non-profits) leveraging social media for clients, and provides information on organizations building campaigns that integrate social media to connect with customers. You can add your organization’s social media activities to the growing list.

On his blog, Monty C. M. Metzger has pulled together a list of more than 300 companies who are active in the Social Media landscape.

The Society for New Communications Research has published 50+ case studies from their awards which honors individuals, corporations, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and media outlets that are pioneering the use of social media, ICT, mobile media, online communities, virtual worlds, and collaborative technologies in the areas of business, media, journalism and professional communications, entertainment, education, social initiatives, government and politics.

The Blog Council, a group for senior executives responsible for social media at large corporations including Walmart and GE has it’s own blog The Blog Council Blog that specifically covers corporate social media success stories and examples and also, in partnership with Alltop, offers immediate one-page access to over 150 corporate blogs – All The Top Corporate Blogs. Watch videos from the October 08 Blogwell Conference: How Big Companies Use Social Media with presentations on Walmart, Graco, Intel, Cisco, UPS, The Home Depot and Kaiser Permanente.

Terrific set of case studies of social media in federal, state and local governments. The Collaboration Project is an independent forum of leaders committed to leveraging web 2.0 and the benefits of collaborative technology to solve government’s complex problems. Powered by the National Academy of Public Administration, this “wikified” space is designed to share ideas, examples and insights on the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in the field of public governance.

From Mashable: Results from querying 40 of the best brands experimenting with Twitter about how they’re using the micro-blogging platform.

From Ed Bennett: Hospital web manager Ed Bennett maintains the Hospital Social Network List, which currently has over 185 hospitals with links to their official blog, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube sites. For other nice lists of Health 2.0 companies see Dose of Digital’s Pharma & Healthcare Social Media Wiki and the Health 2.0 Wiki

From Beth Kanter: Great roundup that includes list and examples of non-profits on twitter. Includes links to several different aggregated listings of non-profit Twitter pages. Includes link to Mashable’s rundown of 26 Charities and Non-profits Who Tweet.

Drectory of government agencies using Twitter with the goal of including all facets of government on Twitter: state and local, federal, contractors, reporters, academics, judicial branch and more. The list will be a living list and will be kept updated via BearingPoint’s own research, as well as submissions from site readers.

Related posts:

1. 4 Social Media Methods for Generating Word of Mouth
2. Social Media Marketing – How Your Acquaintances and Family Can Help Grow Your Business