How Are Corporations Using Social Media?

By Beth J. Bates, New Media Special Correspondent

It can be challenging to find great examples businesses using social media to further their marketing and brand initiatives. It's tough to know what's out there. So I took some time to do a little research and bring you a short list of social media practitioners so you can see how large and small corporations are successfully using social media.

• Cisco hosts a variety of blogs called "The Platform" inviting customers to join in the conversation.
• Dell hosts its own virtual island in Second Life to help better connect with customers globally.
• Ford not only has a social media marketing guru in Scott Monty, they also use a variety of social media tools including social media press releases, photos in Flickr and total accessibility through Twitter.
• With tax day right around the corner, H&R Block has aggregated its social media properties into a Facebook Fan Page. To date, they have over 1700 fans.
• Intuit created the TaxAlmanac wiki enabling anyone to share information on taxes.
• Jeep encourages Jeep owners to share information through a variety of services including Flickr, Facebook and MySpace. They have over 97,000 fans on Facebook.
• McDonald's features a blog that showcases their contributions to social responsibility.
• Southwest employees connect directly with customers through their "Nuts About Southwest" blog.
• Zappos.com, in my opinion, has the best feel for how to use Twitter to strengthen your brand.

Need more inspiration? Peter Kim. has compiled an exhaustive list of social media examples. This fantastic list includes everything — from AT&T to Bristish Airways to Bigelow Tea.

If you are blogging or thinking about blogging, here is a great wiki dedicated to tracking Fortune 500 corporate blogs.

Geoff Livingston also has a great list of successful social media marketing case studies at the Now Is Gone blog.

I hope these examples and resources will inspire you and your company to expand your social media horizons.

Beth J. Bates consults with Hinge on social media tool selection and strategy and helps its clients find effective ways to leverage these new mediums to meet business goals.