When it comes to social media success, everyone is looking for the magic elixir. The bad news is there is no magic elixir. However, there are some pretty good examples of what has and hasn’t worked across the social web. That’s right, we’re talking about case studies.

Dictionary.com defines a case study as:

the act or an instance of analyzing one or more particular cases or case histories with a view to making generalizations.

Who doesn’t love a good case study? As tempting as it would be to give you a nice, long, laundry list of case studies and take the easy way out, that certainly wouldn’t be doing you any justice in the long run. Don’t get me wrong though, we’ll give you a few tasty morsels to help you get your creative juices flowing.

Generalizations

Did you notice the mention of the word “generalizations” in that case study definition? Generalizations can be an issue. If you’re looking to create a campaign that will take things to the next level or you’re planning your social media strategy based on someone else’s case study, keep those generalizations in mind.  In other words, case studies, as helpful as they can be, should not be followed literally. Why? Because more often than not, much of the information that went into building that case study is not shared. It’s also important to remember that every company has different corporate cultures and business practices which will, without a doubt, affect the outcome of a case study. Noted? Perfect. Let’s move forward.

Give Me The Goodies

We promised to give you some examples that would spark your creative sides. Imagine growing your community 944% – in a day! Clairol, the hair product company did exactly that. They grew their Facebook following by 944% in just one day. The company created a campaign to support the launch of their Nice ‘n Easy Color Blend Foam and gave away 100,000 new bottles over four days. In their case they used a combination of a well-conceived giveaway and blogger outreach. The result was 255,000 new fans. Clairol was smart, in order to keep fans engaged they created a series of how-to videos, featuring product reviews and ratings by users, and they linked to tips from their own hair color experts.

Intuit’s user-community for its TurboTax product is a passionate one; so much so, that the folks at Intuit decided to create a top-notch user feedback community called the Inner Circle. After six years, the Inner Circle has more than 25,000 members and has become an integral part of the TurboTax product updating and improvement plan.

CBS had their eye on the cherished Thursday night block and wanted to breathe new life into their network. They introduced The Big Bang Theory and needed to get 20-somethings to watch it. In 2008, The Big Bang Theory made their presence known at the pop-culture conference Comic-Con. People began to notice and sought out the cast and crew across social networks. The show’s producer Bill Prady and some of the actors from the show had a presence on Twitter. Prady’s feed gave fans an insider’s view. Prady & Co. pinpointed their target audience and built on fans’ passions. In turn, the show soared from a Neilsen rating of 59 in 2008 to a rating of 12 in 2010 due to their social media efforts.

Now imagine what you can do!

Be The Expert

Instead of following your favorite case study examples to the T, consider documenting your own experiences – both good and bad. This is important for several reasons. For one, it is the perfect way to create more resources for your own internal training. You will want to look back on the progress you’ve made, what has worked best for your organization and what did not. Also, if you share what you learn, you will create a wealth of invaluable information that will help you expand your community and create lasting connections. Continue to do this over time and your organization will be well on its way to being looked upon as the thought leader in your industry.

Have you given any thought to creating your own social media case studies? What, if anything, has been holding you back and what information can we provide to help you on your way to becoming a social media success story?