Developing social strategy in a business takes skill and creativity. The goal of networking is to provide a unique way to connect to the users and consumers, while capturing their attention and increasing their loyalty to your business.

I've decided to showcase three case studies of businesses that achieved this goal, creating life-long customers and a strong brand image online in the process.

Case Study #1 – IKEA Furniture

IKEA used a compelling idea to attract customers to its brick-and-mortar establishment by using social strategy tools online. The company used photo tagging, which sparked a successful viral campaign. The promotion helped with a new store opening in Malmo.

For two weeks, marketers followed the new store manager and posted status updates about his daily actions. In addition to showcasing the manager's personal life, the company showcased its furniture. There were 12 photos of the furniture showrooms uploaded to his profile and shared with the readers. IKEA gave away items in the showroom photos to the first person who tagged himself on any of the items in the photos. This created a tagging frenzy!

This article appears in Jul 1-7, 2010.