Social Madness is a local and national competition, sponsored by Capital One Spark Business that will measure the growth of participating companies’ social media presence. Managed by The Business Review, the Social Madness competition will spotlight the best social media programs of companies within 43 cities, including the Capital Region. Starting June 1, 2012, the promotion will culminate in a national bracket challenge that will ultimately crown Social Madness champions in three categories, based on company size.
According to The Business Review, companies will be ranked based on a scoring algorithm that measures their social influence, which includes votes on bizjournals.com, LinkedIn Connections, Facebook activity and Twitter followers. This contest will last for a duration of eleven weeks, which includes both the local and national competition. In the end, three lucky companies will be honored for their social media influence.
Participating in social media is imperative in this digital age. Social media can provide an influential means to reach and engage consumers. Through social media, companies can inspire consumers to action by sharing information, photos and industry knowledge. Social media can also impact brand visibility and establish two-way communication better than any other platform available today.
For small business especially, social media is extremely beneficial. According to a recent study by the Social Media Examiner, small business owners are seeing the greatest results in social media. The study also demonstrated that the highest benefit of participating in social media is the increased exposure. Moreover, small business owners felt that social media helps them standout in an increasingly noisy marketplace.
As a small business ourselves, PixelRazor.com has chosen to participate in Social Madness. In addition to the great exposure, this competition can serve as an opportunity to benchmark our social media progress. If nothing else, we can focus on increasing our social media presence while building and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with our target audience.