Albertville Business Competes for Chance at National Social Media Title

 Social Madness, a nationwide challenge that showcases the best business social media growth strategies, is on, and a locally owned Albertville company is taking part in the competition.

Allée, a branding and creative marketing services company owned by Melissa Harrison of Albertville, is vying for a spot in the “small company” category against 85 other small businesses in the Twin Cities. In total, 130 Minnesota companies have signed on to this competition in small, medium and large company categories (based on number of employees). If Harrison and her team make it to the top eight, Allée will move on to a head-to-head bracket phase where local winners then advance to the national rounds. At the national level, local winners will compete against champions in 42 other U.S. markets for the national Social Madness title.

“This competition takes something I love about social media—a level playing field—and uses it to help spark creativity, awareness and business growth,” Harrison said. “We work hard when it comes to developing strategies for and monitoring our clients’ social media spaces that it’s fun to turn the tables on ourselves and see what we can do for Allée. For us, it’s never about quantity; it’s about quality. We’re excited to join in on this competition because it means greater conversation and more voices to engage with on all of our social media channels. And, it’s fun to get creative and see what transpires.”

Social Madness takes all activity on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and the Business Journal website into account. Points are awarded to companies not only on increased growth but engagement and conversations happening in these social media spaces as well.

More than 4,000 companies are enrolled nationwide, competing first in their home city markets, including large corporations like Target, Southwest Airlines and General Mills.

You can help support STMA’s small business competitor by voting for Allee in the “small companies” category on the Social Madness contest page, and by liking Allée’s Facebook page to join them in conversations and posts. If you’re more of the Twitter type, follow Harrison and her company on Twitter, or even join the company’s LinkedIn page and leave your comments, thoughts and ideas.

“We have had such great support already from the community. It’s fun to see everyone rally together to show the success that small businesses can have. I’m thankful for the support,” said Harrison.

To keep tabs on the local competition, go to socialmadness.com and use the scroll-down bar to find “Minneapolis/St. Paul.”

Full Social Madness schedule:           

Through June 19: The voting process kicks off in 43 cities nationwide

June 19: The top eight companies in each employee-count category will be placed in a bracket to compete against other local companies

July 17: Local winners will be announced. All 43 local winners and the top 21 runner-ups in each of the three size groups will advance to the national program

July 24: The national Social Madness program begins with 64 companies in each size group participating

Sept. 11: Three national winners will be announced and a charitable donation will be made on behalf of each