My company, GasPedal, recently hosted BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media in Minneapolis. The fantastic event featured eight case studies on corporate social media from some of the world’s biggest companies. As we gear up for our next BlogWell in Atlanta on Nov. 10 — featuring case studies from Coca-Cola, UPS, SunGard, Orange Business Services, ConAgra Foods, Turner Broadcasting System, Newell Rubbermaid and The Home Depot — I’m sharing some of my favorite lessons from Minneapolis.

Here are a few tips offered by Progressive’s Web experience director, Matthew Lehman, based on how they got their start in social media and the opportunities they use to make new connections with customers and prospects in the space.

• Find your “in.” Progressive uses natural disasters as opportunities to offer assistance and establish relationships via social media.

• Show how social media can really work. At Progressive, they started by showing how social media could work for customer service before expanding into other outreach programs.

• Have a little fun. As one of the first companies to offer pet insurance, Progressive built on that topic with a Facebook pet photo widget that grew to more than 50,000 active monthly users.

Related Posts:

• Andy’s Answers: How Deluxe used a social project to reposition its brand
• Andy’s Answers: How InterContinental Hotels’ fan community is guiding its social strategy
• Andy’s Answers: How Intel is scaling its social listening and engagement program