Social media agencies and divisions of companies are springing up from the ground like weeds. Spreading brand awareness through Twitter and Facebook has become so popular that many big companies are hiring creative social media managers, directors, and analysts. Living in Michigan, I can tell you that competing for jobs in social media marketing is fierce. You really have to find ways to separate yourself from everybody else. Here are some of the creative examples I have seen where someone has gone above-and-beyond to make themselves stand-out:

I have been fascinated about the way that charity promotions have been put together through the use of social media. Celebrities and professional charity organizations have found creative ways to harness social media to put together events like USA Today’s #KindnessChallenge, charity:water’s Twestival, and Eva Longoria’s initiatives with TwitChange.  Social media gives these charities the ability to pull in millions of people from different cities and continents to pull in donations.  Here is a list of some of events and how they utilized social media to gain attention and convinced people to open their wallets and donate.

We have just created a Facebook Fan Page for Pulse2.com that is connected to our RSS feed. Between our Twitter, RSS readers, e-mail subscription, and newly created Facebook Fan Page, we have many thousands of readers.

Below are several ways you can connect with us on Twitter
- Twitter (@pulse2dotcom)
- Facebook Fan Page
- RSS Feed
- Daily E-Mail Subscription

U.S. companies are expected to spend about $38 billion on social media in 2015 according to a report by Borrell Associates Inc. This is up from 2009, when companies spent $4.5 billion on social media. Over 1.5 million local businesses use social networks and they accounted for about half of all spending. “Given their unique ability to move messages among connected users, social networks have been irresistible to marketers looking for ways to deliver advertising and promotional messages,” said the report. “The results to date have been breathtaking.” [Inman.com]

A report created by Simmons New Media reveals that social media use is up 230% since 2007.  Now two-thirds of Americans use Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social media websites every single day. This is up from 20% in 2007. Of the number of Americans visiting social media websites every day, 43% visit social media websites multiple times per day.  Multiple visits are up about 28% compared to last year.