Masters of the medium: Utah enterpreneurs are on top of the social media heap.

• Author: Sutherland, Spencer
• Position: On the Cover

friending. Tweeting. Blogging. If you live in Utah, chances are pretty good that you're doing some or all of these things everyday. Salt Lake City is quickly becoming known as a social media hot spot, recently ranking in the top 10 in both Men's Journal's list of "most socially networked cities in the U.S." and the Huffington Post's top "Social Media Savvy Cities."

Pete Codella, CEO of Codella Marketing and co-founder of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City, isn't surprised that Utah ranks so high on these lists. "Utah has an entrepreneurial spirit," he says. "The state is filled with businesses that are interested in tools that help them get the word out affordably and quickly. Social media is perfect for that."

Working professionals throughout the state are using social media platforms to do more than just keep in touch with high school friends. They're turning to the internet to tell their story, position their products and even gather support for humanitarian projects.

Goodbye Infomercial, Hello YouTube

When Advertising Age named its top 10 social media campaigns of 2010, the list was filled with big-name brands like Coke, Pepsi and General Electric. Among the mega-corporations was an unlikely contender, a 14-employee outfit from Provo called Orabrush.

A few years ago, Dr. Bob Wagstaff was doing all he could to sell his tongue cleaning invention. After repeated pitches to retailers and even an unsuccessful infomercial, Wagstaff enlisted the help of BYU marketing class. At the conclusion of the marketing project, the team of students recommended that Wagstaff not waste his time selling the product on the internet, as their research showed that 92 percent of the market would be unwilling to buy a tongue brush online.

One student, however, saw it differently. Jeffrey Harmon raised his hand and asked, "What about the other 8 percent? That's millions of people." Harmon pulled Wagstaff aside and told him he was sure he could help market the product.

While working on the project, Harmon came across a YouTube video explaining how to know if you have bad breath. After securing permission for the video and posting it on the Orabrush site, Harmon, who is now the company's chief marketing officer, says sales conversion increased by three times.

This led to another idea--why not take the video a step further and explain how to get rid of that bad breath? With some film school buddies handling the acting and directing--and with Wagstaff holding...