Marketers are tightening their belts as the economy continues to falter and spending on innovative and potentially risky campaigns with little measurability, is lessening. Just as governments are creating incentive packages in an attempt to stimulate the economy, so is Dallas based digital agency IMC2.

IMC2 has created a grant for marketers looking to try something new and exciting in social media. The company has put $500,000 into the Social Media Innovation Fund, out of which it will match up to $50,000 on what your company might spend on a social media project.

Social media is widely known as a platform to connect brands and people and build loyal relationships. The independent shop noted in an AdAge article that it has the intention of doing at least a million dollars of social media work and hope to find brands that are the right fit for them through this new program.

The grant application has a few requirements, one of which is that they must be new business or that the work has to be a gradual increase to an existing business with the agency. Applicants will also have to be approved by the agency’s team of social media trend experts, and all work may be used in the agency’s personal case studies or PR efforts.

“It’s a discount of dollars to clients under certain circumstances to do the kind of work we find interesting,” said Doug Levy, founder and CEO of IMC2, “Companies make investments all the time. We just thought this was an interesting way to make an investment and to move social media as a marketing tool forward.”

One company already taking advantage of the program is Coca-Cola, who has an existing relationship with the agency. The move will help IMC2 build upon its portfolio and gain plenty of attention, which is significant to marketers seeking an agency, especially in a time when marketing budgets are seeing drastic cuts.