The Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) has named Shazaaam!/Buzzphoria LLC as one of Metropolitan Detroit’s “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For,” marking the fourth year in a row that the agency has been named.

“We are proud to receive this high honor once again,” said Adrienne Lenhoff, Shazaaam!/Buzzphoria founder and president. “We take special care in making our workplace a creative and fun place to work for our employees,” she added, “and the results show in both our work for clients and the dedication that our staff shows every day in accomplishing their goals.”

Shazaaam!/Buzzphoria and 100 other businesses in greater Michigan will be honored at an awards luncheon on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at The Dearborn Inn, a Marriott hotel located in Dearborn, Mich.

Shazaaam!/Buzzphoria, Novi, Mich.-based businesses, have also received numerous recognitions from Crain’s Detroit Business named as a “Cool Place to Work.” The selection of Shazaaam!/Buzzphoria, along with other winning companies, affirms to its employees, clients, vendors, and to the business community at large, that it is committed to being one of the Best and Brightest companies to work for.

MBPA qualifies companies using independent research that evaluates company communication, community initiatives, compensation and benefits. The organization also reviews other categories such as diversity and multiculturalism, employee education and development, employee engagement and commitment, and work-life balance.

“Because the companies selected have created impressive organizational value and business results through their policies and best practices in human resource management, we believe it is important to recognize their accomplishments, especially at a time when all businesses are being challenged in ways never before seen,” said Jennifer Kluge, MBPA executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Metro Detroit’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For is sponsored by AT&T Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Corp!, Magazine, Davenport University, DTE Energy, Pepsi Bottling Group, Douglas Marketing, The Designate, Strategic Staffing Solutions, WJBK Fox 2, HRAGD, the Detroit Athletic Club and McGraw Wentworth.
About Shazaaam!/Buzzphoria

Founded in 2001, Shazaaam! (shazaaam.com) is an award-winning, independently owned, group of affiliated communications companies headquartered in Novi, Mich. Shazaaam! Public Relations, Social Media Marketing Agency Buzzphoria (buzzphoria.com) and experiential marketing company Promo Marketing Team (promomarketingteam.com) specialize in traditional public relations, social media marketing, product sampling and street-level marketing promotions and events, respectively, on a national level. Specialties include media and public relations, guerilla marketing, online viral marketing, electronic and new media development, mobile tours, product samplings, social networking and event coordination and management.

A big question for those interested in social media marketing today is effectiveness. What drives customers and businesses to my site? How do I engage my customer base to create a two-way dialogue that promotes positive interaction?

A recent survey conducted by MarketingProfs in September 2009 of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers found that the marketing tactics most often used on social media sites aren’t necessarily the best.

Simply friending customers and attempting to drive traffic to corporate websites with status updates on Facebook, ranked among the most common tactics. But brands cannot expect to gain traction with these simplistic one-way communications.

Looking at MarketingProf’s survey of B2B and B2C marketers, the most effective tactic for consumer-oriented companies was creating a Facebook application. However, less than 25 percent of the total number of those surveyed used this approach. A close second for both B2C and B2B marketers were fan surveys, although ranked as the third most-common tactic attempted.

Coming in dead-last as effective were Facebook ads. Even targeted ads, using Facebook’s improved ad targeting package came up short.

Not a surprise really when you recognize that social media users, especially those savvy to traditional communication techniques, expect companies to provide value, interactivity and ultimately open up a human dialogue.

Twitter is another application where the goals don’t match the approach most marketers’ take.

Because of Twitter’s features, brevity and fairly recent entrance into the web its user base is different from Facebook’s and so is its utility to marketers. Those who used Twitter as a tool for monitoring and person-to-person communication, instead of as a sales channel, reported 40 percent or higher success rates.

Buzzphoria knows that success in social media means going that extra mile down the road less traveled to interact with customers and clients in a dynamic way. One-way traditional communications aren’t how real people talk to one another and it shouldn’t be how companies going forward address their consumers.

Has your company embraced social media’s human communication?

As more and more people hop onto social media platforms, we are seeing more companies tapping into technology in new ways. The word is spreading that there are ways to create dialogues and conversation with your own customers while being introduced to millions of potential new clients.

For those not tuning in to the stats, Facebook is currently leading in terms of users. On September 15, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, posted a message stating that Facebook “now serves 300 million people across the world.” To put some perspective on that number, there are just three countries with a 300 million+ population: China @ 1.3 billion, India @ 1.2 billion and America @ 307 million. Simply said, your consumers and potential customers are out there… and they are talking.

So how is social media changing business strategy?

1. Social Media Gives Candid Feedback:

Last time I took a restaurant phone survey, there was no option along the lines of ‘push 7 if your waiter should have been fired on the spot for the horrific service you received.’ However, many consumers will express this frustration in the medium most commonly at their fingertips. Before a company is even aware that someone has dropped their name in cyberspace, their brand is smeared all over Twitter within hours. Or the total opposite may be occurring and users are mentioning how much they love your product. Either way, it’s up to the company to react and create dialogue or to be totally absent from the conversation.

2. Social Media Creates B2C Dialogues:

One of most influential factors in a company’s choice to plug in to these networks is the opportunity for consumer dialogue. Instead of buying ad space to talk AT your target market, we now have the option to talk WITH them. Time to phase out the little feedback cards and mini pencils; the answers are right in front of us! Using social media gives companies a perfect opportunity to show personality and character 24/7 rather than trying to cram feeling into a :30 or :60 second ad slot. As for ROI, your success is solely dependent on the effort you put into your accounts. Dell has around 40 Twitter accounts, each personalized to a different target group of consumers. Definitely a lot of work to maintain correctly, but the end result is an estimated $3 million in sales attributed to Twitter.

3. Social Media Allows Personalized Service:

Of course, so does a customer help phone line. Here’s the difference: a recent Mashable poll showed that people spend an average of 68 hours per week on the internet. Social media-savvy companies are reaching out to their customers in a place they know they can find them. This is proactive approach can save a lot of problems down the road. For example, when a user tweets about their negative experience with Comcast, Frank Eliason (@comcastcares) responds with tips or offers to help. Eliason’s efforts were highlighted last year in a NYTimes article that shows how effectively social media works to allow companies to help consumers… and hopefully quiet the consumer’s negative postings!

Buzzphoria stays connected to the web, constantly seeking out conversations involving or affecting our clients. From there, when a company really sees how consumers are reacting to their brand, they can respond in an honest and helpful way.

Has your company gotten in to social media? Why or why not?