Overdrive Interactive is a Boston-based company with a strong background in online marketing. Up until recently, Overdrive’s core production has been Email marketing, paid search campaigns and organic search/SEO marketing. This past summer they started offering social media content, and since then, they’ve been racking up the awards. They are quickly becoming a big player in social media marketing.

Coincidentally, my friend Matt Sidman (22) was recently hired by Overdrive Interactive as account coordinator. I interviewed him to get an inside scoop on working for this powerful media player.

When I asked about his work at Overdrive, Matt had nothing but positive things to say: “It’s a friendly environment, and I get a lot of good hands-on experience because it’s a small company.” Small as they are, Overdrive has been pumping out some big ideas such as the Harley Davidson mosaic that won them best use of social media at MITX. Other awards include MITX’s best use of targeting for Zipcar, multiple NEDMA gold awards, two silvers at W3, and best of show for Email message campaign from IAC — and that was just in 2009.

Besides years of online marketing experience, Overdrive’s office atmosphere seems to be a big factor in their idea generation. As Matt puts it, “It’s really easy to approach anyone with new ideas and everyone works together across departments.”

This is an especially helpful model for their Social Media Department, which was recently formed to meet demand for social media marketing. “The Social Media Department will come up with material, but anyone in the office is free to throw out an idea,” Matt explains. This allows Overdrive to harvest all sorts of material from employees like Matt, who haven’t worked with Overdrive long, but have had years of experience growing up with social media.

Given the climate and the veracity with which companies are approaching social media strategy, Overdrive is sure to be at the tip of a lot of tongues entering the new year. As Matt reports, “Social Media is huge now; we have clients coming in every other day looking for it.”

Overdrive Founder and CEO Harry Gold has been on the online marketing scene since 1995, granting the company a strong experience base. Their clients include Aquent, ARRIS, Boston University, Boston.com, Bostonian Group, COGNOS-IBM Company, Dow Jones, EMC, Harley-Davidson, Hasbro, John Hancock, LoJack, Pearson, RadioShack, SecureLogix, The Princeton Review, The Pohly Company, Virgin Money, and ZipCar. In short, they’re not messing around.

From what I’ve gathered, Overdrive Interactive is definitely a company to keep an eye on. The growing list of awards makes it clear that they have a solid grasp of what good social media marketing looks like, and with social media platforms growing by the minute, it seems a safe bet they’re ready to kick it into overdrive.

Get into it!

If you’re new to the scene or want to learn more, you can check out Overdrives’ social media map, which outlines all the different social media entities. You can also check out Matt’s blog, in which he recaps Social media news and articles.

Be sure to leave a comment to let us know your thoughts on Overdrive Interactive.