Which type of social media group do you belong to?:

Contributor- Reviews products, answers questions and contributes to the community.

Creator - Creates the community, blog, podcast or video

Opportunist - Provides feedback, vote, ask questions, forward to others

Lurker - Reads product reviews, read blogs and message boards

According to a research study by Gartner:, a new online group called “Generation Virtual” is defined not by demographics and psychographics but by achievement, accomplishments and their preference for using digital media. The Generation Virtual group is split into the four segments above, which, says Gartner, should be marketed to differently online to increase return on investment.

Pity the poor people who are labeled “Lurkers”. You’d think that Gartner would be able to come up with a better name than that.

Imagine a mailing list segmented… Read More

It’s been an incredibly hectic month here at Creative Search Media. We’ve moved into new offices (hence the lack of posts to this page), we’re in the middle of major re-design of our web site and changing our focus just a tad. We’ve seen an organic shift in our clients’ needs over the past six months with many asking for more interactive and digital marketing solutions. Read More

If you want your permission-based (opt-in) email marketing campaign to pay off, your message to list members must be relevant to their needs, wants and desires.

Seems like a no-brainer to me, but of course there’s nothing like a study to give credibility to what we already know.

The study in question, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that half of all adult email users surveyed said they had made an online purchase as a result of opt-in, promotional email marketing. But, that they are more than willing to revoke their permission to receive emails from companies if the message sent is not relevant to them. The study also found that opt-in promotional emails are second only to customer reviews on a Web site for influencing a purchase.

Here’s the list –… Read More

CareerDNA is the first digital mentoring and career coaching center that helps recent college graduates get a job they will love based on their individual traits and talents. Instead of trial, error and luck, CareerDNA is designed to provide scientific and psychological analysis that provides users with a strong understanding of how their unique talents and experience can be applied to very specific career and job options. Read More