PM believes in marketing, concentrating powers in his hands: Rahul

Rahul Gandhi today targetted Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he believes only in "marketing" and "symbolism" and concentrating all power in his hands in the belief that he can run the country alone. Accusing the NDA government of treating democratic processes as "useless", the Congress Vice President said "Today (Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha) Mallikarjun Khargeji was speaking but the microphone was switched off." "We never did this kind of thing. Their thinking is that the democratic process is useless and not required. They cannot say it outside but this is their thinking," Gandhi said. Adressing an alumni meet of Youth Congress, Rahul charged BJP does not believe in democracy and on the contrary when there was UPA government at the Centre, leaders of opposition parties always got a chance to speak in parliament. He also referred to the protest led by him in Parliament over the controversial remarks of union minister Niranjan Jyoti amid a stalemate between the government and the opposition on the issue. He said while the programmes of UPA were eaimed at giving power to the people at large, those of NDA government "snatch power from people". "This is the difference. The Prime Minister feels that he alone can run the country. He deeply believes in this. And this can never work. Only people of this country will run it...His thinking is of symbolism. Say anything, market it and then start saying the next thing. People will react to it," Gandhi said as he also sought to pick holes in the Prime Minister's Sansad Gram Yojana scheme. In the backdrop of Congress' defeat in a series of electoral battles, Rahul Gandhi admitted the party has "gone a bit away from people (Congress party janta se thodi door hui hai)." "We have to change this in coming one of two year and connect the party with people and open its door for them," he said as he made a strong pitch for a bigger political role of youths in Congress saying his job is to get Youth Congress leaders into the parent party. The party launches special pages for the event on Facebok and Twitter. One of the tweets on its page quoted Gandhi as saying that the Prime Minister wants "all power in his hands". Calling the Youth Congress leaders as "testimony of the party youth wing's struggle, Gandhi said "my job is to get Youth Congress leaders into the parent Congress...People say that once they are out of Youth Congress, they do not get a place in the party organization. "...It is my job to rectify it. There has to be a coordination between Youth Congress and Congress". He said there is a need to bring people from Youth Congress across the time span together. "My effort will be to ensure that even those who were once in Youth Congress should feel that they are going to have a place in the parent organization...our party is the party of Hindustan. It is not the party of any religion or region or any community," Gandhi said. He urged the Youth Congress leaders to hit the streets and give a voice to the reaction by people to various steps being taken by the government including change in the wage component of MNREGA. "Those whose jobs are being taken away will react. You will have to take this reaction forward and this will not happen with speeches. You will have to hit the streets," he said. Party seniors Anand Sharma, Mukul Wasnik, Ramesh Chennithala, Manish Tewari, Randeep Surjewala and Ashok Tanwar attended the event along with other seniors like Oscar Fernandes and Ashok Gehlot who had been the in-charge of Youth Congress at some point. Besides, some former and serving chief ministers, who had served as Youth Congress chiefs in their states, were also there. Go to Top

Digital Marketing Is A Great Equalizer For Startups

Most technical entrepreneurs cringe when they finally realize that marketing is still king, despite the power of technology, and they are up against competitors who have a hundred times their spending power. Luckily, the digital revolution has been a great equalizer in the marketing world, if used effectively to target the audience, engage the customer, and measure results. Digital marketing is simply the move to the digital tools and technologies that most people depend on every day, including smartphones, search engines, tablets, video on demand, and the social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. The cost of entry to market on these is low, and marketing leverage has very little to do with the size of your budget. The best strategy and tactics to accomplish this digital marketing leverage are detailed in a new book, “Taking Down Goliath,” by Kevin M. Ryan and Rob “Spider” Graham. These industry veterans have been teaching smaller companies how to compete with digital marketing for many years, and have a wealth of case studies to show it really works. The first step is to create the perfect online marketing message. This message is defined as the knowledge or information that will be retained by customers after they are exposed to your company. The authors reiterate what I often say to business to business (B2B) entrepreneurs, it’s all about selling solutions (not technology) to real customers who have real needs and problems they want solved: How does this solution solve an existing problem? Every business faces challenges that affect their sales efforts, manufacturing efforts, human resources, and other things that keep them viable and profitable. Not only must the solution benefit the company as a whole, but there can be emotional benefits as well for employees who feel the pain. How does this solution provide a competitive advantage? Solutions that can turn a threat into an opportunity are especially enticing. In a world where the common scenario is “eat or be eaten,” being able to help companies to be better predators and less likely to be prey will be compelling. How does this solution make the customer a visionary/market leader? Part of the competitive advantage in the marketplace is being perceived by that market as a leader in some way. Every company is striving to find an identity that highlights its unique selling proposition, to stand out from the crowd as a visionary. How does this solution enable a significant value exchange? Smart companies are always looking for a return on investment. If they spend time, money, or other resources on a potential solution, then that solution should pay for itself. That’s a value exchange, as are solutions that empower employees to make better use of existing resources. How does this solution represent an exclusive opportunity? In the business world, exclusivity isn’t just a social ego boost. Companies that have access to, or can sell products and services not available to their competitors, can position themselves better in the marketplace. Like people, businesses need to be known for what sets them apart. How does this solution increase performance and productivity? Companies that are more efficient in the use of all their resources will be more profitable. Solutions that increase performance include automation tools, equipment upgrades, and new approaches to manufacturing and distribution. For business to consumer (B2C) audiences, effective marketing messages are also about triggering strong emotional triggers that consumers rely on to make decisions about the value and benefits of the offers they receive. These include a sense of well-being, convenience, security, significance, exclusivity, positive social standing, and others. In both business and consumer environments, with digital marketing technology, the playing field between big companies, mid-size businesses, and even startups has been leveled tremendously. The new success factor is not the size of your budget, but your skill in crafting the right message, sending it out through the right channels, and tuning the system for maximum results. Only in this age of digital marketing could a small non-profit, with a very limited budget, reach an audience of millions per month worldwide, with their “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” marketing message, and achieve results exceeding $100 million. Don’t let big-budget Goliaths trample you merely by the size of their footprint. Startups Integrating Marketing and Design Co-written by Cade Witnish 2014-11-26-marketingdesign.jpg Building a startup on a shoestring budget is possible up to the point when the first innovator and early adopter users have signed on and been identified. Then, the nascent firm needs to quickly scale up it's offering while creating a niche market and acquiring early majority customers. This is also the step in the process when serious risk capital is needed because it requires concurrent engineering development, manufacturing and marketing of the product. Might upfront imaginative coordination of design and marketing ease this critical transition? Good design has been shown in studies at Stanford University and Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, to increase investors' interest and valuation of new business opportunities. At the same time, superior design has been shown in Stanford University studies to create trends by fostering online buzz, as measured by the number of Web Citations commanded. So, if design can entice investors and customers alike -- how might marketing be used to systematically make this happen? The first question to ask is, does the startup's personality shine through its design? People still do business with other people and despite the advances in technology, the most successful startups are those that can create and maintain a human connection with their target customers. The first interaction a potential customer has with a new business establishes how they perceive the startup's persona. Consistent design is a critical component for ensuring that the persona initially established is portrayed throughout the life cycle of the startup. Below are the four key stages to a customer life cycle and the focused steps a startup must take when considering design. Acquisition Acquisition focuses on all tasks and activities related to acquiring potential customers prior to them becoming a customer, whether this is through paid advertising, social media or search engine optimization. Applying a company persona to these elements helps to differentiate their acquisition materials from those of competitors. It helps to communicate not only value proposition and price but also the personality of the business and product, which, on a human level, is how people ultimately relate. Activation and Engagement Potential customers have arrived on the new website and the offerings there have piqued their interest. Now, they need to quickly understand what action to take. Through design, the user is guided through not only the product offering, but through the product activation process. When visitors reach the startup's website, ensure that the same emotions are invoked as during the acquisition stage. By having consistency in communicating the startup's persona at all stages, chances are greatly increased for retaining the engagement of these visitors -- as they will be connected emotionally to the brand throughout the journey. Retention When activating -- communicate the value proposition message to customers and get them to take action. In the retention stage, encourage them to repeat their initial action (e.g. a purchase) or take different, further actions to re-engage. Therefore, the design of the materials you use to re-engage must not be overlooked. To keep people coming back, continue to portray the same persona that attracted them in the first place. Ensure that consistent messaging and personality shines through the startup's design and while no business retains every customer, a consistent persona will attract many more repeat visitors. What next? Get personal. Step back and take a look at your new startup -- whether it's still an idea or is a bit more established -- and ask, -- if your business were a person, what type of person would it be? Are you happy with that persona? And is that persona -- along with your values -- reflected in every stage of messaging that is displayed to your potential and current customers? If not, you may be missing out on many potentially lucrative business opportunities. Special thanks to Cade Witnish for researching and co-writing this article.

3 Affiliate Marketing Action Items for 2015

Set aside some time in December to map out what 2015 will look like for your affiliate marketing channel. Many times, “thinking” becomes consumed by “doing,” which results in a reactive rather than a proactive strategy. Knowing this, over the next few weeks, devote some time to consider each of the action items listed below, and you’ll be in good shape to take charge of your affiliate marketing activities for 2015. Commit to checking off all three items on this list before January 1, 2015. 1. Determine Affiliate Marketing Priorities for 2015 If your affiliate program is new, your top priority might be to grow your affiliate base. If this is the case, your 2015 strategies could include developing recruiting campaigns, building visibility at industry conferences and events, and evaluating paid placement opportunities to promote your affiliate program. On the other hand, if your affiliate program is more mature, your top priority might be engaging your existing affiliates. The first step would be to determine what your current activation rate is. You can quickly gauge this by taking the number of affiliates that drove at least one click to your site in November, and divide that by the total number of affiliates in your program. If less than 30 percent, your 2015 strategies could include developing activation campaigns, prioritizing inactive affiliates, and conducting personal reach-outs to high-potential affiliates. Or, let’s say you have a active base. Then perhaps it’s time to explore what new tools can be harnessed or developed. This year, 2014, was good for the industry in terms of new tools. AvantLink launched an ad marketplace, where retailers can bid on ad placements on affiliate sites. ShareASale launched a bookmarklet that enables affiliates to dynamically generate a tracking link to any page on a retailer’s site, provided an affiliate partnership is in place. AvantLink's banner ad marketplace launched in 2014. AvantLink’s banner ad marketplace launched in 2014. Or maybe there are tools out there that you haven’t incorporated into your affiliate program yet. Video continues to influence purchase decisions, and mobile has a growing share of ecommerce shoppers. Perhaps 2015 is the year your affiliate program expands into those channels. Research what new tools and technology are available to you, and work them into your 2015 strategy. 2. Set Quantitative Goals Based on Fact, Not Fiction Sure, driving 300 percent growth in net revenue year-over-year would be a good goal to have. But is it realistic? For a new affiliate program, this could be feasible, and perhaps even conservative. However, for a mature program, 300 percent year-over-year growth might be excessive. Either way, you’re not going to know unless you understand what triggers are in play. Once you know what your triggers are, you can map out when they will occur in 2015— based on 2014 performance. To start with, determine your key revenue drivers. Were there a few specific affiliates that drove most of your volume? If so, reach out to these affiliates and figure out how to ensure continued growth in 2015. Set up one-on-one meetings with them to go over 2014 performance and to plan out 2015 placements and budget. Perhaps you can start a customized, tiered incentive structure that pays if they hit a certain sales target. Also look at your 2014 promotional calendar. Did sales spike every time you ran a particular promotion? If so, put that promotion on the calendar for 2015. The point is, make sure the data exists to support the kind of growth you are projecting for 2015. 3. Understand Impact of Affiliate Issues The affiliate industry got its start in the late 1990s. It’s still young compared to other marketing and promotional tactics. It’s therefore still susceptible to innovation gaps, when technology develops faster than values, and new tools are created before processes are in place. These gaps are occurring right now. Consider the affiliate tax nexus legislation in many states. There is a gap here because sales tax laws were not created with online commerce in mind. (I addressed sales taxes and affiliate marketing earlier this year, in “Affiliate Marketing: 3 Legal Issues to Monitor in 2014.”) Another example of a gap is the use of social media by brands and companies. In January 2015, Facebook will reportedly be shifting its algorithm so that promotional brand messaging will be limited in user news feeds. This shift could drive many brands to rely on affiliates for brand visibility on Facebook. How to Keep Up? The affiliate industry is continually in flux, with new technologies, new players, and new platforms. To keep up with it all, read the website of the Performance Marketing Association, which is a trade association that focuses on affiliate industry issues. Also consider attending industry conferences such as Affiliate Summit or AM Days. Finally, do you have affiliate issues that you’d like to see covered here?, If so, please leave a comment below. One of my 2015 priorities is providing actionable content that is relevant to you, our ecommerce-merchant readers. Your feedback is definitely welcome.