My A to Z list of tools (XYZ)

X.
Website Grader is a free seo tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. It provides a score that incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. It also provides some basic advice on how the website can be improved from a marketing perspective.



Y.
Find out how well your site is doing in popular search engines, social bookmarking and other site statistics.




Z.
Site Explorer allows you to explore all the web pages indexed by Yahoo! Search. View the most popular pages from any site, dive into a comprehensive site map, and find pages that link to that site or any page.

Hope you are able to put the tools on this list to their effective use.

Click here to go back to the top of the list.

Missed out on SunTech Days?

If like me, you too missed out on the SunTech Days in Hyderabad this year; don't give up hope just yet. Here's a virtual ring side seat to the action in Hyderabad.

I am still hoping to find my way there... although a day late.

Marketing Buzz

Marketing Buzz is the new blog authored by Rajesh Ghatge. The blog is worth a read and worth indexing for future posts. Visit the blog from here.

The last mile just got longer!

The one-way, one-message-for-all, top-down brand communication format is on the way out and we need to find a more interesting way of igniting conversations between corporations and consumers.

Storytelling for brands is not just about the images and words. It is about everything you do that touches your prospects and customers. Narrating the brand story through activation is a process of engaging the prospect in an experience about the brand – at consumer touchpoint(s) and with their permission – to positively influence their brand preference and ensure a change in behaviour towards that brand for a lifetime.

The brand experience is fundamental and critical for a couple of reasons. Here are 5 of them;

1. Consumers no longer believe commercial messages. End of story. Read More HERE

2. A consumer’s source of information, research, evaluation and influence are not led by an organisation or brand. Read More HERE

3. The central idea of the campaign has become more important than the media used. The campaign idea needs to create the ripples which should take a life of their own. Read More HERE

4. Brand activation brings with it a large extent of measurability. Read More HERE

5. The customer’s experience with the brand throughout its lifetime will drive the future. Marketers increasingly need to look at extending their roles throughout the lifecycle of the product to ensure future purchases. Read More HERE

The last mile just got longer! Contd..1

1. Consumers no longer believe commercial messages. End of story.

The promises made by commercial messages are tough to digest and while they might increase recall, the consumer takes the core messages with more than a pinch of salt. Consumers need to believe in the product’s virtues to become passionate enough to demand it by name and then defend the choice over others in the category.

There has to be a two-way conversation. It must be a longish conversation – not just 30 seconds – that not only informs but also resolves a consumer’s concerns. It is a conversation that facilitates a pre-purchase hands-on evaluation, a conversation that furthers the consumer’s belief that the brand fits his lifestyle or that his lifestyle matches the brand. The fact is each customer wants a personalised experience regardless of their value to you.

Go to 2. A consumer’s source of information, research, evaluation and influence are not led by an organisation or brand.

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