As the curator of the INSIDER Guide to New Product Development (NPD), I’m constantly keeping an eye out for bite-size information that will help you develop and scale better subscription products. Here’s my “Five on Friday” list for August 14th, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.
1. Eigenfactor versus SJR: Understanding the Differences
If you’re new to STM publishing (or not, but don’t want to admit that this topic makes your head explode), “Network-based Citation Metrics: Eigenfactor vs. SJR,” published in a late-July edition of The Scholarly Kitchen newsletter, is worth a careful read. The article explains and compares the network-based citation metrics Eigenfactor and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), those rankings critical to the societies we work, and our own proprietary publications. I’ve summarized some key differences below:
Calculation Element |
Eigenfactor |
SJR |
Size of Network |
11,000 journals indexed by Thomson Reuters |
21,000 journals indexed in the Scopus database |
Citation Window |
Five year window | Three year window |
Self-Citation |
Not included | Allowed up to 1/3 of incoming citations
|
But what about Impact Factor? It’s different from both of the above because it does not weight citations – each is counted at 1:1.
2. B2B Content Marketing Still Has Room to Improve – Part I
In general, B2B marketing still has a way to go to catch up to its B2C counterpart, whether in publishing or elsewhere. While not a surprise, the survey results in this eMarketer article highlighted significant disconnects between content being created, and content that actually drives leads.
Measurement itself was an issue too: 25% of respondents didn’t know the level of leads generated by white papers, while nearly half said the same about analyst reports and 57% about ebooks.
3. B2B Content Marketing Still Has Room to Improve – Part II
Maybe one of the reasons there’s a disconnect between content created and content effectiveness is that measuring effectiveness remains a challenge.
“Measurement itself was an issue too: 25% of respondents didn’t know the level of leads generated by white papers, while nearly half said the same about analyst reports and 57% about ebooks”
4. Invest Time in Your Investors
Investors are like our best subscribers, and we need to treat them that way. This Entrepreneur.com article offers practical advice for engaging with investors for those of us new to interacting with “the money.” My favorite:
“Seasoned investors can read a P&L like you can read a novel. They understand every plot twist, character development, and foreshadowing. They’ll spot the danger signs long before you do, and provide you with the information you need to stay strong.”
The article goes on to recommend formatting your monthly P&L communication as a one-page snapshot at the front, with a detailed report attached.
5. Eight Signs of Weak Writing
Need something to listen to during your morning run? This podcast from Editor-In-Chief offers foundational writing tips from an editor’s perspective. As subscription business leaders, we know more than the average person about writing well, but there’s always room for improvement, not to mention the opportunity to pass on good material to new hires. No time? Here are the eight signs:
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- Don’t know the goal of the piece.
- Making a promise in your title that you don’t keep.
- Generic voice. No opinion, no unique tone, no research to back up your assertions.
- You didn’t use subheads.
- Too many tangents.
- Too many words. Too many sentences, too many paragraphs.
- Trite language.
- No call to action.
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On that note
Have a great weekend everyone!
Diane
Diane Pierson, our INSIDER Guide to New Product Development, is a leader in product management and marketing, having delivered results to companies including Dun & Bradstreet, LexisNexis, American Lawyer Media and Copyright Clearance Center. She has built products & services that have delivered over $100 million in revenue and knows what works, and what doesn’t, when executing product plans and strategies. (Read Diane’s full Bio)