As an INSIDER Guide, 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 October 9th, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.
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 October, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.
1. Funding Advice from HootSuite’s Ryan Holmes
In a blog post earlier this month, Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite, shared his experience with funding a startup. The post itself is an interesting read, but for those of you ready to seek funding beyond your own savings or credit card, or instead of Kickstarter:
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“Angel investors-wealthy individuals or groups willing to invest in an early-stage startup, generally in exchange for equity-are nothing new. But they’ve become increasingly accessible lately thanks to sites like AngelList. [These sites] allow startups to put themselves in front of literally thousands of investors -democratizing access. The other huge advantage is that founders can seek out industry-specific investors-people versed in their field who are capable of both recognizing winning ideas and providing strategic support.” |
2. Get Better Survey Results by Disqualifying Off-Target Respondents
SurveyMonkey recently posted a pithy recommendation for improving survey questions, and I’m sharing it here. What are a few other good tips to get “news you can use” from your surveys? Here are a couple from my upcoming Subscription Insider Toolkit on market research:
- Introduce your subscription and tell respondents why you’re asking these questions.
- Be honest about how long it will take to complete the survey.
- Explain early, clearly and often that “5” equals “Great” and “1” equals “Terrible.”
- Protect confidentiality. Don’t leave your respondent guessing about whether you’ll respect confidentiality; say so directly.
- Say “Thank You.” Your respondent chose to spend time helping you. Make sure they know it’s appreciated!
3. Twitter Removing Public API for Share Counts – What Does it Mean to You?
| “[In October], as part of a redesign of its social media sharing buttons, Twitter is going to turn off the public API which made it possible to display how often that page has been shared via Twitter.” TheStack.com |
However we feel about these share counts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc; they’re part of our success metrics, market strategies and sometimes even the basis on which we get paid. So, what now, and why is Twitter doing this?
“Why?” My prediction: Twitter isn’t growing as quickly as it was expected to, and is also under increased pressure to drive more revenue. Advertising is what it is, so the next great frontier is analytics sales – that data and/or API will be available, but for a price. Look for other social media companies to jump on this bandwagon in the very near future.
“What Now?” Beyond expecting to pay for performance and other social media-generated data, it’s anybody’s guess. My next prediction? We’ll see some wild times, similar to what happened when formerly-print-only subscriptions went online, and experimented with the first content paywalls.
4. Tips on landing pages from Social Media Examiner:
Landing pages are ideal for creating a specific discussion with a prospect or subscriber, bringing them into your website when they have immediate need or interest. So how to make sure you maximize this opportunity to interact? Social Media Examiner offers some common-sense tips:
- Focus on a single offer, including a single call to action (e.g., “Subscribe Now!”).
- Be consistent across marketing channels. Don’t confuse prospects with inconsistent offers.
- Prospects may be visiting your website for the first time, so create an amazing first impression.
- Make essential elements stand out so visitors don’t have to look for signup forms or promotional details.
- Deliver on your promise. If your audience expects a “one-step sign-up form to receive a free sample today,” don’t make them jump through hoops to get there.
5. Something for Subscription Box Businesses to Consider:
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71% of online shoppers noted unconditional free shipping as “critical” to a purchase. UPS Study, 2011 |
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Diane
Diane Pierson has deep experience 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. She is also a contributor to Subscription Insider. (Read Diane’s full Bio)
