Five on Friday: September 18th, 2015

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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 September 18th, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.

1. For Emails: Links to Video – Good; Embedded Video – Not Good

A good tip from Wistia on enriching your email marketing with video: link to video, don’t embed it in your email communications. Here’s why:

“Embedding the video in the email can often decrease your deliverability rates and increase the chances of your email being marked as SPAM.”

2. Building Subscriber Engagement by Enabling Cause-Driven Activity

While a recent DNN whitepaper on sustaining online engagement didn’t provide much that was new or specific in the way of ideas, Tip #5 was worth mulling over. Most of us love our subscription businesses because we’re passionate about the topic we write about – as are our subscribers. How can we get them to see us as a hub for discussion, evaluation and activism around that same topic? Add activity-enabling widgets behind the paywall to help subscribers raise money, discuss current events and more. Where do you get these widgets? Try GetSiteControl.com for a wide variety of options.

“Suppose a set of members are passionate about a particular nonprofit organization, and they mention the organization in some of their posts. Encourage these members to use community tools (e.g. Discussions, Ideas) to coordinate programs and campaigns in support of their cause (e.g. a group fundraising effort).” DNN

3. The Snarky Opt-Out: A Delicate Balance for Any Fat Idiot

I just read Brian Hood’s good post, “Are Snarky Opt-out Messages Worth it? You be the Judge” here on Subscription Insider. It left me laughing, but also wishing I’d kept the snarky opt-out example I deleted from my email only this morning. Great examples given on how to successfully – and not – use snark in your opt-outs. My advice: if five random people, including your humorless brother-in-law, are okay with it, then go. Otherwise, play it straight.

4. Amazon Now Managing Subscription Payments

For those of us still looking – or looking to change – subscription payment systems, may be interested in this announcement by Amazon that they’re entering the subscription management business, as stated in this Entrepreneur.com article. The company, like its competitors, will charge a transaction fee. Amazon’s standard transactional rate is 2.9 percent + $0.30 per-transaction for transactions of $10 or more. While Amazon has a chequered history of offering solutions, only later to compete with the users, the service is worth a look.

5. Creating the First Draft Should Not Be an Orderly Process, According to Copyblogger

“Break every writing rule known to man. Write yourself silly. It’s okay if it reads like a letter from a lunatic.” Demian Farnworth, of Copyblogger, on writing first drafts

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)