Five on Friday: Amazon Expands Prime Options, Subscription Payment Accelerator Conference, and More
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” compilation for April 22nd, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.
1. Amazon Expands Prime Options with Monthly Subscriptions; Netflix Hikes Prices
Photo Credit: Flickr labeled for reuse
Earlier this week, Amazon announced expanded Prime offerings that spin out a video-only option as well as a the traditional Prime offering of video, text and audio content coupled with free two-day shipping, both now available on a month-by-month basis.
In a badly-timed move, Netflix announced price hikes that put them in second place on a pure price comparison. New Netflix customers will pay $9.99/month for HD on up to 2 screens ($8.99 for single-screen, no-HD service and $12.99 for Ultra HD on up to 4 screens). Amazon customers will pay $8.99/month for best-option available, unlimited-screen streaming video or $10.99 for the video plus all other Prime content and the 2-day shipping.
Original content, breadth of licensed content, search experience and streaming quality play a role in preference, of course, but Amazon has officially thrown down the gauntlet in its competition with Netflix.
2. “Can Influencer Marketing Really Motivate Purchases?” Study from Wharton School
The Social Times recently summarized a new study by Dr. Jonah Berger from the Wharton School, and the Keller Fay Group for client Experticity that reinforced the idea that “micro” (non-celebrity) influencers have massive power to sway potential customers. The reason? They work at it. Here’s what the study showed about the difference between influencers and the rest of us:
- 74% of influencers encouraged someone to “buy it or try it,” something only 66% of the general population did.
- Influencers were seen as more credible and believable than average people (94% vs. 83%).
- Influencers have over 20 times more conversations each week than regular users about purchasing recommendations.
So how can you influence your influencers? Following are some ideas:
- Offer “Ambassador” privileges. These could include subscription deals, access to unique content, or discounts to events that the influencer can distribute at their discretion.
- Incorporate influencer viewpoints on the subject of your subscription into your own content. This can go beyond marketing testimonials to topic-focused reviews, interviews and editorials.
- Reward your influencer with access to you. Have a luncheon or even a virtual meet-up to ask their advice.
3. Checklist for Building Your Website
Whether you’re a startup or starting your latest product online, this infographic from entrepreneur.com functions as a great basic checklist of everything you need to make sure you have on your website. The only downside is – it’s long!
4. “How to Define Your Target Audience”
In this recent blog post, marketresearch.com offers a few methods for better crafting a statement of your target audience. No time to read the whole article? Here are the highlights:
Be Specific and Dig Deep. Go beyond age and gender to understand your market’s stand on issues (and their adherence to those positions), how one market feels about another and the specific problems they’re trying to solve with your offering.
Get Fresh Insights through Better Questions. Expressed well in the following quote:
“Instead of asking ‘what do you most dislike about our product?’ you should ask, “If our product was a person and it died today, what would the obituary say was the cause of death?”
David Smith, co-founder of branding agency Immortology
Take the Customer’s Point of View. It’s hard but look dispassionately at your product through the eyes of your subscriber. Really, is your product better quality, higher value or in some other way truly better than the other options? It’s hard to step back from the role of advocating your own product, but critical to accurate assessment.
5. Seats Still Available for Subscription Insider’s May 4th “Subscription Payment Accelerator” Workshop in NYC
Click here to get one of the few remaining seats at this timely topic. Learn from Education Week, payments expert Paul Larsen, payment services provider Vindicia and more. This is a hands-on session with ample opportunity for expert Q&A, group discussion and networking.
It’s Earth Day today, and the official theme is Plant a Tree. So – dig a spring for Mother Earth today! Have a great weekend, everyone.
Diane
