Before you settle in to watch the Final Four match-ups this weekend, take a look at this week’s Five on Friday. In today’s edition, MarTech Today offers suggestions for companies who have procrastinated their GDPR preparations, Billboard reports that the U.S. music industry has the highest revenue now than it has in a decade, thanks to subscriptions, Inc.com shares performance metrics every company should be tracking, Shopify suggests tools for managing your Instagram accounts, and last but not least, everyone’s favorite Five on Friday feature – subscription job opportunities!

GDPR Triage for Procrastinators 

In May, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect in the Europe Union to protect consumer privacy from data collectors and processors. The law applies to any company that has customers in the EU, even if those companies are located elsewhere, including the United States. Many companies have already started – even completed – their GDPR preparations. If your company has been slow to prepare, MarTech Today has put together a list of suggestions just for you in Barry Levine’s article, ‘For All the Procrastinators, Here’s Some GDPR Triage.’ Here are a few highlights:

1. ‘Ignore the alarmists,’ said Tim Jesser, director of product marketing for Stockholm-based software asset management firm Snow Software. Initial enforcement won’t be bad, he says.
2. Determine your company’s exposure. Know who your customers are and where they’re located.
3. Understand what your risks are by knowing where your data resides and how secure it is. The potential for data breaches seems to be growing by the minute, so you want to know your customers’ data is locked down and protected.

Read more in Levine’s article on MarTech Today.

Subscription Growth Fuels Revenue Growth in U.S. Music Industry

U.S. music revenue is on the upswing for the second year in a row, reports Billboard. The music industry hit double-digit revenue growth in 2017, reporting revenue of $8.72 billion, a 16.5 percent increase over the prior year when it was close to $7.5 billion.

According to Billboard, streaming revenue represented $5.66 billion of the total, a 43 percent increase over the prior year when it was $3.96 billion. At that level, streaming revenue represented 65 percent of total revenue for 2017. Of that $5.66 billion, $4.1 billion came from paid subscription revenue. Here are a few other highlights from 2017:

• Apple Music, Amazon Unlimited and Spotify Premium grew more than $1 billion over the prior year to $3.5 billion, a 56 percent increase.
• Limited paid subscription offerings like Amazon Echo, Prime and Spotify’s non-portable, streaming-only tier doubled to $591.6 million.
• Subscriber counts grew to 35.4 million paid subscribers, a 55.5 percent increase over the prior year.
• Digital download sales dropped to 66.4 million units in 2017 from 85.1 million in 2016. Revenue also dropped from these sales to $623.7 million from $818.8 million.

Read more statistics and trends from the U.S. music industry in ‘U.S. Music Industry Hits Highest Revenue Mark in a Decade, Fueled by Paid Subscriptions‘ by Ed Christman on Billboard.

3 Performance Metrics Your Company Should Be Focused On

Sales and revenue are key indicators that your company is – or isn’t – successful, but Craig Bloem, founder and CEO of FreeLogoServices.com, says there are five performance metrics small businesses should track. We don’t want to steal Bloem’s thunder, so we are sharing three of them here:

1. Customer acquisition cost (CAC): How much does it cost you to get each new customer? That’s an important number that needs to be factored into your breakeven point and short- and long-term goals.
2. Retention rate: Because it can be quite costly to acquire new customers, retaining existing ones is critical to the success of your business. This is particularly true for subscription businesses who will want to keep retention high and churn low, advises Bloem.
3. Margin: Virtually everything you do impacts your company’s bottom line, so it is important to know what your margin is. Growth companies often spend more than they make, so their margin is negative, but eventually, if you’re going to stay in business, you need to flip the switch. Knowing what your margin is can help you determine how you’re doing.

Read Bloem’s other suggestions of metrics to track in ‘5 Performance Metrics Your Small Business Should Track‘ on Inc.com.

Top Subscription Jobs

Client Solutions/Business Development Manager
House of Kaizen
New York, NY

We’re seeking a Client Solutions / Business Development Manager to join our team and front line growth opportunities in subscription commerce. Our clients acquire and retain more subscriber revenue through our work in digital media, conversion and customer experience optimization — all initiated through the work of a Client Solutions / Business Development Manager. The role of a Client Solutions / Business Development Manager is to understand the strategic issues facing clients and prospects that can be solved with the right combination of House of Kaizen services and to build more value for both clients and agency through our work together. Read more here.

Manager, Consumer Marketing – Digital
Nintendo
Redmond, WA

The manager of consumer marketing – digital drives the creation and execution of marketing strategies to drive consumer awareness, acquisition, conversion and retention for Nintendo of America’s (NOA) digital business, drives NOA’s marketing strategy for digital products and services, including digital-only titles, downloadable content (DLC), other digital games and applications, subscription services and the Nintendo eShop brand,etc. Read more here.

Subscription Sales Executive
Autodesk
Tokyo, Japan

Drives sales results primarily within Japan with APAC influence, leading the adoption of current subscription programs to Autodesk Premium accounts. In this position, it will be important to create and leverage key relationships with various Autodesk field sales, operational groups, senior executives and end customers to drive subscription renewal sales results. Read more here. 

Senior Manager – Brand Marketing
Sephora
San Francisco, CA

As a Senior Marketing Manager, Brand Marketing, you will be responsible for establishing marketing plans for Sephora brand partners that drive sales and keep Sephora competitive and beloved by clients. Reporting to the Director, Brand Marketing, you will partner with brands to optimize programs using Sephora’s marketing levers. In addition, you will serve as brand marketing advisor to lead as main marketing contact for 25-35 brands simultaneously; own relationship outright. Develop a keen understanding of the brands’ businesses, priorities and products. Read more here.  

Sr. Director – Paid Subscription (Circulation) Marketing
ALM Media, Inc.
New York, New York

The Senior Director, Paid Subscription Marketing is accountable for acquiring new subscriptions online by migrating prospects through the conversion funnel from site visitor to digital member subscriber to paid subscriber status. This position is responsible for direct revenue from new web-order subscription acquisitions, upsell from starter offers to higher value offers, delivery of renewal metrics for onsite renewals. This position will provide support to sales as-needed for sales-driven renewals, and lead generation for higher value site-license sales. Read more here. 

4 Apps to Help You Manage Your Instagram Account

Is your subscription company looking for new tools to help you manage your Instagram account? Shopify has 20 apps for you to check out. We’ve whittled the list down to four. You can read the full list of 20 essential apps to try on Shopify’s blog here.

1. VSCO (available for iOS and Android): This handy app takes photo filtering to the next level, creating great photos for posting and sharing. The app is free but additional filters are available for purchase as well.
2. Canva (available for iOS, Android and the web): We’ve written about Canva before and we still love it. This app lets you create images complete with text and different layouts. Shopify recommends it for use with Instagram Stories.
3. Websta: Take a dive into analytics with insights into your posts, engagement and relationships while managing your account.
4. Later: Want to schedule your posts? Check out Later to plan your campaigns, explore hashtags and share content.