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 July 8th, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.  

1.  Product Managers Doing More, Working Weekends

In a study by the 280 Group, 50% of Product Managers indicated that they have been asked to do more with less in the past few years. 78% report working an average of six hours on the weekends.

2.  Building a Better Mobile Product

With 51% of our online time spent with a mobile device (versus 42% on a PC), creating a mobile-native product is a logical step for publishers.  This data-rich article from Pragmatic Marketing is worth a read on that topic, delivering four “mindsets” for creating a customer-focused mobile offering.  No time? Here are the highlights:

Mindset 1: Don’t Port; Create

To determine what’s important to users in a mobile context, study their behavior using time-tested techniques: focus groups, task analysis, field research and usability testing.

Mindset 2: Understand the User’s Context

Your app’s design should match mobile user behavior. Think of the Travelocity user at home planning a vacation versus that same user trying to confirm a connection time running through an airport.

Mindset 3: Share Pertinent Information Quickly

Design to quickly bring relevant information to the surface: limit to one task per screen, provide hints and clear feedback for every action and be predictable.

Mindset 4: Recognize the Personal Nature of a Mobile Device

Allow users to easily control notifications and alerts. 

3. Choosing the Right Social Media Marketing Agency

Social media marketing is table-stakes for most subscription businesses, but how do you know you’re getting what you’re paying for?  This post by Envision Creative provides some insight into that question, offering some red flags that an agency might not be worth the money. Watch for agencies that:

Don’t Prioritize Visuals. According to Kissmetrics, photos outperform text and link posts by 53% and receive 104% more comments. If a social media package doesn’t include a strong portfolio of original visual content, you should think twice.

Make No Mention Of Timing. Consultants should be aware of the most active online time for your audience, and plan to post at the right times to maximize eyeballs and attention.

Lack A Sound Interaction Plan. While interacting with every inquiry from followers may sound like a lot of work, these followers have taken the initiative to engage with your brand. Taking the opportunity that this presents can convert these interested visitors into lifelong fans of your product.

4. Revitalizing Membership Organizations Means Market-Centric Product Creation

Watching this Copyright Clearance Center webinar “Revitalizing Membership – How Member Organizations are Rethinking and Redefining Their Value” is worth the 45 minutes it takes to hear from representatives of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Institution of Engineering and Technology and others as they discuss what they as associations are doing to increase the value of membership. A few of my favorite tips from the webinar include:

• Break onboarding and outreach into smaller member groups with common goals.

• Enable professional collaboration.

• Expand demographic characteristics captured about members to help build better offerings.

Other insights:

• Subscribers to membership organizations and associations are really focused on value for the money these days.

• Badging users and leveraging other participation designations is a good way to encourage participation by distinguishing active members.

• Define what “member engagement” means to your business; you’ll be surprised (as one of the presenter’s was) at the differing opinions on this topic!

But there’s much more. I recommend grabbing lunch and watching the webinar in its entirety.

5. Creating the Right Name for Your Product

Looking for a great name for your new offering, or even your company?  Go to this article from Pragmatic Marketing for ways to inspire your work. It offers 33 strategies for choosing a new product name along with some interesting anecdotes. My favorites:

#2: Spell It a Different Way

An intentionally misspelled word can draw the eye, such as Netflix. But avoid engaging in difficult-to-remember technobabble, such as these (real) names: 1-4-@LL, 160 over 90, Design VoX, mmO2 and $Cashnet$.

#5: Go for Quantity

Don’t fall in love with a short list of two or three options. Develop lots of names. According to the article, you’ll lose at least 8 of every 10 names you generate In a typical trademark search -sometimes more. Build a big list of options.

#28 Find a Big Brother

This has been traditionally popular with newspapers, due to their legacy of local readership. Because that love for local focus is returning, you may want to consider using the name of the area you serve.  But go beyond the obvious descriptors like Times, Herald or Gazette and be inspired by more novel nouns such as the Post-Intelligencer in Washington, Sacramento Bee in California and High Point Enterprise in North Carolina.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Diane