Yes, it’s finally Friday. We survived talk of the island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by water, big water, ocean water, and we are ready for the weekend. (Sorry, I could not resist.) Before you head out, check out this week’s Five on Friday. In this week’s edition, Ad Exchanger reports that CPT advertisers are cutting their digital ad dollars and Amazon is reaping the benefits, Digital TV Research forecasts the future of online TV and video, Hubspot shares five sales tips, Zuora talks about the subscription economy in the U.K., and The Muse offers productivity tips to help us get more done. 

CPG Advertisers Cut Digital Dollars and Amazon Reaps the Benefits 

Ad Exchanger reports that consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are cutting digital advertising spending, and Amazon is reaping the benefits. In a July article, Ad Exchanger gave an example for Procter & Gamble CEO Jon Moeller who said on a July earnings call that the company saved $140 million in the previous quarter, almost all of which was from digital ad cutbacks. Why? Because companies say the ads are ineffective. In P&G’s case, growth did not appear to be impacted by the ad.

‘As we made those decisions and put our money where our mouth has been to ensure solid and strong placement of ads, we didn’t see reduction in growth rate,’ said Moeller.

How exactly does this benefit Amazon? According to Ad Exchanger, companies are moving their ad dollars to Amazon, because they get paid $0.30 to $0.50 per click for affiliate links, compared to the standard $0.05 to $0.10 per click, said Shirley Chen, founder and CEO of content marketing platform Narrativ. Not only are advertisers making more money from Amazon, but Amazon’s conversion rate is higher, giving them more bang for their buck.

‘Amazon is winning because they give publishers more credit for user acquisition, while standard affiliates credit bottom-funnel channels like retargeting and Google search,’ said Chen in the Ad Exchanger article.

Ad Exchanger ties this all back to Amazon’s Prime membership program, because this customer loyalty adds value for advertisers. Amazon also offers ‘subscriptions’ for different products through its ‘Subscribe & Save’ program which benefits CPG companies, making Amazon a natural fit for them.

Learn more about how Amazon is benefiting from the change in digital ad spending in Ad Exchanger’s original article, ‘Amazon Benefits as CPG Advertisers Trim Digital Dollars,’ by James Hercher, published October 3, 2017. 

Report: OTT Revenue Will Grow to $83 Billion by 2022 

Online TV and movie revenue for 138 countries will reach $83 billion by 2022, more than twice the $37 billion generated in revenue in 2016, according to Digital TV Research’s 258-page Global OTT TV & Video Forecasts report. According to the report, and Advanced Television who quoted it, $9 billion will be generated this year. Currently, U.S. has the greatest market share of online TV and video revenue at 51 percent in 2016, but it will drop to 40 percent by 2022, says the report.

‘OTT revenues will exceed $1 billion in 14 countries by 2022; double the count at end-2017,’ said Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. ‘The top five nations will command two-thirds of global revenues.’

The report said that streaming video on demand revenue was the largest over-the-top (OTT) revenue source in 2013, but by 2022, it will account for half of the revenue.

The top five countries in 2017, in order of revenue, are:

1. United States, $21.62 million
2. China, $4.67 million
3. Japan, $2.94 million
4. United Kingdom, $2.66 million
5. Germany, $1.34 million

Read more of the report’s findings on Advanced Television here.

Hubspot: 5 Sales Tips from Top Sales Experts

In a recently refreshed blog post on Hubspot, Aja Frost offered ‘The Best 42 Best Pieces of Sales Advice from 500-Plus Selling Experts.’ Here are five of our favorites:

1. Ask questions first, so you fully understand your client’s needs.
2. Don’t guess or make up answers. Admit when a question is outside of your wheelhouse, and help your prospects get the answers they need.
3. Stay positive. Prospects have their own problems; they don’t need to hear about yours.
4. Outline expectations, so your prospects or clients have an idea what’s coming. What are the outcomes? What is expected of them? What is expected of you? What’s the time line, etc.?
5. Be on the lookout for the opportunity to upsell a new client. Don’t think of it is a one-time sale, but rather a first-time sale.

Read all the tips on Hubspot here. 

Zuora: Subscription Business Model Goes Mainstream in the U.K.

In a study by Zuora and YouGov, the companies found the energy, healthcare and automotive industries are moving to recurring revenue models. Results from this study, and related research, revealed the following:

• 9 out of 10 Britons subscribe to their favorite stores, brands and services, an 11 percent increase (Zuora: A Nation Subscribed)
• The average UK adult spends £56 per month (or $73.53 U.S.)
• UK adults between the ages of 35 and 54 spend about £62 per month (or $81.41 U.S.)
• 12 percent of British adults pay for prescriptions and private healthcare services on a monthly basis.

‘Nearly all of the British population is part of the Subscription Economy,’ said John Phillips, Zuora vice president at EMEA. ‘From heating to healthcare, Zuora’s new study proves that the subscription-business model has gone mainstream and consumers have bought into recurring payments.’

‘The only way businesses can sustainably maintain relationships with consumers and grow is by moving away from their product-centric mentality and creating long-term brand affinity based around flexible subscription-based services,’ Phillips added.

To see more results, read ‘Zuora Study Proves Subscription Business Models Go Mainstream‘ by Leah Alger on Software Testing News.

5 Productivity Tips for the Chronically Busy

Raise your hand if you wish you had more time in the day? Anyone? Everyone! We all wish we had more time, or at least that we were more productive than we are. In ’45 Productivity tips for Extremely Busy People,’ The Muse offers some helpful tips to do just that. Here are 5 we plan to try!

1. Don’t try to do it all today. The Muse’s #1 tip is to follow a 1-3-5 plan. Each day focus on one large task, three medium-sized tasks and five small tasks.
2. Break down large projects into manageable tasks. If you put a month-long project on your ‘to do’ list as one item, you will have to carry it over from day to day, never seeing any progress until the day when you can check it off. If you break it down into tasks with deadlines and time estimates, the overall project will seem much more manageable – and it will help you not to procrastinate.
3. Delegate or outsource tasks that don’t have to be done by YOU. Each of us has responsibilities, strengths and weaknesses. For those tasks that aren’t your strength, or that don’t require your particular expertise, delegate or outsource them to free yourself up for higher level tasks.
4. Get one big task done before lunch. Even if you aren’t a morning person, try to accomplish one big task before lunchtime. By moving it off your plate (pun intended), you can relax during your lunch and come back to start something different when you return to work.
5. Limit email checking. Email and social media are two of the biggest time sucks in the modern age. For email, try checking it at specific times a day, and try to limit it to no more than four or five times a day (yikes!). It will be a big adjustment at first, but you will find that you have more time to focus on real work. As an added bonus, sometimes issues will resolve themselves between the time an email is sent to you and the time you check it.

Get the other 40 productivity tips from The Muse here. Good luck!

Our next Subscription Insider Payment Boot Camp is coming up in less than two weeks, and I’m excited to be able to attend the event. It will be my first time, so I’ll get to meet and connect with subscription experts, entrepreneurs, payments specialists, readers and more. If you haven’t registered already, you’ll want to do it right away. These events are popular and always sell out. I hope to see you there! [P.S. – If you’re attending, please be sure to say ‘hi’! I’d love to meet you.]