PDA

View Full Version : New TV Commercials for WordPress



vangogh
05-17-2017, 05:33 PM
I thought this was interesting. Automattic is producing TV commercials for WordPress.com. You can watch three 30 second commercials on Matt Mullenweg's site (https://ma.tt/2017/05/new-tv-ads/), which is where I learned they existed.

At first I thought it strange, but I often see commercials for Squarespace and Wix and I think it's safe to say WordPress.com competes with both. I wonder if WP.com has been losing signups the last year or so or if this is just a natural next step for them. Either way it's yet another service where people can get a website for free or low cost and it's something every freelance web designer/developer should be paying attention to.

Have you seen any of the WP commercials on TV yet or is this thread the first time you're hearing about them?

Harold Mansfield
05-17-2017, 08:05 PM
I've been seeing them on Twit. WordPress has been sponsoring a few shows there.

Of course now the real fun begins when I have to keep explaining why what I do is more expensive than what they see on TV that's also called WordPress. Oh joy!

cbscreative
05-22-2017, 02:51 PM
C'mon, Harold, if you have to explain why your service is more expensive, you're talking to the wrong kind of client. :)

I haven't seen the commercials but then again, I don't see any commercials unless they're shared somehow. I don't watch TV except for disc or Netflix so I don't miss the ridiculous amount of commercials that nearly double the amount of time you spend watching.

The target market for this has always existed and always will. This is just another hat in the ring. Fortunately, savvy business owners who recognize the value of hiring skilled professionals isn't likely to go away either. Some businesses can do fine with DIY web sites, others think they can and wonder what went wrong, and some go after the cream in their market and let others haggle over what's left. It's the beautiful thing about free enterprise

Harold Mansfield
05-22-2017, 02:58 PM
C'mon, Harold, if you have to explain why your service is more expensive, you're talking to the wrong kind of client. :)


The confusion between WordPress.com and self hosted WordPress has always been confusing to regular people. It's just not that common for 2 completely different things to have the exact same name so it's understandable.

cbscreative
05-24-2017, 12:04 PM
I see your point, Harold. It's not something I typically deal with. Usually, the decision on whether or not to use WP is mine based on client needs. Even with WP, I'm usually the person managing the site and/or blog and the client gets to run their own business instead of the site. The questions I get are very different.

Harold Mansfield
05-24-2017, 12:23 PM
I'm really just talking about those new calls. It's better now that I target differently, but there's still enough confusion that I'll get a call every now and then from someone who needs help with a WordPress.com site because they're trying to do something that isn't possible on WordPress.com and they didn't know there was a difference.

Even in the forums, there's always confusion from people who didn't know self hosted and WordPress.com were two different things. They thought if they had their own domain it meant they were "self hosted".

That's just the way it's always been and will probably always be.

It would be nice if they called the self hosted version "Enterprise" (cause I like Star Trek :)) or something to separate the versions clearly.

cbscreative
05-24-2017, 12:31 PM
I'm a Trek fan too. I even have the honor of being one from the beginning. I was 5 when the first one aired and I liked it instantly.

Maybe they could call the wp.com Voyager or Delta because if you get lost in that part of the galaxy it's a long way back to Federation space.