There is a difference between sales marketing and marketing a product because it’s based on a content management system. WordPress Theme Demonstrations are a primary example of what I’m talking about here. Yes, this is another post about my problems with WordPress Theme Demos.
My first WordPress theme problem comes from the demonstration itself. Sure it looks pretty, but how is it built. Am I going to install 400 plugins to make the homepage work? Do I have to buy a plugin, that the developer built, in order to use the WordPress theme in the first place? Am I required to switch religions and claim a new faith in order to change church themes? These are real problems I have.
But wait. There’s more…
WordPress Theme Demonstrations Part 2
Have you ever viewed some WordPress Theme Demonstrations and said to yourself “NO DUH”? I do this all the time.
WordPress Theme Developers are not great marketers. If they were, their content would actually sell you on why you should use their theme. If if doesn’t sell you on why you should use it, what’s the purpose of building a super specific WordPress theme?
Here’s the other thing. These developers are selling you on things that come inside WordPress itself. The theme has nothing to do with their selling points.
Unlimited Pages
Remember that “NO DUH” thing I was talking about? Unlimited pages definitely falls into that category. It falls into several categories, but I’ll save that for another day.
When you’re using WordPress, you can create as many pages and/or posts as you want. The theme does not dictate how many pages you can have. Even if you are using a one-page WordPress theme, you can still create as many pages as you want.
So why would a Theme developer list that as a “Special feature”?
It’s a selling technique. For New Users. To the WordPress Community.
Developers know that brand new users might be tempted into buying their theme since it mentions unlimited pages, whereas another theme may not.
Customization
Newsflash people. Any theme can be customized. These WordPress Theme Demonstrations do not contain special powers. They were not built by wizards. These themes had to be created from scratch, or, at least, some kind of base template.
Other than that, they were customized. Which means that the theme can be further customized.
Again, it’s another sales technique that pisses me off.
Here’s my WordCamp talk from Las Vegas 2013. It’s called You’re WordPress Theme can do that too. In my talk, I mention how my client saw how another rival site was doing something. She thought that changing the theme was the answer. My client had no idea that her site could do that too.
https://russellenvy.com//wordcamp-talks/your-theme-can-do-that-too/
The Point Is….
If you actually take the time to read WordPress Theme Demonstrations, you’re going to see how simple the theme really is. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this. However, I had no choice.
A client reached out to me today and asked if they were able to create unlimited pages inside of their site. They also asked if customization was possible. After digging into the conversation, I realized that my client wanted to incorporate Google Maps into their contact page.
After explaining to my client that the answer to their problem was inside of a google maps builder plugin, they quickly understood what was going on. They were being sold something that made absolutely no sense.
So listen up you theme developers. Start listing the features that actually matter. Better yet, start developing themes that actually solve problems.