Sony’s 4K Ultra HD TVs

          Last Thursday Sony released a ton of new information about their new Bravia 4K Ultra HD TVs. Before this announcement many people were greatly doubting this new technology due to the fact that there is an extremely small amount of content out there that can be played in such a high definition. Thanks to Sony’s announcement, this level of doubt has gone down by a great amount. In select models, the TV can actually upscale the definition to the new 4K Ultra HD, regardless of its original definition. Their new series of TVs have also been optimized to display content from Netflix, a service called Video Unlimited 4K, as well as others.

          Sony will have nine different models of the TV in three series that will be released in 2014, and the first ones will hit stores this June. These new models will have a range of new improvements, including picture and sound-quality enhancements, wide color spectrum which gives the picture a more life-like feel to it, better depth as well as more accurate shading. These new Ultra HD TVs will have a high peak brightness and deeper blacks, which will really bring out the visual-quality.

          If you’re a gamer, then you will love this next feature! These new TVs are synced with PlayStation, and enable you to stream your PS3 games to the TV without having a PS3 hooked up to the TV!

          I bet many people are wondering what price these amazing TVs are going to cost, and I bet you will be surprised! The cheapest one they offer is the 49-inch XBR-X850B series, which will run you $2,099. But if you only get the best that there is, and you have money that is dying to be spent, then you should look into their XBR-X950B LED LCD 85-inch TV. This monster of a TV will be purchasable at the extremely low price of only $24,999. And yes, that TV is more expensive than a 2013 Chevy Camaro…

I will be anxiously waiting to hear more new information about these Ultra HD TVs as they come out.

http://www.twice.com/articletype/news/sony-formally-releases-4k-ultra-hd-tv-pricing/110801

Netflix Moves to Content Marketing

            

             In the upcoming years Netflix is going to have to rely on marketing their content whether it’s their original content or their licensed content, instead of relying on marketing their service. According to their CEO of content marketing, their idea of content marketing is to create unique, original experiences that will add value to Netflix which will enable them to connect to their target audience. Another edge that Netflix has, is their viewing data. Netflix’s viewing data allows them to see what people are watching and when they are watching it. This combined with their recommendation engine gives Netflix a huge competitive advantage when it comes to recommending their content to their customers.

            Netflix has said that most of their growth has come from word of mouth, but they are now aiming to grow from actual marketing. Instead of advertising their free-trials, Netflix is going to start advertising their actual content on the Internet and on TV. Netflix is now investing more into their content that they offer, and are noticing an increase in customers. Netflix has not really given their customers the opportunity to share their experience with friends. Historically, Netflix has done a very poor job with marketing and advertising through their social media, which is a huge lost opportunity.

            On April 23^rd, Netflix signed the creator of Arrested Development, Mitch Hurwitz, to a multi-year deal. His job will be to create new, original series for Netflix as well as other comedies. This could interest a new market, and ultimately lead to an increase in customers for Netflix.

            Amazon is trying to become a player in the online video streaming service, but Netflix says that they do not see Amazon as a competitor. An Amazon Prime membership costs about the same as a Netflix membership (on a cost-per-year basis.) but the difference is that the Netflix brand is all about their video content, while Amazon Prime brands themselves on their free shipping. Amazon’s video streaming service is much, much smaller content wise, than Netflix’s, and Amazon’s video streaming is pretty much an “added feature”, instead of being their main focus.

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2341467/netflix-moves-to-content-marketing-but-is-it-marketing-content 

ThisIsWhyImBroke.com: The Internet's Mall

            Have you ever found yourself needing a flying car, your own personal jetpack, or how about a 100% carbon fiber bathtub? If you have, and you also have the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy this kind of stuff, then you need to visit the website ThisIsWhyImBroke.com! On their website, they have things that you can purchase that range from a mere $.99, such as their “Walk while you text” app, all the way up to a $5,000,000.00 Private Florida Island that you can buy. This site literally has any type of collectable, novelty item, and basically stuff to just flaunt how much money you have to spend. Stuff like a replica DeLorean, Muhammad Ali’s Boxing Gloves, and even a Life Size LEGO Star Wars X-Wing.

            The one thing about this website though, is that once you buy one thing, you’re bound to buy more and more! They always lure you in by giving every product an eye catching name along with a super cool picture of the product. They always describe the product in such a way that it makes it seem stupid to not buy the product! I think the way that they advertise these products makes them one of the best online!

            It kind of gives you something to strive for. Kind of… You see all of these amazing things that you want, but they cost sooo much money. It makes me think about what I would buy if I had that much money! All of this dreaming combined with how long you stay on the site is going to end with you clicking on one of the products. Once you do that, it takes you to the sellers Website, and that is how this website makes their money. It is an extremely smart and innovative idea!

Here is a link to the website for those of you who want to see what all they have!

http://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/highest-price/

Create, Market, and Manage Your Business With the Help of Web.com

“We’re here for one reason: to help small businesses succeed online.”

Web.com is growing with popularity every single day, and now has over 3million customers! They basically help to promote your business online, whether it be by building you a website, creating your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram page, or just running online ads, they will get the job done for you in the quickest and most cost effective way possible.

            What is really cool about what they do, is that they stay with it, and work on it for as long as you would like them to. They will send Tweets, make posts on your Facebook page, and even just doing simple updates to improve the traffic to your sites. If you want to work on the sites together, they even have a patented website builder which enables you to make changes to whatever you would like.

            To draw attention to your site and social media pages, they help you to get found on search engines, social networking sites, or they can even reach out to potential customers through email! When you use this feature, they also give you access to their Facebook Insights, as well as their Facebook Scorecard which allows you to track the results from your social media page every day. They show things such as how many people actually visited your page, talked about you, and used a link in an email and many more!

If you’re ever feeling lost with everything that it happening or you are just unsure on something, then just give them a call. They have experts who can share their insights on the latest industry trends, how-to scenarios, and tips on how to grow your business online in the fastest way possible!

            Here are their three packages for their website building feature.

These all include a free domain, and unlimited support, help, and tips from their experts who will also help you build and maintain your website!

            Overall Web.com is an amazing tool for any small to medium sized business, or even a business that is just starting up or even one who is starting to use the internet to aid their business. Instead of having to use 15 different websites in order to create, manage, and upkeep all of your internet pages and marketing plans, Web.com allows you to use all of those amazing features on just one single plan from one single provider!

You can check them out here at: http://www.web.com/default2.aspx

Forbes’ Top Online Marketing Trends to Dominate 2014

            
           “The Internet has drastically altered the way in which information is shared, and has had a profound impact on marketing.” (DeMers & Conner, 2013). It seems that more companies have found that they are getting more success with advertising and publishing their own original content rather than just posting ads on external websites. Since this is the case, here are some of top online marketing trends that Forbes predicts to be the most dominant in 2014.

Content Marketing Will Be Bigger Than Ever

           

            Companies are starting to build trust with their consumers, and are doing so in many new ways. One way is by creating new and valuable content, such as by giving insight on relevant industry information to their audience. According to the Content Marketing Institute, the top B2B content marketing strategies are social media, articles on a business’s website, eNewsletters, case studies, videos and articles on other websites. Because of this trend, marketing to the masses through T.V. and the radio are becoming far less effective. The new hot trend is to market engaging content to a very specific audience.

Social Media Marketing Will Require More Diversity

            Not very long ago, companies were very limited on the social media websites that they could market on, because there were not many websites available. The big ones then were mainly Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Now there are many more options available, such as Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest. These new options are giving companies a much larger platform to advertise on, allowing them to reach many more people. 

Ad Retargeting Will Grow in Effectiveness

            This one is very interesting. I’m sure that I’m not the only one that has found ad retargeting to be pretty helpful and also extremely frustrating at the same time. Ad retargeting is basically when your browser stores the cookies of websites that you visit, then the products and or services that you looked at on these websites are shown to you later in the form of on-screen ads on other websites. Since only around 2% of people buy the products or services on their first view of them, ad retargeting helps to remind consumers about these products and services at later times, and increases the chances of them returning to the website and purchasing them. They have actually performed psychological studies, with results showing that being exposing to brand names and logos creates familiarity, which builds trust with consumers and makes them more likely to make a purchase. So by frequently exposing consumers to these products and services that they have viewed, it will build their trust with that company and will make them much more likely to return and make a purchase. I can personally say that because of ad retargeting, I actually have returned to a website after a period of time and made a purchase from them because the ad reminded me of the product I was previously interested in. I can also say that some of the ads can become extremely annoying, because sometimes they show you ads for products that you only viewed one time and maybe were not even interested in. But because ad retargeting has given marketers an amazing amount of success, the chances of it becoming more mainstream in 2014 are very high.

            I only talked about 3 out of the 7 trends on this article, so if you would like to read about the other 4, you can go to this website and see them all!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/09/17/the-top-7-online-marketing-trends-that-will-dominate-2014/

DeMers, J., & Conner, C. (2013, September 17). The Top 7 Online Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2014 - Forbes [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2013/09/17/the-top-7-online-marketing-trends-that-will-dominate-2014/

The Ultimate Fighting Championship Looking For A New CRM Marketing Manager

               The UFC, also known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has posted a job opening on the MMA Jobs website and are looking for a new CRM Marketing Manager. They open their job posting by talking about how the UFC is the biggest brand in the fastest growing sport ever, and that they are looking for people who enjoy the sport and want to be a part of its growth. The posting says that the position duties 

include developing and managing all marketing initiatives dealing with their events, their online store, their own TV network and gyms, as well as their fitness training program.

               The essential job functions include things from marketing ticket sales for all of their events, long term plans and strategies, and also work on target market customer marketing. They also have quite a long list of qualifications that need to be met as well. These qualifications include things such as 5 – 8 years of experience in planning, executing and analyzing marketing programs and campaigns, marketing degree and additional experience in the business field, geographical and international team building skills, proficient with 

Microsoft Office, and excellent communication and presentational skills.

               To my surprise, they also had physical requirements that must be able to be met. These requirements include being able to frequently sit, talk, walk, type and hear for long periods of time, must have the full ability to use hands and fingers (yes, that is actually a requirement of this position!), and also the ability to lift and move at least 30 lbs.

     

          It also says that all Zuffa (the UFC’s parent company) employees receive a top notch benefits package that include medical, dental, vision, LTD, life, supplemental life, short-term disability coverage as well as a 401(k) plan.

I thought that this was a great example of using E-Marketing to market a job for marketing! The layout of the posting was very neat and professional looking, and was very easy to read and understand. Here is the link to the job posting online, for those of you wish to see the posting and requirements in their entirety:

www.mmajobs.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/jobs/jobs.cfm/Sales-and-Marketing?supcat=1134

I would love to see and read all of your comments about this posting!

Email From RetailMeNot

I recently received an email from a website called RetailMeNot.com, and in their email to me they shared many deals and coupons that can either be redeemed online or in-store for purchase. Their email really captured my attention right away for many reasons. When you first click on their email it brings up a big graphic with their logo, and their best deal of the day. It is very attention grabbing because of their use of colors, text size and font choice, and pictures used. The email is also extremely easy to read. When you scroll down the email, on the left side it shows the company logo for whatever brand the deal is for, then to the right of that it explains the promotion, such as what percent off, where it is redeemable at, and when it expires. When you see a deal that interests you, you click on the "Redeem Coupon" button, and it links you to either the company's Web site if it is an online deal, or if it is for a promo code, it will bring up the promo code along with other codes that have been submitted for the website it is for. The best part of this is that next to all of the codes that people have submitted, it shows what percentage of people it worked for. This allows users to know the chance of the promo code actually working or not.