Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

In just the 3 minutes I spent on the site, I'm imagining that word-of-mouth would spread quickly with any of the following:

Have a handful of users of twitter with decent (not the corporate tweeter) to tweet something about the most expensive mouse you have for sale. I would likely RT something if it were like "A $25,000 computer mouse? Seriously".

Also, just by virtue of having unique items, you could use a combo twitpic/tweet campaign to get the images of some of the more popular/edgy items going.

Unfortunately, one of the keys to going viral is to not seem like you're trying to. Don't ask to be retweeted, etc.

I wish I had more time, but that might give you some ideas.

Dear mouse,

Having the #1 Google ranking for "Novelty Computer Mouse" and "Unique Computer Mouse" is great.

It might even be cool.

But the bigger question apart from one about viral advertising might be: Who's searching for those terms? A keyword search reveals that for BOTH terms you mention that there are 1,070 searches per month.

What's your click to purchase conversion rate per month from both search terms? Whatever that number is, is that enough in terms of monthly revenue? I t may not be, hence your desire to "go viral".

But for other terms there are far more searches. So why not go where the searches are BEFORE you think about viral anything?
The term "viral" is, let's be honest here, hype. At best, it's trendy. At worst, it's meaningless. You cannot bank trendy. You cannot bank meaningless.

I don't think you need anything viral. I think what you need is qualified traffic. And if you're going to be relying on the results from fewer than 1,200 searches per month, you're facing the real possibility of not getting a ton of qualified, cash in hand, eager to buy visitors.

To create interest in your products, use video on your site. Use social media to drive traffic to those videos. Consider bundling your mice into more compelling offers: "Buy two, get on free!" (which always sounds better than three for the price of two); "Collect the set"; and so on. Theme sets of mice and you create more demand.

Feature video of your mice in action on your site. The chopped of chile pepper is doing you few favours because it's not clear what it is. For less than $150 you can buy a FLIP Ultra HD video camera and INSTANTLY make videos for your site.

Video is cheap, it's easy, it's fun, and it engages people. Post to Youtube, use Twitter and Facebook to drive traffic, have a textual link on your video that directs traffic to your site and bingo.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

To go viral, you need something worth talking about. For example, how about allowing people to design their own mouse (they provide the artwork, you ship the custom mouse to them)? Have contests for best mouse design.

Instead of trying to have novelty mice, focus on some of the niches that you target: racing fans, risqué crowd, etc. and try to get the niche to be interested in your mice.

Why do you want to "go viral?" Isn't it traffic and conversions you want? Isn't sales the ultimate goal?

If so, you need to figure out what it's worth to get traffic to your site. How much would you be willing to pay for each new prospect who lands on the site? What is the value of a customer? What conversion rate can you expect?

Go back to your business plan and figure out how much you should be willing to invest in bringing traffic to your site. Then start testing some ways of getting it. Maybe something you do will result in "going viral," but you probably won't be able to make that happen just by wishing for it. It will happen when you do everything else right -- if your product/story strikes a nerve with your primary target audience.