4 ms·

Some of the things we've done in attempts to go viral: -We gave away about 16,000 $25 gift cards, a limited number each day for a month. Didn't work so well, e

Some of the things we've done in attempts to go viral: -We gave away about 16,000 $25 gift cards, a limited number each day for a month. Didn't work so well, ended up with a bunch of people just getting them because they we're free. Had a very low percentage of ideal customers. Pretty much a disaster. -Introduced Free Toy Friday (may be changing the name to Pleasure Fridays, or something else). We draw a name from our e-mail subscribers to be given a free something in the $50 price range. The FTF has garnered about 200 or so new subscribers in the past week. We introduced it about two weeks ago. When starting, my plan was to target directly to a more conservative or discerning woman but we honestly have far more male customers buying for their lady friends. I still want to be reaching to the women, but I think I'm honestly reaching more men - both in advertising/promotions and in actual conversions. I really like the video idea, but in my attempts to maintain a very classy feel, its hard to go sexy or funny without losing the message. Or at least I've had trouble with that.

coverband 16y ago
- Don't give away free gift cards -- make your audience earn it by doing something for you (e.g. have 10 of their buddies friend you on Facebook, etc.) - Try to have an ongoing conversation with your customers using your distribution list. I don't mean just advertising sale items in your email; something like "see how our customers are using this" or interesting info/stats they can read without complaining about spam. Of course, you need to make sure your emails go through via abiding by all requirements of an ethical sender. - Did you try affiliate sales? If your customers are mostly male, affiliate sales from male oriented sites might be significant. - Did you try offline advertising to get to a female audience? Magazine ads in Cosmo, etc.?
- mattblalock 16y ago
  I wish I would have made them earn the gift card... We do have an affiliate program but I'm not very familiar with operating one. It's been a pretty solid flop... maybe one sale in the past 3 months through it... I've made a lot of effort to make it work, weekly e-mails and updates, new banners and link suggestions every week. We have one of the highest commission rates around, up to 26%, but it's just not very successful. As for advertising in Cosmo, thats sadly beyond our budget. We've been mentioned in some pretty major media though, but had pretty much no financial return from it. A mention on Ellen, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Health, Cosmo, Latina, ABC news, and quite a few others but the return on the effort to get mentioned there is so intense and the return so minimal I've all but stopped the PR train. Further, most media don't allow us to advertise with them.
  - coverband 16y ago
    quote: "As for advertising in Cosmo, thats sadly beyond our budget. We've been mentioned in some pretty major media though, but had pretty much no financial return from it. A mention on Ellen, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Health, Cosmo, Latina, ABC news, and quite a few others but the return on the effort to get mentioned there is so intense and the return so minimal I've all but stopped the PR train." That's the worst thing you can do... Are you using the quotes from ABC etc. with an "As mentioned in ABC News..." type of boasting on your home page? If not, get to it right now...
percept 16y ago
To be funny yet tasteful while targeting a mainstream audience I'd focus on the elephant in the room, and play with the idea that this is a taboo subject with a certain giggle factor. My imaginary commercial: A few young women, professional types, talking about "the party" and "the gift" and laughing about what their friend's reaction will be (presumably it's a shower or birthday party). Maybe leave a certain amount of mystery and never say exactly what "it" is, but hint. It's okay to buy, and it's definitely okay to laugh about it at the same time. Adding the mainstream credits to your site like someone else suggested would also serve the same purpose. I think it would be best to avoid anything clinical or mechanical (I believe this is the main complaint about adult movies).

coverband 16y ago

- Don't give away free gift cards -- make your audience earn it by doing something for you (e.g. have 10 of their buddies friend you on Facebook, etc.) - Try to have an ongoing conversation with your customers using your distribution list. I don't mean just advertising sale items in your email; something like "see how our customers are using this" or interesting info/stats they can read without complaining about spam. Of course, you need to make sure your emails go through via abiding by all requirements of an ethical sender. - Did you try affiliate sales? If your customers are mostly male, affiliate sales from male oriented sites might be significant. - Did you try offline advertising to get to a female audience? Magazine ads in Cosmo, etc.?

mattblalock 16y ago
I wish I would have made them earn the gift card... We do have an affiliate program but I'm not very familiar with operating one. It's been a pretty solid flop... maybe one sale in the past 3 months through it... I've made a lot of effort to make it work, weekly e-mails and updates, new banners and link suggestions every week. We have one of the highest commission rates around, up to 26%, but it's just not very successful. As for advertising in Cosmo, thats sadly beyond our budget. We've been mentioned in some pretty major media though, but had pretty much no financial return from it. A mention on Ellen, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Health, Cosmo, Latina, ABC news, and quite a few others but the return on the effort to get mentioned there is so intense and the return so minimal I've all but stopped the PR train. Further, most media don't allow us to advertise with them.
- coverband 16y ago
  quote: "As for advertising in Cosmo, thats sadly beyond our budget. We've been mentioned in some pretty major media though, but had pretty much no financial return from it. A mention on Ellen, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Health, Cosmo, Latina, ABC news, and quite a few others but the return on the effort to get mentioned there is so intense and the return so minimal I've all but stopped the PR train." That's the worst thing you can do... Are you using the quotes from ABC etc. with an "As mentioned in ABC News..." type of boasting on your home page? If not, get to it right now...

percept 16y ago

To be funny yet tasteful while targeting a mainstream audience I'd focus on the elephant in the room, and play with the idea that this is a taboo subject with a certain giggle factor. My imaginary commercial: A few young women, professional types, talking about "the party" and "the gift" and laughing about what their friend's reaction will be (presumably it's a shower or birthday party). Maybe leave a certain amount of mystery and never say exactly what "it" is, but hint. It's okay to buy, and it's definitely okay to laugh about it at the same time. Adding the mainstream credits to your site like someone else suggested would also serve the same purpose. I think it would be best to avoid anything clinical or mechanical (I believe this is the main complaint about adult movies).