How to use social media to promote your invention

You can’t meet Peter Kertz without feeling some of his enthusiasm about his invention, The Sonic Seal. It’s a waterproof cover for electric toothbrushes, and he has been using social media successfully to get the word out.

•  - Tell me a little bit about how you got the idea for sonic seal?

That clean feel of a Sonicare toothbrush has been a staple in my everyday routine, just like 10’s of millions of others around the world. One morning I was using my beloved Sonicare and noticed a very peculiar taste in my mouth. Peeking down my nose to the handle of the brush I noticed a brownish liquid coming out from under the replacement head. Immediately unscrewing the head, I saw a mess of bacteria and mold inside and it had been leaking into my mouth. The Sonic Seal waterproof cover was born.

- How do you explain the product, as part of your ‘elevator speech’?

I have noticed in conversation that most electric toothbrush users have an issue with keeping their brushes clean. It never fails. I’ll ask someone if they have a Sonicare toothbrush and their eyes light up when they hear about The Sonic Seal. We have designed an ultra thin silicone cover that seals those nooks and crannies on your Sonicare toothbrush, preventing water and brushed-away plaque from getting inside your handle. No more mess! If you’re lucky enough to catch me on an elevator…I’ll end up giving you one for free. I just love to see how happy people get over a tiny piece of silicone.

- You didn’t go the traditional route to promote it, you leverage social media. What tools in particular did you find helpful?

I discovered the networking power of facebook. The more fans The Sonic Seal had, the better our sales numbers were. When we had just 40 fans, I counted up the number of “friends” they had. The total number of their friends was over 15,000. That is power. Each time someone becomes a facebook fan of The Sonic Seal, their friends will read that and we get the much needed exposure. I can’t count the number of friends our 400 fans have now, but I can count the extra 3 or 4 orders a day.  It seems as though people like free things. To garner more fans, The Sonic Seal has giveaway contests. Currently up for grabs is a free round-trip Southwest airline ticket.   http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Sonic-Seal/218552108437?ref=ts  The purpose of our contests is to have fun and at the same time inform thousands of people about The Sonic Seal. It’s also fun for our fans to enter a contest which they have a real shot at winning.

- How did you start with the social media interaction, and when did you know that it was really going to be helpful?

I tried advertising with post cards, website ads and other print media. It was simply too costly for a small business whose product sells for under $10. I started using social media purely because I could control the cost. I started off with a facebook ad and $4,000 in sales later…I was hooked. The Sonic Seal does not pay for advertising anymore.

- Tell me a little bit more about your “day job” with Fox 10.

I work in the Special Projects department in which photography and editing are my main gigs. I like to think of my job as learning the “Cliff Notes” of life. I get to report a wide variety of topics and learn a little bit about each one. My interactions with marketing professionals and the photography skills acquired have helped me in designing The Sonic Seal website. A big cost saver if you can design one yourself.

- Did you read any books along the way to help you come up with your strategy? Were there any seminars you attended that were helpful? How did you familiarize yourself with all the social media tools?

That is the beauty about the internet, it’s all right there for the learning. Youtube is an excellent source for tutorials. It’s like a free college course for Dreamweaver, photoshop, fireworks, html setup and many more ideas you will need to start your business.

- What’s next in the future?

One day soon you will see our product in Walmart and Target. The applications have been sent and we are crossing our fingers.