E-commerce is on a roll and it’s hard to sell a product online without great photos. But achieving high-quality photos has historically been constrained by your location, budget and who you know.
Soona removes all of those limitations by offering virtual photoshoots for a fraction of the cost and with real-time feedback. Now backed by $35 million in new funding, Soona is taking on the entire industry.
Real-time feedback
Real-time feedback is one of the most effective ways to increase employee engagement and motivation. It also sends a message that managers care about their team members’ progress.
A clunky performance management process that only gives a few data points about an employee’s performance can lead to frustration and discouragement. In contrast, a real-time feedback program that gives employees the opportunity to ask for guidance at any time is a great way to engage and support them.
Moreover, it can help managers spot issues before they become a big problem. It’s especially useful for a remote workforce, where check-ins and pulse surveys can be particularly effective.
soona recently raised a $10.2 million Series A round of funding led by Union Square Ventures, with follow-on investments from Matchstick Ventures in Minneapolis, Chicago’s Starting Line Ventures, 2048 Ventures, and Range Ventures. The funds will be used to build out the company’s camera-to-cloud technology.
High-quality visual content
When it comes to creating content for digital marketing, visuals are critical. They help customers understand your message quickly and leave a lasting impression.
The human brain is pre-wired to interpret relationships between objects, which makes images and videos more memorable than language alone. Moreover, the average attention span is eight seconds or less, making visuals an invaluable tool in grabbing customers’ attention.
soona, the world’s first virtual content creation platform, powers virtual photo and video shoots that transform the way brands create content for ecommerce and marketing. Soona’s proprietary Camera-to-Cloud technology solves key problems associated with brand content, such as quality, time, and price — all within one collaborative and intuitive platform.
In addition to helping businesses produce high-quality visuals, soona also gives them feedback on what content will be most effective for their ecommerce goals. This includes incorporating movement into product photos, including props that smell like an item, or adding a gif to show the item in use.
Convenient scheduling
The scheduling features that soona offers are especially convenient for emergency providers. These include customizable schedules to fit even some of their unforeseen staffing needs, the ability to make shift swaps and trades, and target monitoring, all in the palm of their hands.
In addition to these scheduling benefits, soona relies on Gusto’s modernized payroll solution and flexibility to ensure that their employees are paid in a timely manner. Gusto’s transparent pricing allows soona to offer their employees multiple benefit options like health, dental, and vision insurance at an affordable price.
Moreover, with Gusto’s transparent pricing and modernized payroll solution, soona’s employees can enjoy the peace of mind that they have access to their hard earned paychecks at any time. This has helped to keep soona’s team happy, motivated, and productive.
You may provide samples, products, materials, or other goods to soona for use in connection with the Services (collectively, “Products”). You retain full and complete title and interest in your Product Materials, including any trade names, trademarks, service marks, logos, or other content relating to you or your Products that you identify in your Product Materials.
Affordability
Having an affordable ecommerce presence is vital to the success of any online merchant. Thankfully, Denver-based creative content platform soona is on the job, helping businesses deliver photos and videos at mind-bogglingly low prices.
The service’s self-serve platform enables digital merchants to book a photo shoot that includes models, props, and backgrounds at a fraction of the cost of a traditional studio shoot. The photos and videos are then viewed via the soona dashboard, and can be delivered within 24 hours for use in marketing campaigns.
By combining technology with a scaleable creative process, Liz Giorgi and Hayley Anderson have created a game-changing product that’s alleviating pain points for ecommerce brands.
For now, Giorgi says Soona is focused on boosting customer acquisition and retention by providing quality content to help brands sell more products. In the near future, she’s hoping to triple the size of its Minneapolis team and open micro studios in Los Angeles, Seattle, Miami, and Atlanta.