289 | Product photos & video made easy with Rikin Diwan, soona studios
Way back in 2008, when I had my stationery brand, I knew I needed to ensure I had product photos that reflected my brand. I purchased a light box from Amazon, borrowed my sister’s DSLR camera and spent hours reading photography tutorials on blogs to learn how to use the camera and to get ideas for what my shot list should include!
When I say hours, I literally mean dozens of hours were spent trying to learn how to take product photos that would make my brand look polished & professional. And, the results… Well, they were ok. Not great, but ok.
Then in 2010, I hired a professional photographer to take product photos for me. It was a big investment for my small business but I knew that if I had stronger product photography, I would likely sell more of my product and it would give me content to post on social media. Even with the professional photographer, there were still several aspects of the shoot that I was responsible for.
Fast forward to today and thankfully there is a less expensive & convenient way for you to get your products photographed, styled and edited by professionals.
Meet soona, a creative technology company that helps over 15,000 commerce brands with photo and video production. They are disrupting the industry with their innovative services, creative process, and use of technology.
Today’s guest is Rikin Diwan, who handles sales & marketing at soona. We’re talking about their scaleable creative process and how soona is alleviating pain points for e-commerce brands that need digital assets to sell more of their products. If you’ve struggled with product photography… this episode is for you.
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Meet soona, a Product Photography Service
soona is a virtual product photography studio for e-commerce brands. Across their five studios in the US, they’re shooting around 300 sessions a week through both in-person and virtual photography sessions. With a focus on e-commerce, product-driven brands, they’ve niched into a market that allows them to truly serve product-makers.
soona’s founders, Hayley and Elizabeth came from an agency background, allowing them to understand exactly what is needed in a commercial product shoot, but also build a seamless workflow and experience for the client.
Building Your Perfect Product Shoot (Even Virtually)
Through their online booking system, a product maker can build out their ideal set for their product shoot. This includes:
background colors
living room or bathroom sets
models
pets
and more!
With a network of collaborators, soona has access to everything needed to make product shoots accessible to brands.
Product-based brands can get started with their shoot by:
Paying a down payment of just $39. Then it’s $39 per photo.
From there, you ship your product to them (or bring it into the studio if you’re in person).
Unlike the typical agency model, you’re not paying for their time, but rather you’re paying for what you take away from that shoot—when you love the assets. The beauty of this is that you can buy as little or as much as you need now, then come back later for additional purchases.
soona’s Real-Time Virtual Photoshoot
When you join soona’s unique virtual photoshoot experience, you’re getting access to photographer communication and reviewing your imagery in real-time—just like if you were there in person.
Inside a Dropbox gallery, you get to see the images, select what you love, then after you’ve checked out, you’ll get the final edited product photos within 24 hours.
How Quality Product Photos Convert More Sales on Your Website
Great product photography can help you convert more sales from your website by building trust with your potential customer. They can see that you’ve invested in beautiful imagery and thought through it.
Nearly 75% of brands actually rely on their images to make a sale for them.
Imagery can truly impact your business by increasing your purchase rate and your decreasing your return rate. For example, the imagery shares exactly what a customer is getting, versus faking the product photo or over photoshopping it. When that product gets into their hands, it’s exactly what they saw in the images.
360 Videos & Vertical Packs
Not only are photos important, but so are videos, which is another service that soona offers.
Their e-commerce spin videos give customers a 360-degree view of the product they want so they can visually see the specifications of a product rather than just read them.
They’ve also introduced vertical video packs, which are the perfect size for Instagram Reels, TikToks, and Youtube Shorts. The beauty is that they’re actually creating these specifically for use in your product listings so they can be utilized in multiple places.
Common Roadblocks in Product Photography
One of the most common roadblocks in product photography comes down to affordability. Rikin has experienced his own woes of hiring an agency for product photography and the costs associated. When he met the soona team, he fell in love with the concept.
Another common roadblock comes down to the skillset of product makers and having to learn a new trade when you try to take the DIY approach.
Beyond that, on the legal side of things, many branding agencies include nitty gritty costs that would scare the product maker. This could include licensing options, lengths, rules, platforms, and perpetuity payments.
In Conclusion,
The collaborative model that soona has created allows you to work with an expert in a new way that offers a more affordable option for product photography while allowing you the freedom to use your product photos when, where, and how you want. soona has essentially removed most of the common roadblocks that a product maker runs into when it comes to product photography.
Not only have they created more accessible product photography, but soona is well-versed in best practices for e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify to help their clients' products sell well online.
If you’re ready to give soona a try, they’re giving our community an exclusive offer of your first photoshoot! You can find that inside our LABS vendor directory! If you’re not in our LABS community, this is our 12-month membership built specifically for product-based business owners they're looking to streamline their business and boost their sales!
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MEET RIKIN
I’m a sucker for a crazy business idea. I spent much of my early career in media and agencies. These are both amazing places to gain exposure to brands that create great products but rarely do you get to work with brands that disrupt entire industries. When I reached a point in my career where I was able to run marketing teams of my own, I sought out startups that had bold visions of how things could be and a product and business model unlike any other.
That’s exactly what I found at soona where I oversee both marketing and sales for a company that is developing the creative stack for e-commerce. soona is a creative technology company that operates as a B2B company helping over 15,000 B2C e-commerce brands. We specialize in creative photo and video production for brands and have productized the creative process into a scalable platform.
CONNECT WITH RIKIN
WEBSITE: soona.co | INSTAGRAM: @soonastudios | LINKEDIN: @soona | TWITTER: @soonastudios | TIKTOK: @@soonastudios | FACEBOOK: @soonastudios
Connect with Katie Hunt
Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.
Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct
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