As part of our How Did They Do It? series, where we interview and spotlight companies who are successfully marketing their brands online, this post focuses on the successes of retailer Snoloha.
Snoloha is an online retail brand that represents and reflects a lifestyle for those who simply enjoy life “somewhere between the islands and the arctic.” Snoloha’s official definition: “[sno - loh - hah], n. A lifestyle shared by those who live, play, travel, vacation, relax, or simply enjoy life somewhere between the islands and the arctic.”
In the below interview with Rod Call, founder and owner of Snoloha, Rod shares Snoloha’s successful online marketing practices.
Below is the interview:
1. As an online retailer, how has social media and online marketing helped you connect with prospects and established customers?
Social media has allowed me to introduce my brand though online word-of-mouth. I have always believed in a slow, organic approach to gaining followers, fans, and blog readers. I’m much more interested in the quality over the quantity. Snoloha represents a lifestyle that has a real emotional connection with folks who discover it, with the goal of sustaining a long-term relationship between the brand and its customer. This continued connection is what is important to me, and social media allows it to continue online.
2. What online marketing strategies have you tried that haven’t worked. Why do you think this is?
My online marketing activities have pretty much been focused around my blog (https://www.snoloha.com/news), my monthly Snapshots & Scenery photo contest, and Facebook and Twitter. All of them work, but they all take time and patience. Although when I first launched the site a few years ago, I also created a MySpace page. It never really contributed to my growth efforts from day one, and I couldn’t tell you the last time I logged in.
3. What online marketing strategy has brought in the greatest results for your business? What are those results?
The most successful interactions and campaigns tend to be when it’s time to launch a new Snoloha design. Typically, I will post a series of potential designs, and then I ask people to vote. I usually use a combination of my blog, Facebook, Twitter, and an email campaign. I then end up with the ability to launch a design that I know my customer and the market I am serving will connect with, and they be more likely to purchase.
4. How are you using Facebook and Twitter to drive traffic and increase online sales? Be specific.
I use both to offer “pre-order” incentives for fans and followers on new products that are not available on the site yet. I also use both for sale items and closeouts.
5. How often (on average) each week do you spend making connections on social media in order to grow your business?
I try my best to update the blog, Facebook, and Twitter at least 3 – 4 times per week. The irony is that Snoloha and its “escapism mentality” encourage shutting it all off and enjoying life without the constant distractions; yet, at the same time, I use these distractions to grow online and connect with customers—a very delicate balancing act.
About Snoloha and Rod Call:
Snoloha [sno - loh - hah], n. A lifestyle shared by those who live, play, travel, vacation, relax, or simply enjoy life somewhere between the islands and the arctic.
Snoloha is an online retailer (select retailers around the world also offer Snoloha products) that offers a wide array of products including polo shirts, sweatshirts, pants, bags, hats, accessories, and more. The brand, Snoloha symbolizes both a physical location and a mental state of mind.
So whether you’re island hopping in the Caribbean or heli-skiing in Alaska, sitting in a cubicle wishing you were somewhere else, or on a plane headed “anywhere,” Snoloha is that place where you feel relaxed, inspired, or energized.
Though the brand was originally conceived in March of 2003, Snoloha had its official “web launch” in November of 2006 and its official “retail launch” in February of 2007.
Snoloha is a dba of H2SNO, LLC, which is owned and operated by Rod Call. Visit the Snoloha website here.
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