Feature: Hoven stays engaging with Holonis

San Diego – Engaging consumers online seems like it should be easy – after all, virtually every consumer is actively online and using multiple social media platforms at this point. However, this also means that all of your competitors are also trying to engage the public across multiple online and social channels, resulting in a huge morass of digital noise. To stand out, retailers need to ensure their digital engagement strategy is consistent, timely and personalized.



“We provide uniform messaging across different platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon – with consistent engagement,” said Conor Coleman, lead sales and marketing manager of San Diego-based vertical eyewear retailer Hoven. In addition to selling its products through a network of third-party retail partners, Hoven also maintains an active online direct-to-consumer sales channel.



To provide this uniform digital messaging, Hoven leverages the Holonis Internet marketplace platform. At the beginning of first quarter 2015, Coleman had a conversation with a colleague who also worked part-time for an apparel manufacturer that had been using Holonis.



“It sounded like a cool platform,” recalled Coleman. “It allowed you to collaborate across social media and other digital channels.”



Hoven then met with Holonis and decided to implement the platform. In February, the company started building capabilities and uploading and optimizing marketing and messaging content.



“We have 10 to 12 involved people wearing many hats – managing marketing, serving as full-time sales reps and managing other sales reps,” explained Coleman. “On a daily basis, they had to upload content to all channels and platforms of engagement. It’s a tedious thing.”



Since going live with the Holonis platform in mid-March, Hoven has been able to automate and optimize consumer engagement and branding across all channels.



“With one code, we can put content through to all the social media channels,” said Coleman. “We can engage directly with customers and subscribers, and give them rewards for things like good reviews.”



Hoven also uses the Holonis platform to send targeted emails to customers with special offers related to recent purchases from the online Hoven store. In addition, Holonis has helped Hoven improve its search engine optimization efforts so that Hoven is now usually in the first five or six search results for eyewear products on Google.



“Web sales are up,” said Coleman. “At a grassroots level, we’ve been happy with the progress.”