Sometimes, my friends ask me, “What is the trick to growing a social media following?”
I think they expect me to say that posting at 4.40pm on a Friday is all they need to do. The truth is, I often change my view on this because the world is changing so fast. Clubhouse and TikTok weren’t even around a few years ago. We can be a part of the content creation, or just consumers.
At Squeegee & Ink, we have worked hard to make a life cycle for our content. It starts with an innovation – for example, a new ink, a better printing method, or a piece of kit we’re excited to tell our customers about.
Then, we record a video about it. That whole video is then edited and pushed into our YouTube template. The YouTube version is pretty much transcribed into a blog post. A new blog post, including the video, is sent out to our email list. Snippets of the video are used for TikTok videos and an Instagram story tells people about the new YouTube video. I then tell my Clubhouse room about the new video I have made and encourage them sign up for my mailing list to be the first to hear about the next one.
I know you are probably tired just reading that, but once the system, the templates and the structure are in place, it gets more efficient. It doesn’t matter whether I am making a video about ink or the new Stanley/Stella range; they can all go through the media machine and be made into assets.
YouTube is, for our customers, a popular way to learn something new, so for us it is a top priority. I believe in leaving behind a piece of high-quality content every week and that allows me to feel like I am not merely reacting to the orders and requests of my customers, but also building my value through consistent growth. Our momentum is building and we can’t be more excited about it.
Chessie Rosier-Parker is director and studio manager of Squeegee & Ink, a screen printing and embroidery studio that also provides pre-exposed screens and film to printers along with tutorial videos and resources.
