Social Media Collaboration
LET'S COLLABORATE!
Speedball has been the brand of choice for many artists around the world. We are grateful for the trust placed in us and want to give back to the community by sharing the spotlight and audience we have gathered over the years with more amazing artists through social media collaboration.
SAMPLE ORDER
Some of our collaborations require sample orders. That is to ship our products to the artist for testing, evaluating, or replenishing their stock (artists in our Professional Artist Network only). Some artists also prefer to be compensated this way to avoid tax implications.
The sample order process can start as early as an artist has agreed on a collaboration. Due to COVID, we have been experiencing longer than usual order processing and shipping times (3-4 weeks for domestic shipping, 4-6 weeks for international shipping). So the shipping/processing time is used to hammer out the details as the artist waits for the package to arrive.
For collaborations with a tight timeline, the sample order might arrive after the collaboration has concluded. This is suitable for artists who already have Speedball products at hand for creating new work and/or showcasing the tools.
TAKEOVERS
Takeovers are one of our main forms of social media collaboration because it is highly flexible and keeps the spotlight on the collaborating artist. And don't worry, you don't have to log in to our account and handle everything by yourself (unless you feel like it)! A takeover is essentially a series of posts created by the artist and shared across both the artist's and our accounts.
Format—How do collaborator posts work?
We run our takeover collaborations through Instagram’s collaborator post. It allows content to be shared between both the artist’s account and our accounts (@speedball_art, @speedball_calligraphy, @speedball_calligraphy) regardless of the post initiator so that all work is properly credited.
Length & Duration—How long is a takeover?
The duration of a takeover is normally between 1-3 weeks. It is the balance between allowing the audience enough time to enjoy the content and not demanding too much work for the artist.
Takeovers usually start on Sunday/Monday and end on Saturday/Sunday for reporting purposes (not a hard requirement).
Subject & Theme—What do we posting?
There is no subject requirement! It can be inspirational work, educational materials, promotion of the artist’s upcoming workshops and classes, or a mixture of all.
Segmenting the whole takeover into smaller sections each with a sub theme typically yields the best engagement and reach, but rigorous planning is not always necessary.
Content & Posting—How often are we posting?
Images, live sessions, carousels, reels, anything you would like!
We recommend between 2-4 posts per week to keep the audience engaged. But there is no magic number since each artist work differently. Feel free to reach out to us with any content plans you already have and let's figure it out together!
Special Notes on Reels
Instagram has recently made the change to convert all videos to reels. This brings some limitations on reels collaboration. Most artists' accounts are Creator Accounts with a larger music library while our accounts are Business Accounts with a much smaller selection of songs. When a song unavailable to Business Accounts is used, Instagram will prevent you from inviting us as the collaborator on that post. There are two proven solutions:
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- If you use a third party video editing app to editing your reels before uploading, export the video with a song that's authorized through that app outside of Instagram.
- You can also contact us for a list of songs available to Business Accounts.
Product Inclusion—Do I have to include Speedball products?
Inclusion of Speedball products is not a must but highly welcomed. If you have a non-Speedball tool/material you would like to include in a post during the collaboration, we recommend positioning the tools/materials in an ancillary manner to comply with our brand guidelines.
Paid Post Boost—How do we get more reach and exposure?
We want to make sure that great art is seen and amazing artists are noticed by the world! So we apply paid post boost to help get more reach and exposure for the collaborating artist. Due to Instagram's current configuration, we can only utilize paid promotion on posts initiated by our accounts (@speedball_art, @speedball_calligraphy, @speedball_calligraphy). Contact us to learn more about Paid Post Boost and how it can help you grow your following and reach.
Time Zone Considerations—When do I post when I'm not based in the U.S.?
We work with artists from all over the world and try our best to accommodate to our followers living in different time zones. Posts are normally scheduled to go live while audiences of both the artist's and our accounts are most active. We tend to avoid posting in early mornings and late evenings in U.S. Eastern Time and the artist's local time zone.
OTHER COLLABORATIONS
Giveaways
We also partner with a lot of artists for giveaways. These giveaways can be run independently or in tandem with other collaborations (such as a takeover). We can either:
- ship the awards directly to you first and let you ship it to your audience
- ship directly to the winners after the giveaway is concluded from Speedball headquarters (recommended)
Product-Focused Campaigns
Once in a while, we have an exiting new products that we want to share with the world. One great example of a product focused campaign is the Super Black India Ink April. We partnered with 20 artists around the world to create calligraphy work inspired by the superb darkness of this ink. Each of the artists received a sample order containing the ink along with other calligraphy products and shared their work created with the ink.
The artists chose how they would like to incorporate the ink it in their post in various creative ways. With this freedom, we were lucky to have many beautiful and inspiring calligraphy pieces to share with the world. Campaigns similar to this are normally initiated by our Product Managers and by invitation only.
NEW IDEAS
We are always exploring new ways to collaborate with artists on or off social media. If you have any ideas outside of what’s outlined here, definitely share them with me and we can explore how to make those happen together.
