We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Setandsmash team. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Louis-Thomas, Maxence and Marc-Gabriel below.
Hi, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
We’re thrilled to be here and share our story with you. Our journey with Setandsmash began as a shared dream, fueled by our love for tennis and the desire to bring that passion to a worldwide audience. As three cousins with a common interest in tennis and backgrounds in business, we launched Setandsmash in November 2020 with the aim of rejuvenating the sport’s fanbase by creating engaging content for a younger generation.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
We made a commitment to post three times daily on our Instagram account, and it was that dedication and consistency that led to our rapid growth, reaching 100,000 followers in just one year. Along the way, we gained support from famous tennis players like Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawrinka, Alexander Zverev, and many more.
Our big break came with a viral video of a young fan asking tennis star Emma Raducanu to marry him. The video garnered over 132 million views and 12 million likes, and even Sharon Stone commented on it! This exposure allowed us to double our follower count within a month, reaching over 200,000 subscribers by February 2022.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
We wouldn’t say it’s been a completely smooth road, as there have been several challenges along the way that we had to overcome to become a successful tennis Instagram account with over 250,000 followers.
One major challenge has been the intense competition on Instagram, especially within the sports niche. To stand out among the hundreds of similar tennis accounts with millions of followers, we’ve had to consistently produce high-quality and innovative content to stay relevant and maintain our audience’s interest.
Another obstacle has been adapting to Instagram’s frequent algorithm changes, which can impact the visibility of our content. To ensure we reach our target audience, we’ve needed to optimize our content for the latest algorithm updates, such as focusing on reels, which Instagram was promoting heavily.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
Keeping our community engaged outside of major event periods like Grand Slam tournaments has also been challenging. Fan interest in tennis can vary throughout the year, so we’ve had to be creative with partnerships and giveaways to maintain engagement during these times.
Lastly, managing our partnerships with brands has been an ongoing challenge. Brands can have high expectations in terms of results and performance, and we need to meet those expectations while maintaining our integrity and credibility within our community. It’s a delicate balance, but so far, we’ve been successful in navigating these challenges.
Despite the obstacles, we remain committed to our mission of sharing our love for tennis and continuing to grow our Setandsmash community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://setandsmashstore.com
- Instagram: @setandsmash
- Linkedin: Setandsmash
Image Credits
Setandsmash and Setandsmash
