How to Get the Most out of Your ThumbStopper Experience

Now that your business is a ThumbStopper subscriber, you should start to see more followers and engagement in your social media feeds. When you succeed at your social media marketing goals, we celebrate along with you! ThumbStopper provides a hands-free service that doesn’t require much of your attention, but we always want to ensure that you’re getting value from it and using it to its full potential. For the best results from your ThumbStopper investment, consider these tips.

1. Set up your page for success

How to Get the Most out of Your ThumbStopper Experience

The first step in any social media marketing effort is to make sure you follow best practices for setting up your social profiles. Perhaps you took care of this step long before you subscribed to ThumbStopper. Keep in mind, social media platforms continuously make updates, so it’s always a good idea to make sure you’re using every available component of your profile. Some of the elements to consider include:

  • A high quality cover photo and profile photo
  • Complete contact information for your store
  • Your business hours
  • Your call-to-action button (Call Now, Get Quote, etc.) 

Once your page looks its best, you will be prepared to provide a great experience when someone visits. Take a look now to double-check that everything is in place and, if not, update it promptly.

2. Ensure you’re connected

How to Get the Most out of Your ThumbStopper Experience

Before ThumbStopper can start directing content to your Facebook page from your brands, you need to accept a Business Manager request in your page settings. If you haven’t completed this step yet, do it right away. An administrator on your Facebook page should go into your settings on a desktop computer. (The setting you need is not visible on a mobile device.) On the left hand side, select Page Roles and approve the Pending Partner Request for ThumbStopper Admin access. Enter your personal Facebook credentials to confirm the approval. If you still don’t see posts coming into your Facebook page, contact ThumbStopper so we can help you troubleshoot any issues.

3. Provide feedback to your brands

Big, national brands join ThumbStopper to help you, their retailers, communicate about their products. It’s in their best interest to provide you with great content. If the posts you see aren’t the quality you want, get in touch with your brand contact, by emailing [brandname]@thumbstopper.com.

4. Try out social advertising

How to Get the Most out of Your ThumbStopper Experience

Organic social media is just one way to reach your potential customers. If you’re looking for a way to get even more reach with your posts, social advertising can both expand and fine-tune the audience who sees your content. Explore ThumbStopper’s Brand AmplifierTM to see how social advertising can take your social media marketing up a notch. 

5. Download our app

How to Get the Most out of Your ThumbStopper Experience

To make using ThumbStopper as convenient as possible, download our app, Pulse, and link your store’s Instagram account. You can easily manage and post to Instagram any time from your mobile device. You get to choose what gets syndicated on your social media channels and it’s free for current customers.

6. Upgrade your plan

Once they see it in action, many retailers want to increase their use of ThumbStopper to make even greater progress with their social media marketing. For example, you could add more of your brands or increase your posting frequency. To edit your posting days or times, reach out to your ThumbStopper Account Manager.

7. Post your own content

How to Get the Most out of Your ThumbStopper Experience

Content from your brands goes a long way toward keeping your Facebook feed fresh and interesting. With this major task out of the way, you have more time to focus on posting content that is unique to your store and your community. Weaving these posts in with the brand content makes you relatable to your customers and sets you apart from your competition. If you’re unsure what to say, try these free posts

8. Learn about Social ROI

The best way to improve anything is to measure it. Calculating the return on investment for social media marketing may sound daunting at first, but it’s actually pretty simple once you know what to measure. Learn about social ROI and start tracking yours so you can quantify the benefits you get from social strategy.

9. Read our FAQs

You’re going to have questions as you get started with ThumbStopper, and that’s a good thing. We offer answers to many questions that retailers tend to ask on the ThumbStopper FAQ page. If you can’t find the answer there, you can always contact us.

10. Stay Connected

ThumbStopper wants to go along on this journey with you and keep you up-to-date on any new features, products or resources. Read our newsletter and explore our blog, videos, downloadable guides, and other sources of information created just for retailers like you. If you haven’t already, sign up for our newsletter here.

At ThumbStopper, we want only the best for the retailers and the brands who use our social media solutions. With a small investment of time up front, you will be prepared for a positive experience.

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Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It's one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience - with your accessible, branded content - in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
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What Is Social Media Automation?
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[/et_pb_column]
10 Ways to Automate Your Marketing
[/et_pb_column]
[/et_pb_column]
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[/et_pb_section][/et_pb_column]
[/et_pb_row]
[/et_pb_column]

Key Points:

 

  • Companies should understand the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure their websites are accessible.
  • Brands that concentrate on accessibility on social media demonstrate care for their customers and build a positive brand reputation.
  • Brands should always consider inclusive design, such as plain, straightforward language, in their social media posts.

 

 

Accessibility may not be a term you usually associate with the internet and social media. You might picture wheelchair ramps, directional signs in braille, or sign language interpreters at live performances. The landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 dictates the legal necessity of these and similar accommodations in public spaces. As we’ve come to rely on the internet for everything from entertainment to buying groceries, it’s become clear that the internet is now also a public space. It must be accessible to everyone. And like other applications of ADA, businesses that do not comply are liable for damages caused by inaccessibility.

 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an international set of standards to provide instruction on meeting accessibility needs. It’s important for companies to understand how this applies to their websites, especially if they engage in e-commerce. In terms of social media, the requirements are less concrete. But prioritizing accessibility on your company’s social media is essential to your reputation, even if the legal requirements are uncertain. We’ll look at why it’s important to your customers, how it affects the perception of your brand, and how to make these changes efficiently.

Social Media for All

The cornerstone of accessibility is inclusive design: products or experiences that are accessible for everyone regardless of disability. The most important place where this shows up is on company websites where most users expect to also find links to the brand’s social media profiles. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of websites are not accessible, despite the fact that the application of ADA to the internet is over 20 years old. Making websites accessible is a complex process without the use of specialized software like Accessibe or EqualWeb.

Unlike websites, making sure your social media is accessible is a straightforward, ongoing process. Every social platform has been quick to release optional accessibility features. These features are important to many users even if they don’t rely on them to use social media.

Making your social presence accessible tells users that your brand cares about people, not just profits. It’s the same idea as the push for the representation of different body sizes in fashion or more expansive skin tone ranges in beauty products. Brands that meet the needs of underrepresented groups endear themselves to others as well. And while optimizing your brand website for accessibility might be a larger project you aren’t ready to tackle yet, starting with your social media pages is a great way to show customers that you’re listening to their concerns. 

 

Making Content Accessible

Shifting to accessible content means incorporating inclusive design into your creative process. The practice varies by type of media. For platforms that have graphics or videos with captions, it means not only adjusting each component but also being mindful of how they interact with each other.

For example, YouTube’s automatically generated closed captions and subtitles are often inaccurate. It’s one of many examples where the caption generation software has issues picking up strong accents and mumbled words. This could be remedied with handcrafted video transcription services. If that’s not in the budget, the video creator could add their script or transcription to the video description.

None of the technology for accessibility is perfect yet. Teaching computers to digest complex information for human understanding is difficult, and the variations in disabilities further complicate it. The majority of adjustments creators need to make revolve around helping assistive technology better understand their content. Let’s look at how to make different kinds of content accessible. 

Text

  • Use plain language that’s easy to understand 
  • Avoid text in all caps
  • Capitalize the first letter of each word in a hashtag, like #SocialMediaMarketing, a practice called camel-case

Videos

  • Provide descriptive captions. Instead of just displaying the words people on-screen say, explain background noises and other sounds that are relevant to the scene.
  • Add your own subtitles or enable auto-subtitles on the video platform of your choice
  • Use captioning for live videos when possible

Graphics

Distribute Accessible Content

Many users find their new favorite brand through social media. When disabled people (who make up 26% of the population according to the CDC) can’t access your brand’s social posts, you miss the opportunity to connect with a demographic that’s eager to engage in online communities. On a hyper-local level, that kind of connection goes even further.

That’s why ThumbStopper exists to help brands distribute their social content to their retailer network. Retailers can connect with their local audience – with your accessible, branded content – in a more personal way. And since content goes to their page automatically once they sign up, retailers can effortlessly promote your brand online while focusing on running their business. 

Ready to see how ThumbStopper can help your brand improve its reach? Check out our brand reach calculator or book a demo.

 

 

accessibility
[/et_pb_column]
[/et_pb_column]
What Is Social Media Automation?
[/et_pb_column]
[/et_pb_column]
10 Ways to Automate Your Marketing
[/et_pb_column]
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