ThumbStopper Announces Participation in CABDA Midwest 2020

ThumbStopper sets its sights for the 2020 CABDA Midwest trade show in Schaumburg, Illinois

Tampa, Fla. – ThumbStopper®, a SaaS digital marketing software solution for brands and retailers, announced today its participation at CABDA Midwest, taking place Feb. 12-13, 2020 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center & Hotel in Schaumburg, IL.

The expo will feature seminars, clinics and product displays from retailers and manufacturers in the bicycle industry. ThumbStopper’s Branden Elwell, VP of Business Development, will be in attendance during the two-day trade show.

ThumbStopper will exhibit at booth 1034 during the event, introducing the company’s “ThumbStopper for Bikes” solution to prospective bike shops and informing companies of its success in other brand verticals.

“We look forward to meeting with bike shops interested in our retail-specific solution and informing brands of how ThumbStopper’s Brand Manager™ has helped companies in other verticals,” said Elwell.

ThumbStopper focuses on connecting local retailers’ social pages with content from the brands they already sell, maximizing ROI for businesses wishing to engage, monitor and increase sales opportunities through the full cycle of the customer journey, from online research to purchase. ThumbStopper provides retailers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) with a consistent social presence, utilizing 15 years of experience in understanding a variety of brand verticals, their retailers, and their customers.

Registered CABDA Midwest attendees may request one-on-one meetings with ThumbStopper by clicking here or via direct contact to the principals below.

About the Conference

The Chicagoland Area Bicycle Dealers Association (CABDA) hosts a series of trade shows catering to manufacturers, retailers, mechanics and distributors within the bicycle vertical. Since reviving its regional trade show in 2015, CABDA is one of North America’s fastest growing bicycle shows, hosting events in New York, San Diego, Chicago and Orlando.

About ThumbStopper

ThumbStopper is a leading provider of digital marketing solutions, delivered via its award-winning SaaS technology platform. Through the company’s brand manager, ThumbStopper focuses on delivering custom-curated content generation and syndication through web and social channels to connect brands with their retail network. With over 15 years’ experience understanding brand verticals, ThumbStopper currently services over 25,000 retailers across the Automotive, Bicycle, Watercraft, Firearm, Farm & Garden industries.

Contact

Alicia Alongi // Director of Marketing

aalongi@thumbstopper.com

Angel Kennedy // Content Marketing Manager

akennedy@thumbstopper.com

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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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