Accessibility is an important aspect of social marketing that should not be overlooked. By making your content and campaigns accessible to individuals with disabilities, you can expand your reach and increase audience engagement. This can lead to more effective marketing and ultimately, better business results.
Additionally, by taking steps to make your social media presence accessible, you are demonstrating a commitment to inclusivity and diversity. This helps to build trust and loyalty among your customers and followers.
In this blog, we will discuss the importance of factoring accessibility into social marketing in a detailed manner. Additionally, we will enlist some of the ways you can introduce accessibility into social marketing to reach a broader audience.
Significance of social marketing
Social marketing positively influences the customer’s perception.
- Social marketing is highly effective because it develops good brand awareness among the audience.
- Social marketing is a cost-effective technique to find target audience and requires less research.
- Social marketing plays a vital role in influencing the audience for the business.
Social marketing frequently meets great advertisement by sharing photos, videos, and blogs, etc.
Factoring Accessibility into social marketing
Making accessible and inclusive promotional content should not be done every once in a while. It has to be incorporated into each part of the marketing strategy.
Legal ramifications for ignoring accessibility in social marketing
The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against individuals having disabilities, requires content to be made accessible. Several laws have been passed to make sure businesses make their websites accessible to people with disabilities.
Any organization that fails to comply with such regulations risks legal ramifications and lawsuits for non-compliance with ADA.
It is demonstrated that approximately around 750 million individuals globally are living with disabilities. 75 percent of shoppers having disabilities have walked away from a business due to inaccessible websites. Making your website accessible will earn loyal customers in a competitive marketplace.
Offering competitor advantage by disregarding accessibility in social marketing
54.6 per cent of the organizations prioritize digital accessibility to stay competitive in the market. It helps to secure brand image, and also avoid legal complications and penalties. If you disregard accessibility it will offer your competitors an advantage and possibly harm your brand image.
Improve your SEO by following the right social marketing practices
An accessible website aims to deliver equal information and experience to its audience. Search engines reward accessibility by ranking them higher on search results.
Accessible web design is a crucial factor in improving SEO, as it ensures that all users, regardless of their abilities, can easily access and navigate a website. This not only enhances user experience, but also increases the likelihood of a website being indexed by search engines. This has a positive impact on website ranking.
Social marketing plays a key role in this process, as accessible design can help attract a wider audience and increase engagement on social media platforms, ultimately leading to more traffic and higher visibility for a website.
What happens when a person with a disability comes across an inaccessible webpage?
According to a study, 71% of the time, people leave a site if it is not accessible. Businesses have to acknowledge the level of accessibility of their website and social pages to connect with all audiences.
You have to know how they can build content strategies to remain inclusive. Due to the aggressive level of competition, you need to include a wider audience and command their attention.
Let us discuss the steps you can take to factor accessibility into social marketing.
Invest in platforms your audiences use frequently
90 per cent of the organizations use Facebook and other platforms like Youtube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Every marketer needs to understand how to make the content accessible on these platforms to optimize audience reach and engagement.
Make your social media posts accessible
Carousels, videos, or any other content you can think of, present them in an accessible format for your audience. Add alt text to images, caption videos, add camel case hash tags to ensure people with disabilities have access.
Considering the accessibility of your images
People having low vision or completely blind use assistive technologies like screen readers to navigate online. These devices will allow reading aloud text available on the screen. But what will happen when it comes to the image? The image generally plays a crucial role in social media content.
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook allow you to add alt text to your image. Use the feature to offer a more equitable and hassle-free experience to the users. Twitter has a GIF library, when uploading gifs, make sure to include a description.
Craft simple and readable text
When you are writing for social media, it requires a direct and clear approach. Avoid complicated and jargon-prone language. You need to grasp their attention and deliver your message crisply.
Additionally, make sure that your language is inclusive, when discussing accessibility or disabilities in a respectful tone.
Caption your video and audio content
One of the most popular and famous places for marketer to promote their business is Youtube. TikTok is popular among millenials and freelancers to promote their services and reach a younger audience.
People prefer videos with captions and subtitles since it offers them an easy way to scroll through the video.
Use professionals
Consult a professional social media marketing agency to churn out accessible campaigns and post the right messaging. Graphic designers or communication specialists who specialize in making accessible campaigns can help you hit the right mark.
Use the correct language
Getting the language wrong with inclusive content comes off as disrespectful. It will harm the company’s brand image, therefore, make sure to remain informed and word your content effectively.
Choose accessible font
Make use of simple fonts that don’t overlap and are large enough for people with disabilities. Use the same font throughout the content to avoid confusion.
Gain an understanding of color contrast
Focus on color in social media posts to convey your message effectively. Certain combinations pose an accessibility barrier for some users. WCAG 2.2 Level AA guidelines specify a color contrast of at least 4.5:1 for normal text.
Find a partner to improve your accessibility on social media
If you find accessibility on social media a challenge, partner with a reputed agency to improve your accessibility level. You can avail of their services for a fee and the ROI will bring you better brand image and conversions.
Conclusion
Factoring accessibility into your social marketing efforts is essential for reaching a wider audience and promoting inclusivity and diversity. By making your campaigns accessible to individuals with disabilities, you can improve engagement and ultimately drive better business results.
Furthermore, by showing a commitment to accessibility, you can build trust and loyalty among your customers and followers.
Remember to consider accessibility in all aspects of your social media presence, including text, images, videos and interactive elements. By taking these steps, you can ensure that your social media marketing efforts are inclusive and effective for all.
