My Blog My Blog

Do You Really Need Sound in Your Instagram Stories? [New Research]

Instagram Marketing
/by
Do You Really Need Sound in Your Instagram Stories? Since the dawn of Stories features across social media platforms, many brands have asked, "Should we make Stories with or without sound?" While some people love to get the full experience of sight and sound while they watch Stories on various platforms, others watch this type of content when they're on-the-go. Because many mobile users are often in public, standing near people, or even in at school or work when they watch Story content, they might choose to watch with the sound off. Story platforms have even debated whether this element is or isn't a necessity. Recently, news coverage from MarketingLand noted that Snapchat encourages creators to include sound in their Stories, while Facebook says otherwise. But, what about Instagram? Are people turning off their sound to watch Stories on this platform? Or is it still worth creating Stories that rely on audio elements? This question is such a highly debated topic that I decided to ask consumers to weigh in. To do this, I used Lucid software to ask over 350 people the question, "How often do you watch Instagram Stories with the sound on?" When I received the results, I was actually pretty surprised by what the consumer group said. After that Facebook, Instagram's owner, announced that 85% of its own platform's users watch videos without sound, you might think that many Instagram users also watch content -- like Stories -- without audio. But, then again,...

How to Use Pinterest for Blogging

Pinterest Marketing
/by
How to Use Pinterest for Blogging Almost every time I read a blog post on a website, I see a button somewhere on the page, giving me the choice to pin the post. This got me thinking, "Why exactly is Pinterest so closely tied to blogging?" It could be because Pinterest is an outlet for education. Users create boards to save things like blogs, inspirational quotes, home decor ideas, and future purchases. So it makes sense that helpful blog posts are a great choice for pinning. Let's say you run a blog. Your next question is probably, "Well, how do you use Pinterest for blogging?" In order to tap into the website that is key to driving 89% of users' purchase decisions, most of your resources are already made for you: your blog. We'll get into why, but there's one thing you should do the minute you decide to create an account. First thing's first, make sure you have a Pinterest Business account. By signing up for a free Business account, you get access to Pinterest Analytics, which gives detailed insights about the behavior of your pins. Additionally, Pinterest Business gives you the option to apply for Rich Pins, an upgrade from a regular, or standard, pin. There are five types of rich pins — movie, app, recipe, place, product, and article — the latter being the most effective one for blogging. Article Rich Pins provide tools to add a larger logo image and headline to promote your...

Why Accessible Marketing is the Future, According to an Inclusive Design Expert

Marketing Strategy
/by
Why Accessible Marketing is the Future, According to an Inclusive Design Expert One in four people live with a disability in the United States. That means, if your marketing content excludes people living with a disability, you could be losing out on the potential of converting 61 million people into customers. I had the opportunity to sit down with Christina Mallon, the Global Head of Inclusive Design and Accessibility at Wunderman Thompson (the largest ad agency in the world), to learn how brands are creating more inclusive products and campaigns to reach an underserved audience. Christina has worked with major brands, including Microsoft and Tommy Hilfiger, to help them develop accessible products and content for their marketing campaigns. She's worked on digital marketing campaigns for Tommy Adaptive, and helped build the first-ever Alexa skill for people with disabilities. Her work has received national attention and has been featured on PBS, Fast Company, Forbes, Yahoo!, and more. Needless to say, I was very lucky to sit down with Christina to learn how marketers should think about accessibility when it comes to building web experiences and content. Here, we'll explore Christina's definition for accessibility, examples of non-accessible marketing, and how you can create more inclusive and accessible marketing content for 2020 and beyond. How do you define accessibility? Christina shared that the World Health Organization defines a disability as a function of the mismatch between a person's abilities and the demands of the environment. "The best example I have of this...