Social media is a powerful tool in this modern business landscape. 97% of customers access social media platforms at least once a month to acquire product information. Moreover, over 65% of consumers expect brands and companies to have strengthened social media presence to provide better customer service.
The overwhelming number of social media users combined with customer expectations necessitates monitoring and some kind of protection for both the users and the brand. Thus, the need for social media moderation services.
What Is Social Media Moderation?
This refers to managing and regulating user activities on social media platforms. It involves filtering out and removing content that goes against established rules and regulations.
It helps businesses flag harmful, inappropriate, and irrelevant content that may affect their brand reputation. This maintains a healthy online presence for companies and consumers, building effective and consistent brand communication.
The Role of Social Media Moderators
Social media moderation is not confined to simply monitoring content. It’s a multifaceted role, requiring meticulousness and sound reasoning.
Here are some of the responsibilities of a social media moderator:
- Manage User Content
Social media moderators manage user-generated content (UGC) on brands’ social media platforms. They ensure the relevance and appropriateness of content.
- Enforce Rules and Guidelines
Each social media platform has its own rules and guidelines, as do the online communities within those platforms. Social media moderators enforce these rules by warning or even banning rule violators.
- Respond to User Queries and Feedback
Should a new user join an online community, the social media moderator usually orients them about the rules and guidelines. Likewise, if a user has a question or feedback, the moderator is there to respond.
Benefits Of Social Media Moderation for Online Businesses
- Provides Protection
There are many forms of harmful content. The abundance of these online threats makes moderation in social media a necessary shield against these.
Some major online threats include:
- Phishing
This threat can occur through social media messages. It involves posing as a legitimate enterprise to get victims’ personal information, such as credit card accounts, passwords, and account numbers.
- Spam
Spam is an unwanted or unsolicited message sent out in bulk. It usually contains links leading to dangerous websites that can compromise your data security, and, therefore, your customers’ trust.
For an online business, customer trust is as good as gold. Customers who don’t trust your business won’t buy any of your products.
- Social Engineering
This relies on human interaction, using manipulation to reveal essential information about users’ identities.
- Identifies Real Customers
Due to hyper-competition, some businesses use trolls and fake profiles to share derogatory content online, aiming to ruin others’ reputations. This, however, can be prevented with profile moderation outsourcing services, which are usually part of the social media moderation package.
- Gain Valuable Insights
Social media moderation services enable you to gain valuable insights. The data gathered can assist businesses in understanding customer behavior and brand perception. Once they recognize the behavioral patterns and responses of the targeted audience, you can now establish strategies for more effective customer acquisition.
Furthermore, these insights can help contribute to the moderation process itself. Observing customer behaviors within social media platforms can determine if the moderation process implemented is effective. If not, then you must reexamine and adjust the rules and guidelines for moderating content.
- Improve Online Visibility
More trust is cultivated if your online business is deemed safe and has legitimate content. Safe and relevant content does the job of attracting customers and lowering your site’s bounce rate.
The combination of these factors contributes to your site’s search engine optimization (SEO). The higher your rank is, the higher the traffic you will get, thus more potential customers.
However, visibility does not always mean a positive one. You might also rank higher due to a bad reputation.
Employing social media moderation will help prevent this negative publicity by creating a safe online environment and mitigating the effects of negative reviews.
- Retain Loyal Customers
Based on recent surveys, more than 80% of users prioritize UGC over content published by brands themselves. It shows that UGC is crucial in attracting new and retaining existing customers.
Moderated UGCs are an effective means of enhancing brand recognition and building trust. Most importantly, they have an influential role in customer purchasing decisions. 70% of consumers will consider UGC reviews before purchasing, and over 40% read four to seven UGC reviews to gain insights on products and services.
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Step Up In Protecting Your Brand
Social media moderation is one way to promote a culture of peace within your brand. But, this requires high communication skills, empathy, and experience in upholding rules and regulations.
So, it’s time to step up your game and opt for an outsourced social media moderation solution that can maintain high-quality standards—a solution that can significantly change customer perception towards your brand.
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