Why Moderation is Important
By: Newday Agency
Tags: Brand Reputation, Socialmedia Marketing, Moderation, Social

Every day, more and more users prefer communicating with brands through social networks and other communication channels. The most important thing for the brand is to get closer to the client: to understand what he wants, speak the same language and be useful. In turn, clients have one priority — to support the brand.

Often overlooked, social media comment moderation plays a critical role in a company’s reputation online. Over the past decade, social media platforms have become essential for brands to position themselves and communicate about their products and/or services for commercial purposes. Before that, messages went out from the brand to customers with very little interaction. Gradually, the communication turned into a real conversation, where customers can express their opinions, ask questions and get a quick response.

The Sprout Social Index: Empower and Elevate has found a number of reasons why users might turn to brands:

“Moderation of social networks is regular monitoring by one moderator or a group of compliance with rules of communication for a specific site in a network. Moderators answer comments and questions, publish posts, are responsible for the technical part of contests and remove spam.”

Social monitoring is an integral part of any social customer service strategy. This can lead to faster response times, prevention of PR crises and the identification of brand “defenders”. Providing great customer service means to keep your social media active to get closer to your clients and potential customers. According to the statistics from Ensuite Media, 34.5% of consumers prefer to communicate with brands through social media. This outperforms other methods such as chat (24.7%), email (19.4%) and calls (16.1%). About 90% of messages sent to companies on social media are simply ignored. Research shows that users rate brands that respond to their posts positively. On the other hand, if complaints or questions go unnoticed, this can lead to an unfavorable experience for the user which could negatively impact your platforms. It is quite simple: the more you react to your audience, the more likely they are to interact with your page which will significantly increase your engagement and brand loyalty.

Note: “Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are broadcast channels for distributing advertising content. Consumers are recognizing these social channels for what they really are: powerful portals for two-way dialogue.”

The Sprout Social Index stated in their research article that customer responsiveness leads to increased brand loyalty among customers. The Sprout Social Index, Edition VI: Shunning Your Customers on Social?

There are some simple, yet very important moderating rules that every brand should follow:

The most important thing is adherence to the TOV of the brand.

The tone of voice (TOV) is the “voice” of the company. It allows you to communicate your values, detach yourself from competitors and find contact with your audience, speaking with them in the same language. It’s not only important to stick to one tonality, but also communicate with them politely and delicately. This way the user will feel that he is heard and understood. Be sure to react to comments or any questions as quickly as possible.

If the user doesn’t receive an answer to his question promptly, most likely he will move on to your competitors, leaving him with a negative impression of your brand.

If the answer to a user’s question will take time, be sure to respond to him right away. It’s important for the client to know his question was received and an answer will come to him shortly.

Should the question not be clear or it’s missing necessary information, don’t ignore it, reach out to the user and ask for clarification.

3. Create templates for answers to frequently asked questions (Q&A)

Such scripts can help to answer user’s questions that are frequently asked.

4. Make sure to provide an employee from your company to assist the moderator.

When creating a table with responses to frequently asked questions, it’s impossible to envision all the possible answers and scripts for user requests. Therefore, it’s important to have a person from the company who can help with the answers to questions or pass the requests on to another specialist.

5. Maintain a table of questions and answers.

This is for questions that are not in the Q&A. It will help you not to forget about questions from users that have not yet received an answer. Also, you can input new questions and provide answers here as well, keeping the table up to date.

6. Always take into account the opinions and suggestions of your customers

Moderation is great for gathering new information that can serve as ideas for future products or services. Sometimes users make helpful suggestions for improving your brand strategy. It’s a good idea to take advantage of the negative feedback you receive as this can help you target your weaknesses and help you to make improvements in your products or services.

7. There are times when you need customer support to be 24/7. In this case, it’s better to hire two moderators from different time zones.

Social media monitoring isn’t just limited to your brand. You can also use it as a competitor analysis: see what people have to say about your competitors, what their top compliments and complaints are. When needed, you can step in and offer your products as alternatives to what they are using.

You need to learn how to work with your clients where it is convenient for them. It is necessary to solve customer problems quickly and with respect to each user. It is important not only to work out the negative, but also to encourage positive feedback. Remember that the opinion formed towards a brand is not only through high-quality content, promotions and discounts. You must be open to communicate in your audiences’ language, respect their time and provide prompt support in all social networks. Otherwise without being social, it’s just the media.