Content moderation is usually seen as a way to ensure that offensive or illegal posts are quickly removed from social platforms, but there are some additional reasons why brands need to be aware of — and possibly to engage with — content online. This article from Online Moderation lists three trends related to content use in 2019 and I’d like to focus on just one of them — social listening.
There are two distinct reasons why you should be listening to the social buzz around your brand or your products:
- Feedback: Candid feedback that is both positive and negative from customers who are actively talking about your products online can be fed into an improvement program.
- Reputation Management: Where customers are not just mentioning your brand on a social platform, but are actively leaving negative reviews on rating platforms then you need to engage, either to resolve a problem or to shut down false reviews.
This social listening function is very similar to the content moderation process used by most social networking platforms today. This also updates the more traditional Voice of the Customer (VoC) programs many companies use to solicit feedback from their customers. However, as you might expect, the feedback that a customer gives in a formal survey will always be different from a review they post on TripAdvisor or a comment they openly publish on Twitter. Unsolicited feedback is far more valuable, but it requires some effort to go out and find the comments.
Tracking and responding quickly to feedback is essential, especially on the review sites. You need to manage positive and negative feedback both professionally and quickly to ensure that customers are satisfied. In many cases, it should be possible to turn a negative comment into a positive just by handling the situation well. Many complaints are just misunderstandings, but they can create a dramatically negative image for your brand if left unchecked and unchallenged.
Content moderation should comprise this function. It’s not just about blocking offensive content, but also responding to criticism and ensuring that the voice of the brand can be seen transparently engaging with customers in the same networks where customers leave comments. Look at how positive it feels when you see a hotel brand or restaurant responding positively to their critics on TripAdvisor. This process needs to be managed because those unchallenged complaints can seriously damage your brand.
(Learn more on how to make Content Moderation more efficient, Using AI To Improve Content Moderation)
Let me know what you think about managing and responding to content online, especially reviews and ratings. Please leave a comment here or message me directly via LinkedIn.