User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most powerful ways to engage consumers and build brand trust. However, the power of UGC also means that brands must constantly monitor its content to protect themselves and their audience from harmful content.
There are a variety of approaches to UGC moderation. Some are automated, relying on algorithms to flag inappropriate posts; others employ human moderators who review every post before it goes live online.
Authenticity
Authenticity is an important part of UGC moderation, and it has a wide range of implications. For example, it can build trust with users, which leads to higher engagement and brand loyalty. Moreover, it can foster community building.
Ultimately, authenticity has its place in any marketing strategy, but it must be supported by an effective content moderation process that protects your brand. Keeping toxic or fake UGC out of your user community can save you time, money, and stress.
If you are a e-commerce company, you should hire an experienced content moderator who will be responsible for managing UGC on your site and on social media platforms. This person also needs to have a deep understanding of your brand’s mission and values.
To maintain the integrity of your content, you must use a robust content moderation system that can automatically scan and tag content to spot issues that can jeopardize your brand’s reputation and cause legal pushback. For example, a best-in-class vendor will enable you to automatically filter profanity, as well as personally identifiable information, such as name and address.
A good UGC moderation system will also offer tools to help you manage user data and prevent fraud, such as a KYC (Know Your Customer) check that will ensure your employees are genuinely who they say they are. Ideally, you will run these checks when the author first registers to submit content, or you can refer them to moderation at a later stage if there is a red flag.
In addition to ensuring that your users are able to submit authentic and trustworthy content, you should also make it easy for them to share their experiences with your products. For example, Etsy allows users to share a review of their experience purchasing a particular product. This helps customers know whether the product fits their lifestyle or if it meets their expectations.
Similarly, enabling your employees to create and share UGC as part of hype-building campaigns, such as a launch or a new product release, can also boost trust and brand awareness. This kind of advocacy can be an essential component to your marketing and brand identity, especially on social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Reputation
Reputation is the way people view a brand, person, company, product, and service. It is an important concept, because it determines how consumers act, whether they buy a product or service, or even vote for a candidate. Reputation is also a powerful force that can destroy a business, so it is essential to manage and maintain a high reputation.
User-generated content is a great tool for businesses to build trust and engage with new audiences, but it can also have a negative impact on a business’s reputation. It is necessary to have a UGC moderation process to ensure that the content is authentic and does not damage a brand’s reputation.
A good UGC moderation strategy should include both automated and manual moderation to help weed out spam, offensive or inflammatory content, and images that are unattractive or don’t meet quality standards. It also helps brands avoid legal issues by screening content before it goes live, preventing toxic content from damaging the reputation of the brand and its audience.
For businesses with large communities, pre-moderation is an effective approach to ensuring that the community isn’t exposed to harmful content before it can be published. The method is often paired with real-time moderation, which allows businesses to monitor UGC in real-time and prevents the risk of damaging content being posted before it is reviewed.
Companies that conduct numerous marketing campaigns and rely heavily on online audiences need to prioritize having a scalable reputation management procedure. This includes a system to track and respond to feedback and complaints, and to actively manage a company’s reputation across all social media platforms.
In addition, a UGC moderation process should include KYC procedures to verify that the identity of a user is legitimate and accurate. This will help to eliminate users who are using fake identities and creating misleading content, such as medical ‘experts’ claiming that “miracle cures” exist or that “there is no disease”.
While user-generated content is a valuable marketing tool for many businesses, it can also create problems if it is not moderated properly. Having a robust UGC moderation strategy will ensure that your brand’s reputation remains intact and can be used to increase customer engagement and build a strong community.
Audience engagement
User-generated content (UGC) is an incredibly powerful way to connect with your audience. Whether it’s product reviews, user-generated photos, or a community-driven discussion about your brand, UGC is a valuable marketing tool.
The right kind of UGC can boost your reputation, build a loyal following, and even influence consumers’ purchases. But the wrong kind of UGC can do lasting damage. That’s why it’s important to ensure that all of your UGC is moderated in accordance with your online community’s guidelines and standards.
To help you manage this process, here are some of the best UGC moderation strategies:
Start by creating opportunities for your users to share their own content. This can be done through social media contests or by hosting events, for example.
During these events, make it easy for users to post their own content, and reward them with prizes and recognition for great work. These events also provide a platform for promoting UGC and encouraging users to continue creating high-quality content.
In addition to providing opportunities for your audience to create quality UGC, these campaigns also help you promote your brand in a creative and meaningful way. For example, GoPro runs daily photo challenges and encourages its customers to use their products to capture amazing photographs.
As your UGC community grows, you’ll need to proactively screen and remove any content that doesn’t meet your audience’s expectations or doesn’t align with your brand values. This is an essential part of a comprehensive UGC strategy, and it’s important to take time and care to get it right.
To help you do this, you need to have a dedicated team of moderators who are capable of vetting any content that is uploaded to your online platform. This can be a difficult task, but it’s vital to protect your company from legal and ethical issues.
The best UGC moderation practices involve combining automation with human moderation. This helps you to be efficient while also ensuring that your users are getting the best possible experience from your site or app.
Community building
User-generated content (UGC) is a cost-effective and powerful way to build brand awareness and reputation. It also increases engagement by fostering a sense of community and connection among consumers.
UGC can be found in many forms, such as product reviews, testimonials, social media posts, event photos, or blogs. Regardless of the type of UGC, a brand must have clear guidelines on what is and isn’t allowed. This helps users know what is and isn’t appropriate to share in the community, which will help ensure that only quality UGC is shared.
Community moderation is about ensuring your community is safe and productive while building trust with your audience. This means proactively removing prohibited content before it’s published and making sure that all UGC is authentic, high-quality, and relevant to your brand’s community.
The right type of UGC can build a strong, loyal, and engaged community that helps your company grow and thrive. This is especially true in the age of social media where consumers are increasingly using their networks to find and share information about products, services, and brands.
This kind of UGC is often referred to as “social proof.” It’s a great way for brands to establish themselves as trustworthy and high-quality. Creating a hashtag that encourages customer photos and reviews is one way to do this, as is showing off some of the best examples of user-generated content on your website or social media.
For example, Denny’s uses a hashtag like #DennysChallenge to encourage customer photos of their burgers. The hashtag is easy to remember, so it’s sure to spread fast, encouraging other Twitter users to retweet the photo and create a viral event that will promote their brand.
Similarly, Lululemon has encouraged customers to post photos of themselves wearing their Lululemon gear. These photos are usually accompanied by inspirational messages or personal stories, and they’ve helped to foster a sense of community around the brand as well as increase sales.
UGC moderation can be a challenging process for online communities, but it’s worth the effort to maintain a healthy community. By implementing a hybrid system that includes human moderation alongside AI, businesses can effectively monitor and clean UGC to keep their brand safe from harm and protect their customers’ privacy.