Business And Leadership, Ireland's Business News Service

However, insufficient planning and bad practices in relation to this area can end up seriously compromising the value of social media initiatives.

UK-based Chat Moderators, which provides content-monitoring services for a range of clients, including BBC, EMI, Friends Reunited, Orange, Sony and Vodafone, has compiled a list of the top 10 mistakes made by businesses when introducing online social media schemes.

Top of the list is the belief that the audience won’t mind if its submissions are removed because the brand is not prepared to accept valid criticism. According to Rob Marcus, director at Chat Moderators, users certainly will mind and any attempt made to prohibit justifiable criticism will only serve to undermine the integrity of the initiative.

Other common mistakes to avoid, according to Chat Moderators, include:

• Not publishing a straightforward set of rules for the creators of uploaded material. The company recommends creating a set of house rules for users that are easy to find on the site. These rules should explain what kind of behaviour is deemed unacceptable – for example, being vulgar, offensive, disruptive or breaking the law
• Not creating a sophisticated set of rules for the judges of uploaded material. For moderators of the site to be fair and consistent in their judgements, they will need to have a more detailed set of rules, which should be a written document, signed off by moderators and brand managers and only changeable by agreement of both parties
• Not verifying the email addresses of users. Where users do not have to register with a confirmed email address before submitting content, it is very difficult to ban them from posting if they become abusive. Likewise, the company will not be able to target them for marketing purposes
• Not having software tools necessary to record why certain material has been removed. According to Chat Moderators, companies will – sooner or later – want to have statistics on the number of posts, number of deletions, registered users, unique visitors, visit durations, number of repeat visits and so on. It’s far easier to think about what information will be needed or useful before deciding on a software platform
• Not having the software tools to reinstate removed content, to remove previously approved content or even to hide posts that need further investigation
• Not being able to judge user-generated content from a back-end queue and instead checking submissions via email. Moderation software that adds new posts to a back-end queue is the most efficient and is good for data collection. While email moderation can work, it is generally less efficient and posts can be overlooked
• Imagining that any secrets or skeletons in the brand cupboard will stay undiscovered. Chat Moderators advises companies with brands that are soft targets not to take them into the realm of social media
• Assuming that the audience will generate content as on-brand and on-topic as the marketing department does.

One of the biggest mistakes, according to Marcus, is not taking any interest in the initiative after launch. “It’s often the most obvious things that are the most surprising in these instances,” he says. “After all of the work brand managers seem to put into planning and creating an easily navigated and moderated social network at the start of the process, they forget to stay close to it. The early days are so important if you are to avoid cliques of troublesome users from developing. You need to ensure that your objectives are not going to be undermined by content that you hadn’t expected if you are to gain an influential foothold.

“Don’t be afraid to actively engage with your audience from time to time, especially to clarify misunderstandings. If you do so, don’t pretend to be someone other than who you are; the proud brand custodian who’s willing to listen,” he concludes.