In its third workshop of the year, The Nest by Webhelp, outsourcing partner addressed a particular challenge for start-ups: good customer relations management on social networks.
Moderation is not a luxury but an obligation. It consists of checking that there is no prohibited or illegal content in a dialogue space for which you are responsible, such as defamatory or discriminatory content. The limited resources of start-ups sometimes prevent them from fulfilling this task, although it is mandatory. What moderation and customer relationship strategy should therefore be implemented on social networks?
There are many options to review: What position do you want customer relations to have within your company? You will need to determine if it is a cost center, a customer loyalty center, an upselling center, etc. Depending on the option chosen, targeted strategies will be deployed.
That is why The Nest by Webhelp, start-up CX partner organized a workshop on this topic, with the active participation of a dozen guest start-ups such as Pandacraft, Mooncard, Carizy, Investisseur Privé, Orbi Network, Redstart, Batvoice, and Zenpark.
Here are 9 tips for start-ups content management and moderation strategy
1. Protect your brand by removing problematic content
Some products and services attract many insults. Despite the temptation to tolerate and not respond, these elements must be quickly detected and removed. They deter people who have come to express positive remarks or ask sincere questions. Whereas, allowing the publication of insults attracts new insults. When faced with a clear level of abuse, don’t let conditions of the mind deter you.
2. Don’t filter out constructive or argued reviews
What if a customer complains about a social network, but gives good reasons? For example, if they report a repeated malfunction or inconvenience. Act on the problem, apologize and direct them towards solutions or compensation. You will demonstrate your good faith, openness to criticism, willingness to improve, and ability to provide appropriate answers or practical solutions. Consider reasoned criticism as a great opportunity for a constructive response and to enhance your image.
3. Value the active members of your community
Is there a problem with a customer? It’s often appropriate to let the community provide answers or even rebut criticisms in an intelligent way. As a follow-up, you will be able to add a user tip. In order to build a supportive community, do everything possible to maintain a spirit of constructive dialogue, Don’t forget it’s important to identify – and then thank the most positive and active contributors.
4. Defend your members
Your customers, whether they are happy or dissatisfied, must not be mocked or harassed by other members. If such abuse occurs, the brand must be able to intervene and not appear complicit.
5. Be sufficiently responsive, even when it is outside your own space
Platforms that you can’t control like Twitter and Facebook: a comment posted is immediately visible. You need to make sure that your digital or human detection times are rapid enough to avoid a bad buzz. Only a good alert system will prevent escalating effects.
6. Follow conversations and listen to even weak alarms.
On your platform and social media, you must listen, or have someone else listen to spontaneous discussions between your customers. This social listening strategy is often a driver of improvement and innovation for your product or service. Instruct an internal team to detect actionable insights and weak alarms,or assign the assignment to a contractor who is familiar with your business.
7. Social Care: knowing how to combine the digital and the human
Faced with large volumes of comments, especially on a 24/7 basis, digital tools provide excellent responsiveness and relevance at a reasonable cost. You can use it as an initial filter – then depending on the perceived risk direct ambiguous messages to human operators. Remember that some negative statements are difficult to detect with algorithms, especially insinuations, irony, , sarcasm, defamatory, and especially false praise. Remember that there is no “all-digital” moderation: not even the GAFAs can do it today!
8. Your community manager must stay close to your brand
In a start-up, you soon ask yourself: who needs to respond? If this role is entrusted to a community manager, they must stay very close to your brand. If this function needs to be outsourced, you need to ensure daily dialogue. Your customers and prospects will quickly detect if there is any discrepancy between what you claim and what you do.
9. Move from moderation… to customer relations
Don’t just filter: you also have to respond – get involved in customer relationships! That is why it is so important to develop a strategy in this area. Then set your priorities: it is very difficult, especially for a young start-up to deploy on several channels with the same quality. Outsourcing, as managed by The Nest by Webhelp for multiple start-ups, is a solution worth considering – especially if you are expecting a scalability issue.
*Founded in 2002, the Netino startup became Netino by Webhelp when it was acquired in 2016. Focusing on the moderation, social media, and digital content professions, it now has more than 600 employees, mainly in France, Romania, and Madagascar. The company manages more than 10 languages, in a 24/7 context, and supports large groups and several startups (B2B and B2C).
