User-Generated Campaigns have become widely pursued by brands today. It makes for a great way of promoting one’s brand organically. People love brands whose customers are interacting with the brand. It shows them a sense of inclusivity associated with the brand. But these campaigns require interventions of content moderation.

It is important to filter the user-generated contents and mediate them to make sure that the contents posted on social media platforms are appropriate (in terms of people’s viewing, complying with social media regulations, aligning brand values, etc).

First, let us get to know what user-generated campaigns are…

What is User Generated Campaign?

User-Generated Campaigns are run by brands to encourage consumers, fans & followers to create and share content on social media. These campaigns are usually goal-driven and accompany attractive prizes and gift vouchers.

When approached wisely, companies can rise to fame through successful user-generated campaigns. Take, for example, GoPro’s first ‘Million Dollar Challenge’.

The campaign required participants to shoot and share incredible videos using their HERO7 Black Camera. The winners received $1 million shared equally among themselves while the company received recognition amongst people that was invaluable.

With over 25,000 submissions and over 3.5 million views along with 49k likes, the launch campaign for GoPro Hero7 Black was an absolute win!

Now that we’re clear about what User Generated Campaigns are, let us see why content moderation is important when it comes to UGC (User Generated Content) campaigns.

What is Content Moderation?

Before content is published on a social media platform, it goes through a process of review. This review process is known as Content Moderation. This process makes sure that the content is compliant with the local community standards and regulations, while also aligning the brand’s values.

Companies nowadays hire professional content moderation services to make sure that the content that goes public is appropriate for the viewers because deviations could mean bad publicity for the business.

When companies run User Generated campaigns, the audience creates and sends in a wide range of content due to be published – some appropriate and some not-so-appropriate.

As a result, it is imperative that these contents go through a moderation funnel to filter out all misappropriations before they are finally published – to make sure that the public conscience is protected.

Here are a few reasons why Content Moderation is significant for User Generated Campaigns.

1. Managing your Brand Reputation

When brands run user-generated campaigns on social media, it brings in many kinds of content and yet many reactions (i.e comments, retweets) on those posts. Many times the substance of the content may be inappropriate e.g vulgar, containing nudity, abusive language, violence, etc.

This may result in a backlash effect and generate a bad reputation for the brand or the campaign. Hence, it is crucial that you run the UGCs by Content Moderation to make sure that it is favorable for your brand’s reputation.

2. Social Media Guidelines

Different social media platforms have distinct guidelines for posting content. These are also known as community standards. However, user-generated campaigns can bring in a wide range of unmoderated content that doesn’t always comply with social media posting guidelines and may be flagged as inappropriate.

So unless UGCs come well moderated they put the brand at risk of getting their page temporarily banned. Commonly overlapping Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn Community Guidelines are hate speech, nudity, and anything that promotes violence or terrorism among many others.

3. Spam Content Moderation

Controlling incoming spam content is a great way of ensuring a successful social media campaign. Spam contents go against most social media community standards.

For instance, a user is repeatedly sharing his content (aimed at winning campaign prizes) on your page, or someone else is trying to promote a rather irrelevant product or service in your campaign posts. This could act as a potential turnoff for your audience.

This is why constant moderation is important to keep your User Generated Content clean and your campaign running smoothly. This can be ensured by implementing proper moderation at all stages of the campaign – starting from its planning and execution till after it has ended.

4. Trolls & Criticism

Trolls and critics are common on social media platforms. Due to the higher anonymity provided by the internet, people don’t think twice before trolling others or voicing unfavorable opinions on certain issues, services, people, etc. on various social media posts.

But that does not mean those posts should be outright removed. Good content moderators are trained to respond to criticism and trolls in a positive way. This shows the audience that you care to listen and offer helpful advice and rebuttals rather than delete every unwanted comment you come across.

Hence, thoughtful content moderation is an unavoidable task that needs to be placed during User Generated Campaigns.

5. Improve Viewership

Keeping your social media channels relevant to your campaign’s goals lets you portray a well-directed page for your viewers. In addition, keeping your pages informative and professional allows you to reach out to a more desired audience.

By taking proper actions against spam, profanity, hate speech, and nudity, etc. Content Moderators make sure that the posts are viewer-friendly.

6. Better Organic Reach

Well moderated campaigns are viewer-friendly and bring in more organic likes, comments, and shares. This helps your rank higher in search engines naturally without having to invest in market buying or SEO optimization.

Conclusion

The need for content moderation cannot be stressed enough, especially at the time of running a user-generated campaign. This is important in order to channel the contents to serve your campaign goals.

Meanwhile, social media community guidelines are ever-changing. This is why you should ensure that the content moderation team is updated with the changing policies.

It should also help you if the Content Moderators are self-guided and find innovative ways to moderate your content in ways – that do not compromise on the genuinity of the content, nor compromises on the campaign goals.