Harnessing Social Media Platforms For Business Growth

Businesses that have mastered the ins and outs of social media are more likely to stand out in today’s competitive market. As the world becomes more digital, using social media to your advantage is necessary.

Establishing a strong social media presence means more people can discover, follow, and purchase from your brand. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have features that allow small to large businesses to market services and track results.

However, effectively using social media platforms for business also suggests having a robust moderation process for growth and success. This article will tackle leveraging social media while adhering to best content moderation practices.

Understanding Social Media Platforms for Business Success

In an age where social media is woven into our daily lives, its impact on business operations is undeniable. But how exactly do social media platforms help companies grow?

Social media platforms are online hubs where people create content, share ideas, and exchange information. Due to their accessibility, users from anywhere in the world can quickly sign up, interact, and join a conversation.

With over 5.17 billion social media users worldwide, businesses quickly realized the opportunity to promote their brands without resorting to expensive billboard and television ads that could only reach a limited audience.

Importance of Social Media for Businesses

Social media is integral to a brand’s marketing strategy and valuable for long-term business growth. Here’s how social media supports your business:

Increases Brand Visibility

Businesses with a social media presence are more likely to be discovered than those without one. Social media’s algorithm makes discovering new brands that match their interests, needs, and values easier.

Most users would instantly check the business's Facebook or Instagram account if they find their posts amusing, informative, and helpful.

Helps Engage Better With Customers

Social media is an effective communication tool for businesses that want to interact positively with their target market. Through public comments and messaging features, these platforms offer modern alternatives to chatbots and more personalized customer support.

Brands can form meaningful online relations by answering queries, solving issues, and celebrating new and existing customers.

Promotes Your Content For Free

Social media platforms help businesses promote published content on their websites or other online channels. For example, they can post on Twitter to drive organic traffic to blog posts.

Most importantly, social media is the best place to post or share crafted images and videos that showcase your products or services without paying advertisement costs. This is especially helpful for small businesses that need more money for promotional tools.

Generates New Leads For Increased Sales

Potential customers are always on social media. With people spending an average of 2 ½ hours on these platforms, every minute is an opportunity for businesses to market their brands.

By analyzing demographics such as age or location and other factors like interests and behaviors, you can easily target a specific audience.

Provides Relevant Business Insights

Social media platforms are more than just a marketing tool. They also help businesses gather valuable information such as customer pain points and industry trends, through analytics.

With this treasure trove of data, businesses can make informed decisions to stay ahead of competitors. 

Popular Social Media Platforms to Strengthen Your Brand

The key to successful social media marketing is deciding what platforms to use to strengthen your brand and maximize your reach. To make this an easier feat, here are some of the most popular social media platforms that could suit your business needs:

Facebook

With 3.06 billion users, Facebook is considered the largest social networking site. Many entrepreneurs find it easier to establish their business here since it supports different forms of content, including texts, images, and videos. Brands can quickly set up a page, upload content, and reach out to users to gain followers.

Some drawbacks, however, include the high number of spam and fake accounts. Facebook ads can also get quite expensive, which is unfavorable for small businesses.

Instagram

If your target is a younger demographic, especially millennials, creating an Instagram account for your business is the way to go. As a visual networking site, brands can gain more traction by posting creative photos, sharing stories, and uploading reels for higher engagement.

Although Instagram promotes a creator-friendly environment, paid ads can get expensive. Businesses may also need to hire a Facebook Ads Manager expert, since both platforms are owned by Meta, for best results.

TikTok

As one of the fastest-growing social media apps in the world, your business won’t go wrong on TikTok. This platform allows users to create short videos enhanced through texts, filters, and sound effects. The trendier your content is, the more appealing it is to viewers, especially if your business targets Gen Z.

With TikTok, however, you are restricted to a younger demographic while making the most out of limited content format options.

The Importance of Social Media Moderation

While social media benefits businesses, it also comes with a price: harmful content. You can’t please everyone on social media. Some may leave negative comments with the intention of tarnishing your brand. At the same time, irresponsible users may share inappropriate content, spam, and suspicious links that could harm online communities supporting your brand.

Social media moderation practices must be implemented to manage user posts on your social media pages. But what is social media moderation, and why is it important?

Social media moderation refers to monitoring, screening, and removing user posts that don’t comply with policies and guidelines imposed by the platform to promote healthy discourse and positive engagement. It is a key process for maintaining the integrity and safety of social media platforms.

With the help of professional social media moderators, users and brand reputations can be protected from the negative effects of unwanted content. The right approach can also prevent cyberbullying, harassment, online abuse, and misinformation.

Different types of social media moderation can be applied to create a positive online environment:

Pre-Moderation

In pre-moderation, the social media moderator checks and approves all user-submitted content before being published on the platform. If it complies with standards, the post will be visible to all online users.

This approach gives businesses more control over what can be seen on their social media accounts. However, it can be a huge setback since real-time communication is desirable in social media.

Post-Moderation

A more suitable alternative to pre-moderation is post-moderation, wherein posts are uploaded instantly and moderated after a set period, usually within 24 hours. However, this method may still cause problems if harmful content reaches an audience and becomes viral.

Reactive Moderation

This type of moderation encourages the participation of social media users in flagging unsafe content on the brand’s platform. It is an extra precaution often used with pre-moderation or post-moderation techniques.

Automated Moderation

Automated moderation requires no human intervention to moderate social media posts. It relies on tools such as keyword filters to ban specific words and phrases that don’t adhere to the platform’s guidelines. 

While deemed more practical, it can be unreliable in cases where more nuanced content needs to be reviewed.

Strategies for Leveraging Social Media Platforms

The primary goal of a business using social media is to boost market reach for accelerated growth. To get there, you must be smart about utilizing social media platforms. Below are some proven strategies:

Focus on Your Branding

The identity of your brand is what makes you stand out. Focus on customizing your social media profile to reflect your company’s mission, vision, and values. Consistent use of visual elements like colors, symbols, and unique designs can leave a lasting impression on users, increasing brand awareness.

Be Consistent in Posting Content

Businesses must also remain consistent with posting content that aligns with their branding. Consider creating scheduled posts to ensure your audience can engage with your business regularly.

Since social media is becoming more video-centric, it’s wise to incorporate reels and videos into your strategy for expanded market reach.

Engage With Your Audience

To organically grow your following on social media, you must interact with your audience. This could be as simple as liking comments or replying to posts to show gratitude for their support. You can also share their posts whenever they tag your business. Through these small gestures, you can form lasting relationships with your followers.

Invest in Advertisements

Brands can also benefit from paying a small fee for social media advertisements, allowing your page or content to be visible to your target audience. Each platform has different paid advertising options depending on the specified demographics and the campaign’s duration.

Collaborate With Other Brands and Influencers

Another way to elevate brand awareness is to collaborate with other businesses that align with your values and offer products or services that complement yours.

Partnering with influencers or social media creators can also help you build authentic consumer relationships. They can create honest and engaging content to promote your brand and share it with their followers.

Manage Your Reputation

Customers will naturally come to your business if you focus on building and protecting your online reputation. This means being committed to regulating harmful content across your social media platforms.

By removing offensive and inappropriate content, users can feel safe engaging with your brand, preserving your image and credibility.

Integrating Social Media Moderation for Business Success

If you’re incorporating social media moderation in your marketing strategy, it’s important to do it properly to ensure business success. As mentioned, there are various moderation techniques; the question is, how do you carry out your chosen method effectively?

Here’s what you should do:

Establish a Moderation Team

While it may seem straightforward, social media moderation is a complex process that requires the expertise of human moderators. If you run multiple social media accounts for your business, a dedicated moderation team can help you deal with volumes of user content every day. Social media moderators know every platform’s standards and policies for ensuring user safety, privacy, and legal compliance.

Combine Social Media Management and Moderation

Moderators work closely with social media managers who maintain and grow a brand’s presence. By filtering low-quality or irrelevant content on the platform, social media moderators can help managers enhance user experience and boost engagement. 

Businesses can gain insights about customer feedback and demand, through social media moderation services.  This collaboration can help them conceptualize better marketing strategies and campaigns.

Tools and Techniques for Social Media Management and Moderation

Social media management and moderation tools are readily available to ensure that your business’s social media performance is off the charts. Below is a compilation of different tools in the market:

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is an all-in-one solution for businesses of all sizes that allows you to easily optimize your moderation and other social media tasks. This tool will enable you to promptly hide and delete non-compliant comments and posts and handle all interactions on your platform.

Sprout Social 

Sprout Social’s moderation features and advanced analytics help large enterprises unlock their highest potential. It ensures quick responses to negative feedback, protecting your brand across all social media platforms. Due to its trend analysis feature, businesses can improve brand visibility and optimize ongoing campaign performance.

Buffer

With tools like Buffer, small businesses can streamline social media management tasks such as content planning, scheduling, and publishing to ensure timely posts. It features a unified dashboard for comprehensive analytics, allowing fast responses to followers.

WebPurify

Using WebPurify, you can filter harmful language, photos, and videos to ensure safe user experiences on social media platforms. Through their AI-based moderation system combined with a human approach, businesses can guarantee accurate detection of undesirable content.

Case Studies and Success Stories

Big names in various industries have learned to leverage social media platforms and master the art of engagement. Learn about how these well-known brands stepped up their social media game.

Glossier

Glossier, a beauty brand, used Instagram to build a community-driven brand. From the beginning, Glossier focused on creating a solid connection with its audience by encouraging user-generated content (UGC) and engaging directly with followers. The brand regularly reposted customer photos and incorporated feedback into product development, fostering a sense of ownership among its community.

Wendy’s

Wendy’s, the fast-food chain, is known for its witty and bold social media presence, particularly on Twitter. The brand has leveraged social media to humanize its image, engage with followers in a fun and relatable way, and even spar with competitors. Wendy’s uses humor and timely responses to trends, making its social media accounts not just a promotional tool but also a source of entertainment.

Gymshark

Gymshark, a fitness apparel brand, has effectively utilized social media, mainly through influencer marketing, to grow from a small startup to a global brand. The company partnered with fitness influencers and athletes to promote its products, leveraging their large followings to reach a wider audience. Gymshark’s strategy of building relationships with influencers and engaging with the fitness community on platforms like Instagram and YouTube has been central to its success.

The Dual Power of Strategic Social Media and Smart Moderation

Leveraging social media platforms effectively is crucial for businesses looking to thrive in today's digital landscape. Companies can increase brand visibility, engage with customers, and generate new leads by understanding the unique strengths of apps like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. 

However, success on social media also requires implementing robust moderation practices to protect your brand and ensure positive user experiences. Through Chekkee, your business stays competitive and maintains a positive brand reputation. Our social media moderation services can help you navigate the challenges of social media while capitalizing on its vast opportunities for growth and success.

Contact us today to begin your journey!