Brands Need Social Media and Social Media Needs Them Right Back

Lost among the recent chatter that tens of millions of people are flocking from one social media site to an upstart competitor is this fact, covered in a thoughtful piece by the BBC — brands are actually just leaving social media, period.

The reasons given center primarily on the brand’s reputation management, as it relates to controlling the conversation, mitigating toxicity, and dealing with the takeover by spam and bots.

This is discouraging, because social media marketing is one of the most effective ways for consumers to engage with brands — indeed, companies spent $66 billion on social media advertising in 2022 across the social media spectrum and 90% of users follow at least one brand on social media. Secondly, social media needs brands and brands need social media to create buzz and engagement with users — in fact, 50% of millennials trust social media influencers’ product recommendations. Finally, consumers spend an extraordinary amount of their social media time engaging with their favorite brands and discovering new ones through their social networks. It’s clear that brands can’t simply bow out of social media. So, what can they do instead? 

Brands need to understand that it is entirely acceptable, and actually laudable,  to take control of their social media sites with solutions like Respondology to remove toxic, brand damaging comments, spam and bots. 

Let’s break it down with a couple of scenarios:

First off — if you are the owner of a large retail store selling consumer electronics and an individual charges into the store spewing a racist tirade, would you let that person stay onsite, threatening the safety of your customers, hurting sales and damaging your brand’s reputation? No — that person would be removed from the store, and your customers would be grateful for your commitment to a safe environment.

Secondly — imagine you own a boutique selling one-of-a-kind specialty and couture items. Would you allow a pop-up bodega to take over your entryway and hawk counterfeit knock-offs, distracting and sullying your customers’ experience? No? Then why let spam and bots do that in your social media comments? Further, would you let that bodega pop-up sell porn, too? Didn’t think so. Just because these events happen prolifically and seemingly anonymously online doesn’t mean they can’t be addressed the way you would in the physical world — by stopping the activity at the source, as soon as it happens.

Using technology to moderate social media comments is the only way brands can protect their reputations online without fleeing the scene. Our solution is fully customizable — you decide what is and is not allowed in your social media conversation. And, we’re trailblazers of generative AI, knowing that traditional AI won’t cut it with the constant evolution of social media language and behavior. Our technology will remove everything that you don’t want on your social feeds in a matter of seconds, while also being supported by a human safety net that catches what technology can’t. This is all done discreetly, with the incendiary poster none the wiser.

Bowing out of the social media game is simply not a reasonable option for most brands. For many, that would be the equivalent of shutting down retail storefronts and turning away millions of customers. Don’t give up on the most powerful marketing tools for your brand — come talk to us and we will show you a better, safer, way to engage on social media.