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What Is Trust & Safety ROI? Evaluating the Benefits of Trust & Safety for Your Business

In an ideal world, this article would be very short. The return on investment (ROI) of trust and safety (T&S) should simply be a safer internet for all. Safer for children, safer for vulnerable adults, safer for minority groups, safer for all. But the reality is we live in a fast-paced digital era powered by social media giants, e-commerce behemoths, and collaborative communities across the globe. Each rightly faces scrutiny regarding their safety and trustworthiness, but providing those foundations costs money—money that organizations need to justify spending.

For other areas of a company (like marketing or operations, return on investment needs to go beyond altruistic benefits and be measurable—that should be table stakes. Decision-makers must be able to understand and visualize the tangible benefits T&S creates for the organization as much as the world at large. In this article, we’ll delve into what T&S ROI entails, how it can be measured, and some strategies to improve it.

What Is Trust and Safety ROI?

Let’s set a bold premise: there is no single, universal metric for measuring T&S ROI, nor should there be. Magic formulas have certainly been created—and they might hold value in one organization but not in another. Applying one company’s metrics to all will almost certainly lead to misguided spending and poor results.

That said, let’s take a deeper dive into what T&S ROI really is. Suppose we define T&S as a set of practices and policies that digital platforms implement to create a safe and trustworthy environment for their users. In that case, we should consider it an activity that can affect nearly every corner of an organization in some form. T&S should thus be regarded as a red thread throughout an organization as opposed to a pure cost center. ROI metrics should be developed according to the sector the company evolves in and the departments it may affect. It needs layers—an overall set of goals and department-specific benefits.

Defining the Right Metrics

The metrics for measuring T&S ROI should vary based on the nature of the organization and the interaction environment it fosters. While there is no magical set of metrics, some have proved generally efficient over the years for most companies. Among them, traditional marketing metrics like user engagement, retention rates, and Net Promoter Scores (NPS) are to be found. For T&S advocates, the objective is to identify goals that benefit your organization and to tailor and measure them in practical ways, leading to actual decisions.

By using tailored metrics, platforms can capture the initial data necessary to set a baseline and then monitor changes over time. This should help adapt their ROI evaluation to reflect both direct and indirect benefits of T&S that are unique to their organization. For example, a news media platform could focus on the number of defamation cases prevented, while an e-commerce site could prioritize reduced fraud rates and improved customer trust.

What’s Next?

Measuring ROI is a great start. However, from a business perspective, a platform’s objective is to either maintain or improve it. Various strategic approaches can lead to the improvement of T&S ROI:

Investment in Advanced Technology

Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate parts of content moderation and fraud detection can result in more efficient and accurate processes. Advanced algorithms can flag harmful content at scale and respond in real time to security threats, reducing the load on human moderators and improving overall efficacy.

Proactive Community Engagement

Empowering users to contribute to safety measures, by making reporting features and community guidelines available for instance, fosters a sense of ownership and commitment. Users who feel heard and trust that their feedback leads to real change are more likely to remain loyal and advocate for the platform.

Iterative Policy Updates and Training

As the digital landscape evolves , policies must adapt to emerging types of content and threats. Regularly updating policies and ensuring that staff receive continuous training helps maintain robust T&S standards.

Cross-Department Collaboration

T&S is not an isolated area of the business and responsibility should not lie with a single department. Collaborating with other teams, such as legal, marketing, and customer support, leads to a unified approach, ensuring that safety protocols are seamlessly integrated into the user experience.

Transparent Communication

Platforms should prioritize transparency, and it starts with clear communication. This includes sharing reports on moderation activity, response times, and data security measures. When users understand they are being actively cared for, they tend to remain engaged, boosting the platform’s long-term ROI.

Investing in T&S is not just an operational necessity: it’s a strategic advantage.

While measuring its ROI can be complex due to its mix of direct and indirect benefits, doing so provides critical insights that can justify and optimize investments. By developing tailored initiatives considering the components of their environment (such as AI, regulations, users’ expectations, and more), platforms can improve their T&S initiatives. This, in turn, bolsters user confidence and drives sustainable growth.

Discover how our tailored Trust and Safety solutions can deliver ROI for your business.

Dom Sparkes

EMEA Director, Trust & Safety

David Elliot

Head of Tech, Trust & Safety

Contact Concentrix

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What Is Trust & Safety ROI? Evaluating the Benefits of Trust & Safety for Your Business