The overall goal of online reputation management is to ensure that your reputation speaks highly of you. Having consumers that post nothing but glittery reviews is excellent. However, that’s not always the case.

Online reputation management for credit unions is especially essential, as the financial industry tends to suffer from poor reviews due to a variety of reasons.

Why Online Reviews Are Vital for Credit Unions

Credit unions and other banking institutions have a unique set of struggles when it comes to managing their online reputations—specifically because the general public has a hard time trusting them and their practices.

Some reasons that credit unions and banks tend to receive negative reviews is because of:

• Frequent fee increases, especially during times of financial hardships
• Poor customer relationship building practices
• Numerous scandals surrounding financial institutes

With so many consumers heading online to let their frustrations be heard, the best way to help increase your online reputation is to encourage positive reviews from clients that have had pleasant experiences with your institution.

How to Respond to Negative Reviews

While everyone wishes they could simply “remove” negative comments and reviews from the web, it can’t be done—at least not in ways that aren’t considered poor practice. That’s why knowing how to respond to negative reviews is so important.

Now, while it’s common knowledge that you shouldn’t simply fly off the handle when someone posts something negative about your brand, you must consider the source. That being said, the first step to replying to a negative review is to find out if they are a genuine customer with a legitimate complaint.

Let’s face it, in the world of competition, there are those out there that don’t mind playing dirty and posting negative reviews and comments simply to deter consumers from a given brand. If you find a complaint posted, consider these questions:

• Is this person a frequent complainer?
• Are they making clearly irrational remarks?
• What type of language is being used? Are they speaking clearly and making valid remarks?

If the answers to these questions lead you to believe that it’s not a genuine complaint or concern, don’t put too much time and effort into it. However, if you find that it seems logical and from a valid consumer, then you want to address it immediately. Once you’ve addressed it, don’t let the complaint slip your mind. Learning from past issues is the only way to prevent them from happening again in the future.

Tips to Getting Online Reviews for Credit Unions

While there are online reputation management agencies that can help in getting online reviews for credit unions, there are several practices that you can begin implementing to help jumpstart the process of increasing your online reputation.

While the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council has issued their own guidance list, the tips below are quick ways to get started.

Use Email Automation

Email automation is a great tool for credit unions to help them increase their interactions with their clients and can help generate new reviews with simple calls to action.

For example, if a client has been with your credit union for a year, sending out an automated, personalized email to them congratulating them on their anniversary can make them feel as if they are of value to your brand. You can then include a call to action that asks them to leave a review of their experience.

Promote Positive Reviews on Social Media

Social media is continuing to rise as far as a digital marketing channel goes, but it also serves as a great way to monitor your brand’s online reputation. In fact, 46% of digital marketers check social media in order to monitor their brand’s online reputation.

When users leave reviews on your brand’s social media pages, take advantage of their posts by sponsoring them so that more people across the platform can see what they have to say.  

Send out Personalized Direct Mail

Sure, while digital marketing channels such as social media and email marketing reign supreme, direct mail—otherwise known as snail mail—can still provide an excellent channel for reaching out to your clientele.

Credit unions can utilize this method by sending out reminder cards or statements with a call to action that asks customers to leave their review of the company or their experience with them on a given social media site or even on their website.

Wrapping Up

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”– Warren Buffett

Online reputation management for credit unions doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task. In fact, online reputation management agencies such as Rize Reviews can take the hard work out of the equation.

Schedule a demo of Rize Reviews now to monitor and improve your online reputation easily!