Negative Posts: Why Your Credit Union Needs a Social Media Strategy

Does your credit union have a plan in place if it gets a negative comment or post on one of its social media platforms? If you don’t have this best practices plan in place, you’re not alone. Last month research from Social Media Marketing University has shown that 48% of marketing professionals in the U.S. don’t have an effective plan for negative remarks online. 23% of the respondents aren’t even working on a plan, while 25% don’t have one but are in the process of developing one.

The company’s research also discovered that 21% of marketing professionals rarely or never even respond to a customer complaint on social media. Fortunately, 52% of those surveyed said they respond within 24 hours, and 18% said the reply to negative remarks within an hour.

While it may not always be feasible to respond within the first hour, you should have a social media plan in place that requires you to respond within 24 hours if possible. Credit unions are well known for their exceptional member service – this should also be the mantra for your social media interactions with current and potential members. Make sure someone is monitoring your social media channels every day and that you have a chain of command in place in case you do get that random negative post. All of your followers will be judging your credit union on how it handles these critical comments, not just the disgruntled member who posted it.

Creating a Social Media Strategy

Putting a plan together for how to handle negative comments or posts is just one of many factors to consider with a social media strategy. Chances are, if you don’t have a plan for remarks like these you probably don’t have an overall strategy in place either. Developing and implementing a social media strategy might seem a bit extreme for some credit unions, but it is a surefire way to ensure everyone is on the same page and emphasize that your credit union is taking its social media endeavors seriously.

To put a good strategy together you need to start with a social media audit. It’s a good way to take a pulse of not only what your credit union is doing, but what your chief competitors are up to online as well. Determine what platforms your credit union should have a presence on, who at your credit union is responsible for generating and approving content and what your current and future goals are. 

Once you perform an audit and answer all of those questions, put it all together in a formal document and you’ve got a social media strategy! If all of this seems daunting or you simply don’t have the time or resources to conduct an audit or put together a strategy – contact us at CU Solutions Group. We’ve helped many credit unions put together solid and achievable social media plans – including how to handle a negative post – and we’d be happy to help your credit union as well.