TripAdvisor is one of the most powerful hospitality marketing tools available today, unfortunately more time seems to be spent complaining about it than developing ways to use it to a hotels advantage.
Perhaps that's why last month's article – TripAdvisor makes an "offer you can't refuse" – generated the highest number of emails we have seen for some time. Most of the emails included questions about how to get the most out of TripAdvisor. Some even asked for "our secret!" Okay, I'll tell you.
The truth is, there really are no secrets to getting the most out of TripAdvisor.
There are however ways to use TripAdvisor to your advantage. And they are all based on approaching TripAdvisor with the same objective marketing thinking one would expect from a smart hospitality marketing professional.
Here are seven tips on how to get the most out of TripAdvisor to improve your product, customer satisfaction, revenue, number of reviews and ultimately your ranking relative to your competitive set.
Take the Customer's Perspective – A novel idea in some corners of hospitality – customer focused marketing! It doesn't matter what you think about TripAdvisor – your customers and prospects love it and now have access to over 30 million reviews. If you have a problem with TripAdvisor – get over it. The sooner you do the better off you will be.
Read the reviews as if you were a traveler and not a hotelier.
Listen To Your Customers & Take Action - Reviews are nothing more than online comment cards. You should read them and listen to what your guests have to say about the quality of your product, value for money and the delivery of your services.
If you are one of those hoteliers who don't like TripAdvisor, perhaps you don't like listening to what guests have to say. Or perhaps your "issues" with TripAdvisor prevent you from hearing the many valid comments that could help you improve your product and thus your ranking versus competitive hotels.
Develop a Plan & Measure – I have yet to see a smart marketer inside or out of hospitality who, when faced with a potential threat hasn't developed a plan to either minimize the threat or turn it into a competitive advantage.
Your plan needs clearly defined and measurable goals. Here is a sample:
- Be listed in the top five hotels for your destination before the end of 2010
- Double the number of five-star reviews in 2010
- Cut the number of 3-star (and below) ratings to less than five in 2010
- Sensitize staff to how their actions are portrayed on the web by the end of the first quarter
- Generate 50% more positive reviews than your nearest competitor every month for the next year
In addition to the desired result you must set specific deadlines. Tasks with specific deadlines or timelines get done while those without do not.
You need to measure progress to know how well you are doing. Are you tracking ahead or behind your goals? Do you need to adjust your strategy? Do you need more resources?
I love this quote because it rings so true. You need to measure and report for the best results.
What gets measured gets done, what gets measured and feed back gets done well, what gets rewarded gets repeated. – John E. JonesIdentify Strategies for Implementation - Goals will never be achieved without an effective implementation plan.
The first step is to make someone ultimately responsible and accountable for achieving the goals. It will be up to that individual to marshal the human and financial resources necessary to succeed.
Normally it shouldn't take much, but if a part-time or full-time person is needed then hire someone. Obama will love you! Better TripAdvisor reviews and the resulting revenue it should generate will more than pay for a dedicated individual. Putting the onus of generating and managing TripAdvisor reviews to an already overworked or frazzled salesperson is doomed to failure.
Be Proactive & Be Creative – If you want more (and more favorable) reviews of your hotel then actively ask each guest to write one. (It's okay if you forget to ask the fellow in 314 who you know had "issues.")
This is where you can get really creative. Many hoteliers ask guests to post reviews when talking to them on property. Guess what? Everyone says they will and very few ever do.
Ever thought about calling them, thanking then for staying with you, asking how their vacation was (actually engaging them) and then asking if they would post a review? How about making it easy for them and sending an email with a link to your page?Sure it takes time and time is money. But what are positive TripAdvisor reviews really worth to your bottom line? Smart hospitality marketing pros know the answer. And those who complain vehemently about TripAdvisor seem to understand how negative reviews impact occupancy and revenue.
Understand TripAdvisor – You really do need to know the ins and outs of TripAdvisor and make sure you don't violate any of their policies when implementing your plan. Violate these policies and your hotel could be penalized with significant downward movement in popularity. You also risk having a red badge added to your listing warning travelers to be suspicious of your reviews.
With Management Responses you should know when to respond and when to just butt out. TripAdvisor is a social media tool – a way for guests and potential guests to exchange ideas. Hotels shouldn't be seen as interfering with (or taking over) the conversation.
The Track Performance tab in the owners' center makes it easy to track both your performance and your competitions – the number of reviews is compared along with the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) – measuring the 7 top criteria that track to guest satisfaction.
Take Advantage of TripAdvisor Whenever Possible – A great example is the new Business Listings that allow you to include a link to your hotel's web site, your reservations 800# and email. This is new and I think it's a great marketing opportunity for hotels. Drive consumers directly to your hotel when they are in the buying mode. Why let the biggest travel web site out there send visitors to third party booking engines without giving up a fight?
Sign-up before February 28th and get 50% OFF their published rates. Time is short.
Just click Business Listings to take advantage of TripAdvisor.
There are many different ways to implement a TripAdvisor strategy. And there are no "secrets to success." If you approach TripAdvisor from a marketing perspective your chances of increasing your rating and ranking vis-à-vis your competitive set will definitely improve.
Set specific goals, marshal your resources, measure and report performance and adjust where necessary to succeed. It's basic hospitality marketing.
What do you think?
Madigan Pratt is Managing Director of Madigan Pratt & Associates, Inc., an innovative CRM company dedicated to acquiring and retaining profitable customers for luxury hotels. Prior to founding MP&A in New York two decades ago he held senior management positions overseeing marketing communications for several Fortune 500 companies.
www.HospitalityMarketingBlog.com 
