Managing online Reviews on Tripadvisor
Managing online Reviews on TripAdvisor1.Three aspects are important for online reviews: Location of reviews, Quantity and Quality. So the hotels need authentic reviews which can be achieved by getting guest to write the reviews. No incentives should be provided for exchange of reviews. All the reviews should be addressed and responded to by the hotels so that customers feel that importance is given to them. Use Social Media to enhance positive word of Mouth. Volume and Quality of Reviews: Quality can be increased by responding to each and every customer review that has been provided. This is evident in the case of Homewood Suites. As more customers get responses for their reviews, the popularity index in TripAdvisor would increase. TripAdvisor has provided door hangers and certificates which reminds guests to write the review, thus increasing the quality and quantity. Staff at the front desk must be trained to remind customers to enter their reviews at the time of check-out.
2.Review sites to be focussed:Based on Monthly unique visitors (in 000s) (EXHIBIT-2), it can be concluded that TripAdvisor, Yahoo Travel and Expedia are the prominently used websites by most customers. Hence hotels should streamline their marketing efforts onto these websites. 3.Advertising Budget or Marketing Budget:Word of mouth is marketing induced as it is a result of the experience gained by the customer during his stay. So, as opposed to Four Seasons and Homewood Suites the budget that has to be used is marketing budget. 4.Justification: Customer’s choice of booking a hotel room online depends on OTAs listing, number of reviews and average User Review Score. Analysis showed that a drop in the OTA’s listing reduced the odds of booking by 11%. An increase in the average User Score increased the odds of booking by 14%. From this we can see that online marketing is a huge factor in affecting customer decisions. Hence the trend has shifted from traditional advertising to word of mouth marketing. Thus for hotels to stay abreast with customer centricity, they have to efficiently manage their online reviews in terms of quality, quantity and location of reviews. Hence the decision is justified to grant a percentage of the marketing budget to managing online reviews.