how to use reviews to craft your story and drive bookings
TRANSCRIPT
Copyright © 2014 Leonardo Worldwide Corporation
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TripAdvisor Tell-All: How to Use Reviews to Craft Your Story and Drive Bookings May 28, 2015
Darlene Rondeau, VP, Best Practices, Online Merchandising, LeonardoBrian Payea, Head of Industry Relations, TripAdvisorAdele Gutman, VP Sales, Marketing & Revenue, Library Hotel Collection
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Darlene RondeauVice-President,
Best Practices, Online Merchandising
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@darlenerondeau
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What do you want to learn more about during today’s discussion?
Brian Payea Head of Industry RelationsTripAdvisor
@TripAdvisor4Biz
Adele GutmanVP Sales, Marketing and RevenueLibrary Hotel Collection
@AdeleGutman
► 80% of travellers say TripAdvisor reviews make them feel more confident
► 53% respondents of a recent study said they wouldn’t book a hotel without reading reviews
► Use reviews to craft your story and drive bookings
Introduction
Brian Payea Head of Industry RelationsTripAdvisor
@TripAdvisor4Biz
What Drives Traveler Engagement?
Where it all began in 2000
340
user contributions every minute
unique monthly visitors*
million
225+reviews and opinionsmillion
*Source: Google Analytics, average monthly unique users, Q1 2015; does not include traffic to daodao.com
78TripAdvisor membersmillion
139
What Drives Traveler Engagement?
The factors that drive the most traveler engagement on hotel or B&B pages
Methodology1For the purpose of this study, TripAdvisor analyzed data for a sample of accommodation properties from the 25 most reviewed cities* on the site from 7 July to 7 August, 2014. The study reveals how review ratings change based on management response rates and the level of traveler engagement (defined as page views per session and booking enquiry clicks) relative to various content factors such as the number of reviews, photos, videos and rate of review responses from management.
*Cities included in study sample are: London, Rome, Paris, New York City, Las Vegas, Barcelona, Orlando, Milan, Florence, Bangkok, San Francisco, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Prague, Edinburgh, Venice, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Singapore, Dublin, Marrakech, New Orleans.
Number of reviews in the past year
Total number of reviews
Management responses in the past year
Number of photos
(ranked by level of impact on traveler engagement1)
Photos are essential
• Adding photos on a TripAdvisor property page results in 138% more engagement from travelers
• Properties with at least one photo see a 225% increase in the likelihood of a booking inquiry
• Those with 100+ pictures see an increase of 151% in the level of engagement compared to businesses with no pictures
TripAdvisor Property Engagement Study, TripAdvisor site data, July 2014
TripAdvisor’s acquisition of
• Professional, honest photos of hotels
• Oyster photographers visit hotels and take pictures at no cost
• Photos published on both Oyster.com and TripAdvisor
Oyster Integration on TripAdvisor
The power of reviews
Reviews matter
of global travelers say reviews are influential when choosing where to book89%
of global hoteliers say reviews are influential in generating bookings96%
Source: TripBarometer by TripAdvisor, April 2014 * Data was collected February – March 2014, based on an online survey of 10,370 representatives from accommodations in the TripAdvisor database, weighted equally by country, and 50,637 TripAdvisor website users and Ipsos online panelists who have researched their travel plans online in the last year, weighted to the known profile of the online population. Further details can be found in the TripBarometer global report.
If a property can increase its review score by one point (on a five-point
scale) on OTA channels, it could increase its prices by about 11.2% and still
maintain the same occupancy rates.
Source: “The Impact of Social Media on Lodging Performance.” Chris K. Anderson, The Center for Hospitality Research. Cornell University. December 2012.
Guests are visiting TripAdvisor more frequently prior to booking
Properties with stronger reputations across all channels perform better overall
Higher review scores on OTA sites allow hotels to charge more while maintaining occupancy rates
Key Findings
Research Confirms: Reviews impact your bottom line
Reviews encourage travelers to spend more
• If prices are the same, users are 3.9 times more likely to choose a hotel with higher review scores
• When hotel prices are increased for those hotels with higher review scores, people are still likely to book
• 76% of customers were willing to pay more for a hotel with higher review scores
Source: “The Effect of Reviews on Hotel Conversion Rates and Pricing,” TrustYou, September 2014
Source: PhoCusWright’s “Custom Survey Research Engagement,” prepared for TripAdvisor. December 2013
Management Responses influence traveler decisions
of respondents say an appropriate management response to a bad review improves my impression
of the hotel.
87% of respondents say seeing
a hotel management response to reviews makes
me believe that it cares more about its guests.
77%
Strong correlation between average review rating and rate of management responses
Management Response Rate Ave Review Rating
(out of 5 bubbles)
0% 3.81
5%-40%
40%-65%
65+%
4.04
4.05
4.15
Management Responses drive booking inquiries
Hotels providing a management response to reviews are 21 percent more likely to receive a booking inquiry via TripAdvisor than those who don’t respond to any reviews.
And properties that respond to over 50 percent of their reviews increase their likelihood of receiving a booking inquiry by 24 percent.
(Compared to properties that do not respond to reviews)
Management Responses: Best Practices
1. Sign up for review notification emails
2. Read our guidelines3. Respond promptly4. Say “thank you” 5. Be original in reply6. Highlight positives7. Address specific complaints8. Be polite and professional
Review ExpressEasier than ever to ask guests to write a review on TripAdvisor!
• Engage with guests after they have stayed to encourage valuable feedback for your business
• Use customizable templates to easily email recent guests
• Use campaign dashboard to monitor incoming reviews and optimize campaigns
• It’s FREE!
Photos, total # of reviews, management
responses and timeliness of reviews
Online UGC e.g. reviews are part of today’s
booking decision
If prices are equal, reviews close the deal
Key Takeaways
#LeoWebinar
Adele Gutman MilneVP Sales, Marketing and RevenueLibrary Hotel Collection
@AdeleGutman
► The Library Hotel Collection journey to TripAdvisor’s Top 10 ► How we got there► Why we’re staying there
The Climb to TripAdvisor’s Top 10
“ We decided this is going to be our primary focus — we're going to sparkle sunshine on all our guests, find out what pleases them, and look in our reviews for any problems and fix them.
Adele Gutman
VP Sales, Marketing and Revenue
Library Hotel Collection
Using Reviews to Find Your Story “Each evening is a free wine and
cheese night, the perfect way to
start an evening”
“Real live plants in my
room”
“It was the small little things that
helped make the hotel enjoyable”
“Billy on the main desk and his staff were great and
helpful with directions and
making recommendations”
“The evening wine and cheese
is not to be missed”
“I was particularly taken by the weather predictions note on my bedside
table”
Use Reviews for Insights, Training and Continuous Improvement
► Make sure your service matches the reviews you want to hear
► Attract the ideal match for your hotel through authentic communications about your product
► Set expectations before they arrive► Communicate with visuals and
clear descriptions ► Engage online – Use a blog for
more detail► Engage on property- Correct
issues before they walk out the door
How to Secure Enthusiastic Reviews
“Reviews are Accurate”
Communicate with Visual Storytelling
Use Visual Storytelling to Target Your Ideal Guest
The Dreaded Negative Review (And What to Do About it)
► Social Media is powerful because it what others say about you is more persuasive than anything you say about yourself
► Whatever star level you are, you can always deliver an outstanding guest experience, so aim for greatness and expect nothing less from your team
► Great reviews are free but require a commitment in time, planning, training, and motivating that must be evident to every guest every time you engage with them
Reviews are a reflection of what people think of you (Merging Reputation Cultivation and Review Management )
Key Takeaways
#LeoWebinar
Proof is in the rankings
Transparency is directly tied to good reviews
Best form of advertising – it’s not “your”
opinion
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Connect with us!
Brian Payea
Adele Gutman
@TripAdvisor4Biz
www.tripadvisor.com
www.libraryhotelcollection.com
@AdeleGutman