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Digital intelligence – the importance of online reviews

Online review sites are a powerful tool for marketing your business to visitors. We look at trends in usage and how to turn reviews to your advantage.

Date : 28/05/2014

Online review sites are increasingly dominating the market when it comes to helping people choose where in the world to go on holiday, where to stay and what to do while they’re away.

But don’t let high profile horror stories of unfair criticisms or fake reviews put you off - the reality of online reviews is that they’re one of the most powerful tools in your armoury and can be a great way to demonstrate the quality of your customer service and the personality of your business.

The role of reviews during trip planning

Research by VisitScotland revealed that online travel review sites come second only to recommendations from close family and friends when people are choosing new destinations to visit and they are now top of the list of sources of information when planning a break. (UK Consumer Behaviour & Attitudes, 2013)

The 2014 Flash Eurobarometer, a yearly study of European tourism attitudes, backs up VisitScotland’s findings. In that study, 46 percent of respondents said websites were their most important source of information.

Checking reviews on the move

In April 2014, TripAdvisor announced that it had reached 100 million downloads for its free iPhone and Android app.

Significantly, the number of downloads more than doubled in the past year and is up 600% from 2011, demonstrating how being able to research, read reviews and book accommodation and activities while on the move is growing in popularity.

Posting reviews

As more people rely on online reviews to make decisions about where they want to go and what they want to do, they are also more inclined to leave their own reviews.

The VisitScotland Visitor Survey, Edinburgh City 2011, found that one in eight UK visitors to Edinburgh left reviews on TripAdvisor. One in four respondents to VisitScotland’s 2013 UK Consumer Behaviour and Attitudes study said they would leave reviews on travel sites while still on holiday.

It’s worth noting that different nationalities tend to use online review systems differently. According to the ETAG data, 25 percent of Australians leave reviews on TripAdvisor compared to the survey average of 10 percent. Dutch visitors are the least likely to leave a review, with only 5 percent doing so.

How to monitor reviews of your business

If people are getting information about your business from sites across the internet, it’s important to be aware of what’s being said. You can register with some of the leading review sites to be alerted whenever a new review is posted.

There are also a number of free and paid for tools available that monitor multiple review sites, blogs and social media networks and alert you if your business name is mentioned, so you don’t have to actively trawl the internet yourself.

Managing negative or fake reviews

The way you respond to negative feedback is just as important as the original comment. Research by TripAdvisor found that while 66 percent of travellers ignore extreme comments when reading reviews, 70 percent are less likely to book a hotel with aggressive, defensive responses to bad reviews.

The same research found that 57 percent said seeing hotel management responses makes them generally more likely to book versus a comparable hotel that didn’t respond.

If there’s been a case of mistaken identity or you think a review is fake, contact the site in question straight away. You may be able to get the review removed or officially amended. If not, you can at least correct the mistake in the comments.

Encourage and make use of online reviews

Don’t let concerns about negative feedback stop you from encouraging your customers to post online reviews. According to research by PhoCusWright for TripAdvisor, 53 percent of TripAdvisor users won’t commit to a booking until they read reviews and 53 percent won’t book hotels that have no reviews.

So prompt customers in your email correspondence and on printed material to leave reviews and look at free widgets offered by the leading review sites that allow you to embed their reviews into your own website.

Real Life Experiences

Calum MacNee, Director of Customer Experience, Rabbies Small Group Tours

“We always respond to complaints and have received many positive comments over the years about the way these were answered. It is definitely the case that many TripAdvisor users are not interested in our 5 star reviews – they look at the 1 and 2 star reviews to see what is the worst that can happen but also, crucially, how we respond to those complaints. By coming across as honest and fair in those responses we can generate a sense of trust in the company that then gives the customer the confidence to book with us.”

www.rabbies.com

Natalie Rowan, Marketing Executive, The Edinburgh Dungeon

“We check TripAdvisor daily and it’s a constant talking point among the team. Reviews are fed back to the whole team on a weekly basis and successes and opportunities for improvement highlighted. Guest feedback is fed directly into our annual programme of improvements, so TripAdvisor is such a useful tool for us.”

www.thedungeons.co.uk

Pauline Duncan, Owner, Northlands Bed and Breakfast, Pitlochry, Perthshire

“Reviews often enable a business to ‘come to life’ for potential guests, allowing them to get a ‘feel’ for the personality of the business. Thanking a customer for the review, regardless of what the review is, allows engagement not only with the reviewer but also the wider audience. It provides an opportunity to promote the business positively, often transforming negative feedback into a positive action.”

www.northlandsbandb.com

Freda Newton, Managing Director, Jacobite Experience, Loch Ness

“It is staff policy to respond to all reviews. Customer feedback is an extremely important factor for us, and we also receive a high level of tour bookings from customers who have come to us via looking at our reviews in TripAdvisor and at our customer comments on Facebook. A low scoring TripAdvisor report is an opportunity to learn and the high scoring ones are especially pleasing if they mention a staff member by name.”

www.jacobite.co.uk

Further reading

ETAG data was gathered from a wide range of sources. For more in-depth information on the data, download the ETAG Technology Market Intelligence for Tourism report.

Check out our Shine Online resource for other digital advice and information.