With a world of opinions and information right at their fingertips, it’s now a given that your guests will check out a fair number of reviews before making a booking.
So how can you make sure that you’re using these reviews to your best advantage?
Of course, your first priority should be providing the kind of excellent customer service travellers naturally want to take to the internet to rave about, but beyond that, reviews are also a great way to learn more about your guests, generate new content and market your property more effectively.
1. Pay Close Attention
Unless they’re complaining, guests tend to use online reviews to draw attention to the aspects of holidaying at your hotel that they loved the most. It could be your cocktails, your pool, your city centre location, or even the friendly personality, stories and local knowledge of your bartender. Whatever it is that your guests like to praise the most, make a point of weaving these things into your hotel’s online ‘story’ whenever you can - on your website, through your visual content and on your social media pages.
Showcasing the features you already know your guests love is a great way to come up with fresh content when you’re struggling to come up with new ideas, and will also help create authenticity around your brand for new guests researching their breaks online.
Of course, reviews are also one of the best ways to pinpoint areas of improvement your property needs to work on to boost guest satisfaction rates. Perhaps there’s a negative comment you notice coming up on a fairly regular basis? Whether it’s a lack of vegetarian options in your restaurant or complaints about your breakfast serving time, adapting to address this constructive criticism where you can will help you grow and improve as a business. If you do make a change as a result of your guest feedback, remember to create a piece of content to let everyone know about it. For example, “You asked, we made it happen - delicious new vegetarian menu launching today” with a colourful picture of one of your new dishes.
2. Make a Feature of Your Best Reviews
Another great way to mine your library of online reviews for fresh content is to feature the reviews themselves on your website. On an occasional basis, you can draw attention to particularly glowing reviews as part of a “What our guests are saying…” blog post. These kinds of posts may be particularly useful if you have recently launched a new service or facility and your guests are talking about it positively.
Considering the majority of travellers are going to read through multiple reviews before making a booking, why not offer them access to other guests’ opinions directly on your website via a feed of your hotel’s TripAdvisor reviews? True, this could mean the occasional negative review shows up too, but today’s travellers value transparency when it comes to booking their breaks online.
3. Respond to All Reviews – Good and Bad
Don’t forget that reviews offer a valuable opportunity for you to showcase your commitment to customer service to the world – it’s all in the way you respond to what your guests are saying about you.
Taking a few moments to thank guests that leave complimentary words and reassure less happy travellers that their comments have been acknowledged will reflect well on your brand and inspire positive word of mouth and repeat business.
How does your hotel handle online reviews? Let us know in the comments below!
RELATED PAGES AND BLOG POSTS:
- How To Protect Your Reputation Online
- 3 Simple Ways to Generate More Guest Reviews
- New Research Into Travel Reviews: Spotting Fakes and Making Decisions Online
