Nowadays , the online reputation of a hotel is one of the aspects of the business that must be taken care of the most . Why? Simple, online reputation is the prestige that a person or brand has on the Internet . As in the life of any human being, prestige is gained or lost in different ways. The opportunities that arise in the future depend on the quality of this reputation. Specifically for our case, depending on the quality of the hotel’s online reputation (i.e., online prestige), the commercial opportunities (partnerships, investments, sales, etc.) that arise will depend.
The hotel’s online reputation is made up of several elements, all very varied but complementary to each other . Some of them are the actions and comments that the hotel property and its users make on different online sales platforms and social networks. This is what is commonly called Word of Mouth or Word of Mouth . It is important to understand that all the conversation generated on the Internet through comments or ratings works as a marketing tool and performance indicator. These are essential to know the satisfaction of customers and increase the hotel’s income. Do not forget that correct management includes, among many other things, monitoring, managing and responding to online opinions.
How do reviews and comments work?
When a potential guest is going to make a reservation, they usually consult several opinions, reviews and experiences of other travelers. They will probably also visit more sales channels before making the reservation. This happens because our guests consider that the ratings and comments that other customers leave selflessly are more reliable and honest than those from other sources with information influenced by economic interests.
Online reviews and ratings from previous guests, along with hotel policies on pricing, cancellations, loyalty programs and quick responses, help future guests make safer and more informed decisions.
The role of online reviews
Online reviews directly affect the positioning of a property in the online market. Algorithms such as Google’s, for example, take into account the average rating of reviews when ranking a website among the top search results. Considering that more than 90% of users only stay on the first page of Google results, positioning yourself on the first page of the search engine is of great importance.
If the ratings are high and positive, they will allow the property to be ranked in the top 10 of the industry ranking, while obtaining greater visibility and greater sales opportunities.
Why not consider selling rooms and services at a higher price than the competitive set? Here, it is important to know that guests are more likely to pay more when there are more positive reviews. A positive review facilitates loyalty actions and, therefore, our profitability, since guests are much more willing to return to our accommodation.
To achieve high and positive reviews, it must be taken into account that each hotel employee must care for, respect and value the guest, creating opportunities before, during and after their stay. Hospitality is the key to success. It is important to hire qualified staff, passionate about service and committed to the guest experience. The entire team must be trained and involved in decision-making, quality policies and objectives. Above all, do not forget to train them on the best practices guide for resolving complaints. Likewise, it is important to motivate and reward staff and anyone who achieves objectives, celebrating their successes along with feedback .
How to take care of the hotel’s online reputation
Taking care of the hotel’s online reputation is of the utmost importance, as it directly influences the brand’s image and overall prestige . It must be taken into account that this reputation is a social construction that is not controllable, as it is created from different perceptions of guests before, during and after their stay. It is also created by the different ways in which viewers perceive the opinions they read.
To maintain your reputation and thus increase sales, you must:
1️⃣ Create alerts on search engines like Google , Bing or Yahoo and have monitoring tools. This way, the hotel will receive notifications every time it is mentioned. The entire process can also be automated to know what, who, when, how, where and in what sense the hotel is being talked about.
2️⃣ Update your profiles on major review sites and OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) such as TripAdvisor , Google My Business , Yelp, Booking.com , Hotels.com, Expedia , among others. Add descriptions, images, and contact information to keep the content accurate and up-to-date.
3️⃣ Optimize your online presence by keeping your social media active: publish posts with relevant information that educates, inspires, and excites guests. Add photos of your facilities, as well as offers and promotional packages. This will strengthen your ties with your guest community.
4️⃣ Respond to each comment in a personalized way , without deleting or ignoring the negative ones. You must respond in a polite and assertive manner, apologize if necessary and find a solution to the situation. It is good to show that a complaint is a gift to improve the service.
5️⃣ During the guest’s stay, there should be fluid communication and a close, sincere and empathetic treatment. In this way, when the guest checks out, they are invited to leave a positive review. In addition, it can be reported that when they receive the satisfaction survey, they can speak positively about the property on social networks and OTAs.
6️⃣ La experiencia del cliente puede ser elevada con ayudas tecnológicas como LobbyPMS: Manten procesos de reserva fluidos, información clara de tarifas, comunicación efectiva entre puntos de venta, etc. Esto el cliente lo percibe y seguro plasmará un buen comentario en la web.
Some more actions to take care of and grow the Hotel’s online reputation
Don’t forget to take the competition into account. Analyze what they do and how they do it, so you can compare it with what you do internally at your accommodation. To do this, you must identify the competition correctly, access social networks and sales channels. In this way, you will recognize what guests value less or more, find reasons for complaints, points for improvement and strengths.
Once this information has been collected, key findings can be identified. Then, benchmarking must be carried out with properties that adapt to the characteristics of the property at a local and international level. This will allow the development of improvement and growth strategies. All areas of the hotel must think about what they would like guests to mention about the property, in order to formulate internal strategies and meet objectives. Once at this point, a pilot must be implemented in a property (if there are several). Here, detailed actions such as goals, deadlines and necessary resources will be proposed. Do not forget to carry out a current diagnosis of the hotel through internal interviews, mystery guests , analysis of internal documentation and online reputation management platforms for a correct comparison in the future.
What to do if the hotel’s online reputation is damaged?
In case a hotel’s online reputation is severely damaged, there are cleaning agencies that help by reviewing information on the Internet to find negative content. They implement strategies with different formats such as blogs, articles, news, videos, etc. to counteract and replace such criticism with positive information and comments. These companies are in charge of monitoring and following up on the brand to avoid possible attacks and problems in the future.
If a hotel responds to at least 50% of online interactions, it will have a greater chance of increasing occupancy by 6.4% and increasing loyalty by 1.4%, according to Medallia. Expedia, for its part, mentions that if a property has higher scores on OTAs, it will generate twice as many conversions as the others.
Taking care of your online reputation is taking care of your property, as it is the image you present to future customers before they actually visit your premises. Guests and employees must be considered as allies for successful sales. If the hotel responds to at least 50% of online interactions, it will have a greater chance of increasing its occupancy by 6.4%. In addition, it will help increase loyalty by 1.4%, according to Medallia. Expedia, for its part, mentions that if a property has higher scores on OTAs, it will generate twice as many conversions as the others.
Finally, it is important to keep in mind that investing in guest experience programs, implementing Social Media policies and having a CRM will help the hotel’s online reputation.
