I Love Better Reviews by Nils Rooijmans #smmcur

1. Love Better Reviews Master you Online Reputation Nils Rooijmans Social Media Matters 2016 #smmcur Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

2. Agenda • Introduction • (Travel) Customer Journey • Google: user queries, search results & reviews • Tripadvisor • History and Stats • Rankings • Reviews! • Forums & Influencers • Risk(?) [Discussion] Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

3. Who is this guy? Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics • Master in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning • Search Technology fanatic • Ilse.nl (2000-2008) • Search Marketing Consultant • “Nils, How do i get on top ?!”

4. Who are you? • What do you want to learn about today? Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

5. Travel Customer Journey (Then) Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

6. Travel Customer Journey (Now) Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

7. Travel Journey Customers research on Internet and are more informed, selective and less loyal 80% of Web users plan their trip online Internet is the primary source of information to plan a trip for 72% guests A Web user visits an average of 5-8 sites in its online travel research before booking Critics and reviews of travellers are VERY important factor for 87% 0f travellers Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

8. Customer Journey Touchpoints • https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/customer-journey-to-online- purchase.html#!/the-us/travel/medium/organic-search Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

9. NR1 Go-To for information Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics 96% (!) of travelers start their travel plans with a search in Google

10. What do people search for? • Inspiration • Information • Reviews • How to book • Find out using Google’s Autocomplete, Ubersuggest and Adwords Keyword Planner tool Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

11. What do the search results look like? Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

12. EXCERCISE • What do people search for on Curacao? • Any surprises here? • What do people search for related to your business name? • Surprises? • What do the search results look like? Compare to competitor(s) • Notice anything remarkable? Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

13. BREAK Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

14. Reviews! • Why reviews matter • The NR1 in Reviews for Hospitality: Tripadvisor • Tripadvisor • History & Stats • Rankings • Review management • Forums, Q&A and Influencers • Critics [Discussion] Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

15. Why reviews matter Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

16. Why reviews matter Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

17. Value of Reviews Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics 53% would not even book a hotel without reading guest opinions.

18. NR1 Hospitality Review Platform Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

19. TripAdvisor introduces Instant Booking on mobile TripAdvisor Highlights 19 2001 2002 2004 2009 2010 2013 2014 Today First ever traveler review is posted on TripAdvisor Restaurants added to the site for the first time Popularity Index launched, ranking properties according to traveler feedback TripAdvisor forums are created A flights search feature is launched on the site TripAdvisor launches first iPhone app Hotel price comparison launches Vacation Rentals are added to the site Partners with Facebook TripAdvisor acquires and TripAdvisor reaches 340 million Unique monthly users

20. million 340 unique monthly visitors million 103 TripAdvisor members million 350 reviews and opinions 230+contributions every minute

21. Some 280m people now use the site to research travel. That is an audience the size of the US Population.

22. The Business Model Click-Based Advertising Revenue Display-Based Advertising Revenue Subscription-Based, Transaction and Other Revenue Click-Based 70% Display- Based 11% Subscription 19%

23. What you can use TripAdvisor for? • Monitor reviews of your business • Analyze the performance and reputation of competitors • Respond online to guest reviews • Increase your customer satisfaction level • Get Content Marketing Ideas • Get Customer Insights from reviews • Actively hunt for leads Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

24. TA Business Listing • By signing up for a Business Listing, TripAdvisor will add an email address, website (both clickable) and phone number. • Listings will also allow offers to be posted, give access to analytics and other benefits, such as better display of photos. • To see how much Business Listings would cost for your property, log in to your property’s TripAdvisor account and then go to www.tripadvisor.com/BusinessListings. (starting at ~ $600/year?) Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

25. TA Business Listing Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

30. Now, Let’s RANK! Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics Why does this matter? Because increase in rank = increase in visibility and engagement = increase in bookings and revenue.

31. EXCERCISE • How would you rank the listings? • Write down 3 criteria Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

32. How to get on top • Video with TA explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zaytwjxd1Y8 Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

33. How to get on top according to TA We designed the enhanced Popularity Ranking algorithm to value the quantity and consistency of reviews more significantly than we have in the past. Doing so helps stabilize the ranking for all businesses, reduces fast-riser behavior and creates a more accurate overall ranking for our travelers. Our goal was to design an enhanced algorithm where a property settles into a stable ranking more quickly and avoids the fast-riser behavior. The Popularity Ranking continues to be based on the quality, recency and quantity of reviews that a business receives from travelers. In summary: • More reviews are better than fewer reviews; • Good reviews are better than poor reviews; and • Recent reviews are better than older reviews. As TripAdvisor says, “There’s no secret. It’s about pure hospitality.” Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

34. Quantity of the Reviews Encourage engaged guests to leave a review, by • Asking directly • Leave cards in guest rooms / at cashier • Tablet at checkout / cashier • Giving your guests the code to your free Wi-Fi on a card, with a reminder to leave a review on TripAdvisor • Sending guests an email after their stay inviting them to write a review NOTE: Do NOT reward reviewers (against guidelines) Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

35. Quantity of the Reviews Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

36. Quality of Reviews • Quality score wins: To move up on the Popularity Index, improving customer experience does seem far more important than getting a greater volume of reviews. (Great news for smaller properties) • Set guest expectations before they arrive by making sure any information about your property, amenities and services is up to date and photos accurately reflect your business. Fulfill or exceed those expectations during their stay. Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

37. Recency of Reviews • Recent reviews carry more weight in your ranking, while older reviews have less impact over time; so make sure to keep encouraging guests to share their feedback online. Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

38. Consistency • The new algorithm does a better job of rewarding consistently good behavior: A property that has many consistently good reviews will rank higher than one that has many reviews, some of which are good and some of which are poor, all other things being equal. Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

39. Tips from the top 1. Provide truly remarkable service Often, it’s not the lavish gestures that travelers mention in reviews but the little details, unexpected surprises and special attention from staff 2. Be true to brand “We’re not fancy, but we know who we are,” “Imagine the stories you want your guests sharing after they leave … and get your staff to see their role in making them happen,” 3. Be “refreshingly honest” “Overstating benefits or omitting realities can bring you travelers who will be disappointed when they arrive and unlikely to give you the great reviews you are seeking.” “Refreshingly honest is one of our favorite compliments.” 4. Mobilize the whole team letting them know when they are mentioned by name Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

40. Tips from the Top 5. Offer great value What do travelers gripe about most in reviews—aside from service? Wi-Fi charges, surprise fees and gouging. Many are generous with extras too, like free Wi-Fi, breakfast, upgrades, beverages and snacks. When making these decisions, hotels must now factor in the costs and benefits to reputation. 6. Do it with passion every day “treat guests as though they are your family in your home.” Not exactly earth-shattering news for seasoned hoteliers, but it’s not always easy to connect the dots, especially for larger hotels. 7. Prevent escalation do what it takes to ensure guests don’t leave dissatisfied Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

41. The Lesson Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

42. TA Review Guidelines Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics • Family-Friendly • Written by Actual Traveller (no second hand/hearsay) • NO reviews written by representative of the property • No reviews written by vendors employed by the property • Individuals affiliated with a propety may not review competitors. • Unique and Independent • Relevant to Travelers • Unbiased

43. TA Review Guidelines • Helpful, First-Hand • Recent • Original • Non-commercial • Respectful of Private Information • Listed by TripAdvisor (appropriate property) • Age Requirement (18+) • Easy to Read • No ratings or comments about aspects of a business you • did not experience. Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

44. TA Review Screening YES, TA does screens reviews “We have three primary methods to manage the legitimacy of reviews: 1. Systems. Reviews are systematically screened by our proprietary site tools that are frequently upgraded. 2. Community. Our large and passionate community of more than 50 million monthly visitors help report suspicious content. 3. Quality Assurance Teams. An international team of quality assurance specialists investigate suspicious reviews that are flagged by our proprietary tools or community.” Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

45. Responding to Reviews Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

46. How to respond to TA Positive reviews • Look for positives in all reviews • Thank the guest by name • Avoid the same standard reply for all reviews • Appreciate the positive comments of the reviewer in the • review and thank him personally for the same • Appreciate the staff members mentioned in the reviews • and send a mail to the entire staff with the review link so • that everyone in staff is motivated in getting more • reviews. This Will motivate your staff by giving them a • sense of pride in their work and pride in service Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

47. How to respond to TA Positive reviews Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

48. EXCERCISE • Search for 3 amazingly positive reviews for your partners property • Share reviews with your partner • Write one response to a review that you can later post yourself Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

49. TA Negative reviews • If you know about a guest problem try to resolve the situation proactively before it results in a negative review. • 84% of users agree that an appropriate management response to a bad review "improves my impression of the hotel." • 64% of users agree that an aggressive/defensive management response to a bad review "makes me less likely to book that hotel. • Analyse the negative comments and see what can be done to ensure that those comments may not come in future Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

50. What to do in case of a bad review? • May or may not be genuine (TripAdvisor does not verify the reviews and the review ) • Check for a fake review see the profile of reviewer • Check the review against TripAdvisor Guidelines • If the review violated guidelines, report it to TripAdvisor Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

51. Recognizing Fake Reviews • No Community reputation for the reviewer • Focus on Why they went rather than what they experienced • Lot of One Review Posters for a property • Overly hyped reviews • Hotel Jargon • Sudden Burst of Reviews • Beware reviews from different people that seem eerily close in tone or style. Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

52. How to respond to TA Negative reviews • A bad review on TripAdvisor hurts your reputation, but stay calm. • When you respond to the bad review you need to have two objectives • Minimise the damage to your reputation by making other prospective guests think more highly of you. • Win back the reviewer and other potential guests reading the review as you are responding to win back every person who will ever read the review. Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

53. How to respond to TA Negative reviews • Respond as fast as possible • Remain courteous and professional • Thank the reviewer for providing feedback • Apologize for the guest's poor experience • Explain what is being done to rectify the issue • Stick to the facts - don’t get personal • Don't take it personally and attack the reviewer Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

54. How to respond to TA Negative reviews Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

57. Response Template Greetings <Guest Name> Thank you very much for taking the time to review our property. Your input, and the feedback from all of our guests is vitally important to us and we always want guest expectations to be met upon arrival. As Per your comments, we have updated our website to ensure that future travelers know that while remarkable hospitality, service and cleanliness are our top priorities some of our bathrooms are indeed small. We sincerely apologize if you did not know this in advance. We hope to see you again in the future and you can reach me directly at [phone/email] if I can be of any assistance. Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

58. EXCERCISE • Search for 3 negative reviews for your partners property • Share reviews with your partner • Wrtie your own response template • Write one response to a negative review that you can later post yourself Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

59. BREAK Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

60. TA Forums What you can do (without business listing): • Participate in Forums • Answer Questions • Create Helpful Posts • Build Relationship with Influencers • Submit Helpful Travel Articles Get in front of your audience! Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

61. Google Trick • Search for high traffic keywords and see the Google Results • Participate in these topics in forums • Examples: • “things to do in curacao for honeymoon” • “where to stay in curacao” Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

62. TripAdvisor Forum Guidelines • Family-friendly • Travel-related • Non-threatening • Free of solicitations • Free of HTML, JavaScript and images • Authentic and original • Post carefully and respectfully Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

63. TripAdvisor Forum Best Practices • Don't get addicted - Limit your participation Time • No Flame Wars • Protect your brand and reputation • Treat People with respect • No copy pasting from other online sources • Build Trust • Be Transparent & Honest • Don't Sell But Educate • Be Consistent & Think Long Term Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

64. Use TA Forums for content marketing • screen questions • aggregate related questions and anwers • write article • publish on your blog • promote article in the forums (careful, no link, respect guidelines) Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

65. TA Pro Tip : Q&A’s • Answers Questions on TA, • Example: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147278-d262487- Reviews-The_Royal_Sea_Aquarium_Resort-Willemstad_Curacao.html Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

66. EXCERCISE • Visit the curacao forum and look at the questions • Select 3 questions you will respond to from potential guests. Write down the answers and review the answers • Post the answers and look forward to the response from other community members and the guests who asked questions and respond to their responses Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

67. Enjoy the Journey! Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics

68. How to monitor online feedback? 1. www.google.com/alerts 2. Enter terms (more than 2 words, ie: “restaurant gouverneur”) 3. Confirm your email 4. Will be delivered to your email Nils Rooijmans - Water Cooler Topics