Before I share my thoughts with you on Tripadvisor’s latest offerings, let me preface with what most of you already know.
I love Tripadvisor.
It’s my favorite travel website as a traveler, and I could never imagine planning a trip without it. The wisdom of the masses has never let me down.
As a hotelier, I love how it gives me the power to earn an incredible billboard effect when we outshine the competition in 5-Star reviews.
Business listings and Business Advantage has always worked for me, but I know other hotels that said they did not have the same experience, so you will not know how it will work until you try it for yourself.
Spotlight
Spotlight is a business intelligence tool that is offered in partnership with OTA Insight. OTA insight has a terrific product, which has really evolved if you haven’t seen it lately.
If you don’t have OTA Insight already, I would definitely take advantage of the Free 1-Month Trial of Spotlight.
If you already have OTA Insight, would you please check out the from Tripadvisor anyway and let me know? I ask because I would be very interested to hear any feedback on how meaningful the addition of Tripadvisor data is to helping your hotel make data-driven decisions.
With 463 million monthly unique users on average, Tripadvisor is huge, and the data they have on upcoming hotel demand, flights, and alternative accommodations could give you the edge you need.
I wonder if 30-days is truly enough time to get a feel for whether you will actually use the data enough to make it worth the monthly fee. I think this may have more value to larger hotels. I also suspect the price may be a bit high for boutique hotels unless you find a shopping tool important.
Rate Spotlight is a rate shopping tool paired with Market Spotlight, and it can help spotlight any OTAs offering prices that they shouldn’t be, not to mention any entry errors on your own prices. Even when I paid for rate shopping tools, my team tended only rate shop dates that were not picking up (ah, the good old days) and to use the metasearch on Tripadvisor, or the tool offered on Expedia when they needed to see if there was a reason a particular period wasn’t picking up. Every tool will be more or less rewarding to individual hotels based on their unique circumstances, so check it out and let me know your thoughts!
Reputation Pro
Reputation Pro is the new reputation tool from Tripadvisor. I was beyond excited to hear about Tripadvisor’s plan to offer a Reputation Optimization tool because I believe that they are uniquely positioned to offer the best one on the market for less, due to their size, or at least at a competitive price.
At this time, I can say, having already worked with Review Pro and Revinate, if you have one of these tools, rest assured that you already have something that is far more robust than what Tripadvisor is launching with.
While Tripadvisor will only begin with the ability to respond to Facebook, Google, and its own reviews, ReviewPro and Revinate offer numerous additional platforms. While they all offer semantic analysis, the more mature platforms also offer ticket assignments and communication tools to internally discuss complaints before collaborating on a well-planned review.
If you don’t have ReviewPro or Revinate, why not try Tripadvisor's free tool for a month? See for yourself if their “premium” review collection tool makes a difference in the number of positive reviews you receive.
But remember, what really makes a difference in the number of 5-Star reviews you receive is inspiring, empowering, and supporting your team with everything they need to deliver an outstanding experience. 80% of travelers give 4-5 bubble reviews, and only 3% are 1-star reviews. Give your guests a level of hospitality that gives them something to talk about. It is clear that great experiences drive reviews and 5-Star reviews drive revenue.
For a free Hotel Reputation Assessment and 45-minute initial consultation, click here or visit AspireReputationMarketing.com.
Consumer trust has never been so important as it is now for hotels, especially with all the new concerns surrounding viral safety and large-scale industry disruptions. No matter what you did before COVID-19 and what your current reputation is, today is always the perfect time to begin to build your future reputation, one guest at a time. Adele Gutman Milne has been honored as one of the Top 25 Outstanding Minds in Hospitality Sales & Marketing for her many award-winning achievements in reputation marketing. Adele was the VP of Sales, Marketing and Revenue at Library Hotel Collection for two decades before opening her own consultancy for 5-Star success. She is now the founder of Aspire Reputation Marketing, LLC, devoted to helping hoteliers achieve their personal best reputation goals.