NB: This is a guest article by William Bakker, chief strategist at Think Social Media.
I don’t know any tourism business with more polarized TripAdvisor reviews than Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Austria.
This theme park from the crystal maker Swarovski stirs a wide range of emotions.
"Philalady" from Philadelphia wrote:
"Loved, loved, loved this!"
...while "mad_aboout_travel" from Illinois called it differently:
"Complete waste of time".
Crystal Worlds is clearly a LOVE IT or HATE IT experience. This is not uncommon. Every tourism experience will have people who love it, people who hate it and a whole group in the middle who shrug their shoulders and say, "MEH".
The lovers and haters are usually the people who are most vocal in social media. When was the last time you shared a mediocre experience on Facebook? Have you ever?
And when was the last time you raved (bragged) about a great restaurant you visited? Probably not that long ago. In social media, the people who love or hate you can have a profound impact on your business.
They influence other people who would love you and the MEH people in the middle of the chart with their online and offline chatter.
In conversations with many hotel operators this past year, I’ve learned that a single point drop in a property’s TripAdvisor ranking has an immediate and measurable impact on the bottom line.
Michael Luca at Harvard Business School conducted research in Yelp restaurant reviews and concluded a one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-percent to 9-percent increase in revenue.
Maybe social media is measurable after all.
But old school marketing doesn’t work anymore. Consider a business-oriented city hotel that dumps excess inventory at heavily discounted rates.
In the short term, the hotel will pick up some business from people who typically cannot afford it. By doing this, the hotel risks having guests who will HATE IT – especially when they face additional fees for parking, WIFI and an expensive breakfast that could easily spark to anger.
That anger can lead to complaints on TripAdvisor that result in an immediate drop in revenue.
Tourism businesses need to market to the people who love them and avoid attracting people who won’t. It’s better for your guests and it’s better for you.
Delivering remarkable experiences is more important than ever. This is what make people love you and what gets people talking in social media. What is it about your experience that will make somebody want to brag to his or her friends?
I’ve spoken to hotel operators who research their guest lists and give preferred treatment to heavy social media users. Others randomly select somebody for something unexpected and special, hoping to trigger a positive review.
By shifting more people from MEH to LOVE IT and avoiding people who HATE IT, you create loyalty and consumer advocates who will do the marketing for you.
NB: This is a guest article by William Bakker, chief strategist at Think Social Media.
NB2: Image via Shutterstock.