So, you've earned your business a 5-star review on your tour or accommodation product, well done! The internet can be a risky place for businesses. While it serves as a great, open platform for marketing your product, it can double as an open forum for negative feedback from unhappy consumers, it’s the reality of our times.
But the good news is that those businesses who’ve consistently delivered a quality experience should have no trouble earning and maintaining a great online review score. Review forums can be seen as a fair go for fair players, but what next? You’ve put the hard yards in for that rating, here’s how to promote it.
Cover ALL review sites
Make sure you’re across all platforms. So, you have a 5-star score on TripAdvisor? How do you stack up against your competitors on Product Review? Have consumers reviewed you on Facebook? What about Google? It’s super important that, when asking for reviews, you’re distributing equally across all channels.
Plaster it across your website
Let it be known that consumers were glad they booked your product. According to Nielsen, 68% of survey respondents trust online opinions from other consumers, placing online reviews 3rd in the global ranking for “most trusted source of product information”. But often a customer will land on your website before having the chance to look at reviews. Save them the time and put it in your site footer. Or state it in the “Title” of your website, this is the little message that appears next to your company name in the browser tab.
In fact, plaster it across all of your marketing material
Company email signatures, EDM’s, even internal documents - have your employee’s and partners take pride in knowing they are working with a reputable business. Be careful with print collateral and hard materials though. Unfortunately, even the best businesses accumulate the odd negative review, and this will affect your overall score, it’s important that your collateral reflects what’s visible online.
Get active on the Q&A
Customer engagement doesn’t stop at social media. Stay transparent and address negative reviews, make sure that all necessary steps are taken to investigate what prompted the consumer to leave a negative review, and respond to the review publicly in a manner that is productive and solution-focused. Avoid argumentative language or accusatory remarks, and constantly refer back to the main goal in addressing the negative review, which should always be, to constantly improve.
Respond to your positive reviews as well. Thank reviewers for their feedback, particularly those mentioning a specific staff member. Have the public know that your business takes pride in its great employees, it’s a very favorable trait.
Get a little bit statistical
Do you know what a Net Promotor Score (NPS) is? It’s the number one strategy businesses are using in 2019 to leverage their customer feedback for businesses development, and it’s effective.
Whatever you’ve done to get consumers leaving reviews has worked, so why not use the same tactic to ask them, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?”.
By consistently asking this question, you will determine whether your consumers are “promotors or detractors” use the NPS calculation metrics online and begin your analysis.
Don’t stop now, keep generating fresh reviews
You never can have too many reviews. The most recent reviews are the most credible, so make it a goal in your follow up process and stay consistent.