Slides from a Tnooz-TripAdvisor hosted webinar in August 2011. The session focussed on ideas on delivering an outstanding guest experience, optimising a hotel's web presence with reviews and user generated content, and how hoteliers can turn traveler reviews into opportunities.

1. Reputation Management and Beyond Getting the Most from Traveler Reviews 17 August 2011

2. Kevin May,Editor

3. Poll no. 1

4. HKHotels Adele Gutman VP of Sales, Marketing & Revenue

5. HKHotels

6. HKHotels Rankings On August 14th!

7. The Power of Social Media 70,000-100,000 travelers see each hotels profile every 30 days. That’s all we need to fill our hotels. About half our revenue comes from our own website. We have so much demand generated by our reputation and the social media we don’t need to pay other companies to generate revenue for us: We are not dependant on paid advertising We are not dependant on OTAs We are not dependant on wholesale contracts We don’t need to make sales trips or attend tradeshows We definitely don’t need flash sales

8. Reputation Creation Imagine the reviews you want and become the hotel that inspires those reviews! Share that vision with every employee. Get ready to work. Shortcuts? Forgettaboutit! Hire people wired for people pleasing. Lead. Train. Empower. Be Amazed!

9. Step 1. Hire Happy People

10. Step 2. Smile at Guests!

11. Step 3. Create Your Reputation!

12. Our Core Beliefs Service is Marketing! Anything that touches the Guest Experience is Marketing. Invest in Guest Experience. A good stay is not enough. – Wow them! Wow them all! Issues should be handled before they walk out the door.

13. How We Listen Ask for the review. Don’t be defensive. What can we learn? How can we share our perspective? This isn’t just PR. Be Authentic. Do what you say.

14. Poll no. 2

15. Optimizing your hotels’ web presence with reviews and user-generated content By Josiah Mackenzie August 2011

16. Show Me The Money! How Online Reviews and UGC Make Sales 16 Online guest reviews and user generated content can help hotels generate sales two ways: Indirectly: by increasing rankings in search engines, bringing more traffic to your website Directly: by improving sales conversion rates by increasing consumer confidence

17. Reviews and UGC for Search Engine Optimization 17 For a long time, the key benefits of reviews and UGC was that they provided fresh content. Now, major search engines take reviews into account for their ranking algorithms. Why are search rankings important? “The average travel purchase online involves over 50 unique search queries and 2.5 hours of research time” [Google at EyeforTravel conference, May 2011] Each of these searches is an opportunity to introduce your brand….if people see you. The top result on a search page gets clicked 42% of the time The top 3 results get 79% of the total clicks The top 5 results get 88% of clicks Only 3% of searchers go beyond the first page of results pages Placement in search results plays a huge role in how much website traffic your hotels receive!

18. Reviews for Increasing Direct Sales 18 Many people who leave your hotel websites do so to read online reviews elsewhere. Publishing reviews directly on your hotel websites can cut down on this loss of traffic, and encourage more direct bookings. Increasing consumer confidence is another key factor in encouraging more direct sales, and placing reviews on your websites can increase this confidence. These issues are particularly important for small and independent hotels that may not have the recognition of a large chain brand. Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews World Travel Market

19. How HKHotels Displays Social Proof 19 Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

20. More Review Publishing Examples 20 Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

21. Example: Pueblo Bonito Resorts 21 Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

22. Example: Fierro Hotel 22 Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

23. Make It Easy – Bridge the Online/Offline Gap 23 Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

24. Putting Rich Media UGC On Your Site 24 Hotel SO uploads photos of their guestbook to the web: Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

25. Example: Seven Hotel 25 Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

26. Key Points To Remember About UGC 26 The next time you receive positive feedback, ask the guest to share that experience online. (But remember to communicate what they have to gain from the process!) Establish mechanisms to organize it all: To organize uploads (tags and hashtags) To centralize access (Flickr, Facebook groups) To share the content (website section, blog, etc) Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

27. Test, Test, Test 27 Setup A/B split tests to track everything and identify improvement opportunities. A few suggested metrics to begin with include: Time on site Bounce rates Page exit rates Sales conversion rates Optimizing Your Website With Online Reviews

28. Any Questions About Optimizing Your Presence with UGC? 28 Email me: josiah@reviewpro.com Or connect on Twitter: @HmarketingHelp @ReviewPro More ideas, interviews, and case studies: http://www.ReviewPro.com/blog

29. Poll no. 3

30. How hoteliers can turn traveler reviews into opportunities Presented by Brian Payea, Head of Industry Relations Tnooz Webinar August 17, 2011

31. A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4 Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey” 31 How important are user reviews to you when determining which hotel to stay at? Tnooz Webinar

32. A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4 Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey” 32 I won’t book a property unless it has reviews. Tnooz Webinar

33. TripAdvisor reviews are largely positive Average score is 3.90 Tnooz Webinar 33

34. Management responses: A critical part of reputation management Why bother? How to make it count. How to do it. Tnooz Webinar 34

35. Seeinga management response to reviewsis important to me. A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4 Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey” Tnooz Webinar 35

36. If I was considering two comparable properties, the presence of management responses on one would sway me in its favor. A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4 Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey” Tnooz Webinar 36

37. A management response to a good review makes me think highly of the hotel. A management response to a bad review reassures me. A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4 Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey” Tnooz Webinar 37

38. Tnooz Webinar 38

39. Tnooz Webinar 39

40. But not this way… “People that lack taste and a life of their own should try to venture out into the real world instead of hiding behind a computer spewing meaningless factless verbiage.” “Prove the date of your stay because such an incident has never been recorded in the archives of our Hotel. We regret that some customers spoil the time by writing negative comments for Hotels.” Tnooz Webinar 40

41. A commissioned survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripAdvisor, “2010 Q4 Forrester/TripAdvisor Custom Online Survey” 41 An aggressive management response to a bad review makes the hotel look worse. Tnooz Webinar

42. What this resort does right: Shows that that reviews are important by notifying guests that they share reviews with their staff Lets future guests know that they strive for excellence in customer service Subtlety markets by including that it is anaward-winning resort Refers to resort website for important details about theresort and what sets it apart from others Apologizes A prime example Tnooz Webinar

43. Traveler feedback on management responses “I like it that the Hotel management responds to posts here – says a lot about their focus on their customers.” -TripAdvisor member hazy-amersham “I also like the fact that a management representative replies to some comments made by guests. This tells me that ‘Lennons on Chifley’ are a hotel that care about their guests and reputation and go to lengths to acknowledge and rectify issues. Well done.” -TripAdvisor member Rosli “The manager of the hotel did respond, but it took him a month to do so. I appreciate the seemingly thorough response given, but I wish he’d done so in a more timely manner. I might have overcome my concerns about the safety of staying at his hotel and kept my reservation.” -TripAdvisor member OhioGirlScout Tnooz Webinar 43

44. From a little crowded… Tnooz Webinar 44

45. 45 …to reorganized and streamlined Tnooz Webinar

47. Tip sheet: Best practices for responding to traveler reviews

48. Guide: How to respond to traveler reviews on TripAdvisor

49. All on the “What TripAdvisor can do for you” page on the Management Center46 More resources on Management Responses Tnooz Webinar

50. Tnooz Webinar Thank you!

51. Poll no. 4

52. Q & A

53. Thank You!Archive copy of today’s webinar will appear on www.tnooz.com within a few days.Questions and comments: Kevin May, kevin@tnooz.com