This document provides guidance on how hotels can participate in online review sites. It recommends creating a shared email account to respond to reviews and designating staff roles for ongoing monitoring and photo updates. Hotels should encourage but not directly ask for reviews and respond to both positive and negative feedback. The document reviews tools like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Google Places and provides steps for claiming business pages to more directly engage with customers. It emphasizes the importance of responding to reviews and using personality to provide amazing customer service online.

1. Social Spaces:
Online Review Sites and How To Be
a Part of the Discussion

2. Download this presentation at:
http://slideshare.net/pagetx

3. Social spaces represent physical locations.
People can add ratings, reviews, and conversations.
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

4. Social Spaces for Hotels
• More than 114 million Americans will research travel
online in 2011, and 94 million will book online (Hotel
Marketing, April 2011)
• Sites like Google Places, Trip Advisor, Yelp, and
Facebook Places improve search optimization and
allow you to directly talk with customers
• And maybe most importantly …
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

5. Know What’s Being Said …
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

6. …and Join the Conversation
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

7. Before You Get Started

8. Create a Game Plan
• Accessibility
– Use a shared or neutral email account, not a
personal one
– Consider setting up a Gmail or another shared
email address that can be forwarded to multiple
people
• Responsibility
– Who will monitor on an ongoing basis?
– Who decides which reviews are responded to?
– Who is in charge of updating photos every 3-6
months?
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

9. Encourage Reviews
• Encourage, but don’t ask for
reviews
– “Check us out on…” works
better than “Write a review
on…”
– Include URLs in follow-up
emails or on receipts
– Signs or cards in lobby
– Focus on one space, or
encourage them to use the
space of their choice
• Remember that reviews
from your lobby computer
may get flagged
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

11. Claiming Your Yelp Place
• Step 1: Search for your business
– If your business is not listed, click Add a Business
• Step 2: Click “Work here? Unlock this business page”
• Step 3: Create a business account using a neutral email
address
• Step 4: Phone authentication process
• Step 5: Fill out profile information
• Great video tutorial in Yelp Support for Business Owners
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

14. Respond To Good Reviews …

15. … and the Not So Good Reviews

16. Why Respond To Reviews At All?
See what this business
owner has to say.

17. Provide Customer Amazing Service

19. TripAdvisor
“According to an MSNBC poll, 86% of respondents use travel sites
to gauge traveler sentiment before they make their
accommodation choice…Responding to reviews is key, too: a
recent TripAdvisor survey found 76% of travelers think more
positively about owners who find the time to reply.”
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

20. TripAdvisor
• Please make sure
you encourage
reviews when
guests get home. A
review from an
internal IP address
could result in
getting flagged
• Of course, never
add your own
reviews of your
property!
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

21. Claiming your TripAdvisor Place
• Step 1: Start at the TripAdvisor Owners page
– Choose Hotel and search for your business
• Step 2: Register with TripAdvisor when prompted
• Step 3: Fill out your information and confirm to register
your listing
– Business listings are available for a monthly fee
– If this step is unavailable, you may need to contact
TripAdvisor through a form
• Step 4: Manage your listing
– The Manage Your Listing page makes it easy to add photos
and manage reviews
• More info available on Owners’ Help Page
Source: Fargo-Moorhead CVB

22. Free Tools for Business Owners

24. Respond and Use Personality

25. Sources and Resources
• Sources
– Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau
– Yelp.com
– TripAdvisor.com
• Resources
– Hotelmarketing.com
– LCRA’s Social Media Glossary
– Social Media Strategy for Hotels (PDF)

26. Questions?
Old School:
• Phone – 512.473.3513
• E-mail – sarah.page@lcra.org
New School:
• Twitter - @ColoradoRiverTr (work), @pagetx (personal)
• Facebook – facebook.com/ColoradoRiverTrail
• Flickr – flickr.com/groups/ColoradoRiverTrail
• Foursquare – foursquare.com/coloradorivertr
• Delicious – delicious.com/pagetx
• Slideshare – slideshare.net/pagetx