If you use Instagram for your business,  you will have noticed that the number of likes of a post is no longer showing. Why is this?

It’s part of a trial carried out in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Brazil to remove the pressure on how many likes a post received.  Instagram says: “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not on how many likes your post gets. During this test, only you will be able to see the total number on your posts”.

Yeah, right! Instagram is of course in it to make (more) money. By removing this feature, brands and influencers will be forced to spend more money on boosting posts and advertising. 

A decrease in post likes has already been observed by many operators. Have you noticed this?

Social media is an important marketing tool for tourism businesses, but also one that you don’t have any control over.  And that's a risk.

So what can you do about it?
If you are too reliant on one type of marketing or distribution, I’d advise you to start thinking about spreading your risk. The reason is that if one supplier, or social media platform, Online Travel Agency or wholesaler falls over or changes the way they work with you, you don’t want that to affect your entire business.

A diversified marketing strategy that spreads the risk is the way to go. Especially now that tourism is softening, it’s time to work smarter and plan strategically for the next few years.
What are you doing in terms of local, domestic and international distribution, content marketing, digital marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, partnering with other businesses? Are you keeping up with marketing trends? Do you have sound marketing systems? 

Winter is a good time to work ON your business and the businesses that do this will grow compared with businesses that are complacent. I’ve seen this over and over!

So, set some time aside to work on your business so you can focus on your planning. Go off-site for a few days or join on of our training programmes. Visit www.smartraining.co.nz/

Cheers, Marijke

Last month, I met with the Australia/NZ Sales Manager of Tripadvisor in Australia. He mentioned that the key to ranking high on Tripadvisor is:

• Quality of reviews
• Quantity of reviews
• Recency of reviews

I’ll come back to the quality of reviews in a minute.

Quantity of reviews
With regards to quantity of reviews; there are more and more tools out there that send automated emails to every customer encouraging them to write a review. You can also create a miniposter or sheet with a QR code linking directly to your review page. You can hang this in your reception, in your transport van or put it in an in-room compendium. Or you can send them an email with the link to your Tripadvisor review page yourself.

Recency of reviews
These tools also address the ‘recency’ of reviews. If your last review is several months old, Tripadvisor doesn’t rank you as high as they rate the reviews as less relevant.

Now, that’s all good, but what do businesses have in common that are at the top of review sites? And not just Tripadvisor, also Google Reviews, Airbnb reviews, Online Travel Agency reviews etc.

Quality of reviews!
The ‘quality’ of reviews is the most important factor and they don’t just happen by accident. People mostly write reviews if they've had a good experience and they're happy to spread the word for you. 

From my own experience in working with high-ranking businesses, here's what these operators have in common:

• They are passionate about their business and are committed to providing their customers with an amazing experience! They strive for excellence. 
• They take time to  work ON their business  and regularly up-skill, set goals and work on their business and marketing planning.
• The staff they hire are smart, warm, genuine, caring, team players and good at ‘connecting’ with customers. They look after their staff and train them; they have systems in place to ensure the customer experience is consistently great. I always say: hire for personality, train the skill!
• They focus on the customer and take time to personalise the experience and go the extra mile. They provide little extras, unexpected little surprises that delights their customers. I recently stayed in a hotel that provided a free minibar, a free breakfast, a free ‘snack bag’ in the room, free happy hour and lots of other extras that other hotels don’t provide. The welcome at reception was warm, personal, the staff took their time and were very friendly and helpful. 
  ​The rooms themselves where nice, but not exceptional. BUT, due to the lovely experience, it’s no surprise they are number 1 on Tripadvisor of 187 hotels in Brisbane.
• Their Tripadvisor (or other review site) listing is up to date and contains clear information on the products, highlights points of difference and has many photos, both from the operator as from the customers.
• They respond to reviews with individual responses. (click here to read how to respond to negative reviews)
• Many people will visit their website after having looked at Tripadvisor. These high ranking operators also have a great website with quality content that provides relevant content to their customers about their product, the area, themselves, social media feeds and online booking options. It's all part of providing a good experience!

So, have a look at your Tripadvisor reviews and research those of high-ranking operators. What can you learn from it?