Last week, I stumbled across a blog post called TripAdvisor hopes we are all idiots including YOU. Intrigued by the criticism and unaware of any strong negative sentiments towards TripAdvisor, I explored the source further, a website dedicated to exposing the flaws of TripAdvisor and generating support against the company, including legal action.
On their home page:
You can Stand Up or you can Shut Up, the choice is yours. We are a small group of 9 people that have chosen to Stand Up against the arrogant TripAdvisor. NONE of us own or manage any form of establishments, which means that TripAdvisor cannot bully or threaten us. TripAdvisor allows anyone to start posting invalidated lies and damaging content, destroying reputations and livelihoods.
These are very strong words. As a travel enthusiast born with a severe case of wanderlust, I have often referred to the online reviews, ratings and advice from travellers posting on TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel site. With more than 75 million travel reviews and opinions on its site and 60 million unique monthly visitors, I felt it was a business model that worked well because it was able to rank hotels, restaurants and service companies according to actual customer reviews. In my personal experience, these reviews have had a high degree of reliability earning my trust in the brand.
Fundamentally, what TripAdvisor sells is the authenticity of their online review. From websites, to online campaigns, to blogs, to posts on social networks, the trustworthiness of these reviews is now being criticized. Business owners are objecting to the fact that anyone can say what they like in a review and that they can be unfair, inaccurate or posted by competitors. On the other hand, many others still trust in the reliability of TripAdvisor’s reviews, placing greater trust in it than traditional marketing advertising. Online forums for consumer feedback, like TripAdvisor, are rapidly increasing along with diverse and growing online communities.
All of this makes me think about the importance of managing a company’s online reputation. We all strive to create brand trust and an excellent reputation, but not effectively utilizing social media and managing a company’s online reputation can be detrimental to those efforts. According to a survey by the Opinion Research Corporation, 84 percent of Americans say that their purchasing decisions are influenced by online reviews. With the rapid growth of social media and online review sites, it is easier than ever for customers to advocate for products and services. But what about unhappy customers? What should companies do to protect their online reputation?
Be proactive, monitor online sentiment and search results regularly and effectively manage content. A company should be able to quickly respond if something negative comes up.
Listen and know who the influences are. Be responsive and build positive content to manage online reputation and build brand trust. Build a customer centric company to increase positive comments and decrease negative feedback.
Online reviews can provide businesses real-time feedback generating key insights to the company’s product and/or services. Business owners should take advantage of feedback. As customers continually rely on online reviews, they can be leveraged to be an effective word-of-mouth marketing tool, building upon a business’s reputation. The way a company manages negative reviews can show their customers that management is responsive and care about customer satisfaction, building brand trust, increasing customer retention and ultimately driving sales.