Top 5 ways of how to manage tripadvisor comments

• During check-out, ask your guests to review your property on social network sites and booking sites, including Tripadvisor, Expedia, Booking.com, facebook etc)
• Send your guests a “Thank you for your stay” email and ask them to review you on Tripadvisor.
• Show your guests that you are listening and you care - monitor the reviews and make sure you answer all negative comments. Use the manager’s response field to reply. Be apologetic, explain what happened and offer an incentive to come back. You don't need to reply to all the positive reviews, but it's a good idea to acknowledge some of them to show you are monitoring the site.
• Make it easy for your guests to find your tripadvisor page on your website. Display a tripadvisor badge on the homepage or on a testimonials page. Include the Tripadvsior badge at the bottom of your email signature.
• Use guests quotes to your advantage. Display the links to your latest tripadvisor reviews prominently on your website or on Facebook. Lift positive experiences and use them as content on different pages on your website.

In addition, there are two important don’ts:

• Don’t ignore tripadvisor. Just because you ignore it, doesn't mean it's not there and it will go away. You may not be managing it, but your competitors are. So, guess who’s getting all the better guests?
• Not answering all comments. Answering all comments makes you look like you have someone whose job is just to use “canned answers” for tripadvisor. This will hurt your credibility when answering negative comments.

Finally, ensure that you use social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr to promote your property and to communicate your special offers. Invite your guests to join your networks. This will improve brand loyalty and ensure that you keep a close relationship with your guests, particularly those that write positive reviews about your hotel. They are your best reference and your best bet, as an independent hotel, to get new business from their social network. 

Half of Australian businesses do not use social media

Australians are among the highest users of social media in the world (over 10 million users), yet Australian businesses have not kept pace with others around the globe and are missing out on the opportunity to connect with consumers.

According to a recent analysis by KPMG Australia among business managers, only 42% report using social media, with 50% reporting their business did not use social media, and the remainder not knowing whether their business used social media at all.

"Organizations cannot afford not to be listening to what is being said about them, and at some point, interacting with customers in the space where they are spending their time - and increasingly, their money too," said Malcolm Alder, National Managing Partner for KPMG's Digital Economy Practice.

"Our analysis demonstrated that we can look at the experiences of both early business adopters and our overseas counterparts, to learn from them. If businesses do not get on board quickly, they may very well be left behind." Earlier this year comScore reported that the largest chunk of time spent online by Australians is dedicated to social networking. Their analysis of activity in December, 2010, found approximately one in every five minutes, 22%, was spent with various social networks.

Email still backbone of cross-channel marketing

Email continues to be the backbone of cross-channel marketing in Australia despite the clear emergence of multi-channel and segmentation trends, a new report has confirmed.

Mobile channel use has grown by over 300% and social marketing now has 10 times more activity than a year ago, according to the Responsys Big Australian Report on email, mobile, social and web marketing.

Despite this, email remains the central and most used channel, and the highest volume by some considerable margin. Of the marketers surveyed, not surprisingly 100% are sending emails to customers and members. The report found, however, only 14% of marketers send according to customer preferences.

“16% of companies send all messages via all channels,” the report read. “We would expect this will drop as sophistication in targeting increases.”

Much like email being the spine of multi-channel, data is emerging as the centrepiece of converged web-focused marketing, with 2010 seeing a major breakthrough in targeting according to the report.

“For the first time a majority of marketers engaged in segmentation to target the more relevant members of its data base with certain messages or offers.”

More than half the marketers surveyed incorporate data metrics into their measurement, and around 40% feed it back into CRM systems, so the insights and results can be fed back into the database and applied across many channels.

The findings were based on the analysis of more than 1 billion email, mobile and social messages sent between 1 July 2010 and 30 June 2011, and survey of 350 enterprise marketers in Australia.

8 Ways to Test Your Website

Your website is the "storefront" of your business (even if you have a literal storefront, too). Your website needs to attract customers and keep them coming back for more.

So pull up your website and ask yourself a few questions:

1. Where do your eyes go first?
   You only have a few seconds to capture the attention of your audience...make sure they're seeing something important.
2. Can you tell what the website is about?
   You only have a few seconds to communicate your unique value, so be clear and compelling
3. Is important information above the fold?
   Make sure your opt-in forms and Unique Selling Proposition are available without scrolling down.
4. Are the benefits highlighted?
   Your visitors want to quickly learn "what's in it for them." Spell out the benefits clearly on the homepage.
5. Is there a clear call to action?
   If they like what they see, prospects need to know what to do next. It can be to buy now, start a free trial, or simply download a free report.
6. Are the colours and font distracting?
   Jarring colours, quick animation, and gaudy fonts can really be distracting. And if your visitors are distracted, they'll click away.
7. Do you feel personally connected?
   Consumers want to buy from people, not machines. Connect with your prospects by being honest, straightforward, and using a conversational style.
8. Are there links to social media?
   Many people want to do a little more research before buying. Linking to social media sites gives your potential customers another glimpse into your company (and perhaps a few testimonials from other customers)

Once you determine a few areas where you can improve, develop a plan to start implementing changes. You don't have to do them all at once - just do a few at a time until you have a website that really converts.

For more information about website design and development, speak to one of the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today on 07 3040 3588.

Increase repeat visits to your hotel website with hotel internet marketing

Hotel Internet marketing should result in the four ‘R’s - a high Retention rate, Repeat business, increased Referrals and improved ROI. Below are some marketing strategies to help your hotel can increase repeat visits to your website, increase hotel bookings and rely less on OTAs.

Know your target market

Who is your target market? Any marketing strategies or activities you implement must focus on your core target market and address their needs. For example, if the majority of your client base is corporate, then promote the business features of your hotel (internet access, business centre etc). If you rely mainly on families, then showcase the family-friendly facilities at your hotel, and it’s close proximity to sightseeing attractions.

Use Social Media wisely

Web 2.0 applications, such as blogs, forums and social media networks (facebook, twitter, foursquare) can all help build brand loyalty. Make sure all hotel Internet marketing tools work in cohesion. For example, add social media icons on your website, so guests know you’re on Facebook and Twitter, encourage people to follow you or become a fan of your business pages. Add social media icons at the bottom of your email signature etc.

Member only special offers

Offer member only promotions via social media networks, email marketing campaigns or other your hotel marketing strategies that you employ. For example, offering promotions or a ‘sneak peek’ which are not offered to the general public will help to increase your fan base, subscriptions or registration rate. Guests will then find more value in what you’re offering and sign up for your e-newsletters or ‘like’ your business page as these special offers aren’t available on your website.

Regularly update your content

Updating your website with blog articles, customer reviews, seasonal promotions and special offers or information about local attractions and upcoming events is a great way to get people to return to your website. If potential guests can’t find the information they want about your hotel and local attractions on your website, they will go somewhere else that will provide them all the information they need to make a booking decision.

Quality of the website design

It’s important that your website design reflects the quality of your hotel and showcases your rooms, facilities and other selling points of the hotel, for example, the views, or proximity to the beach or quiet retreat in the mountains. Your website must also be easy to navigate, show up-to-date information, a easy to use online booking engine, and straightforward enquiry forms. If you’re website doesn’t look good, it won’t entice a customer to book with you. So maybe it’s time to think about getting a new website!

Pictures say a thousand words

Put high quality images on your website of your rooms, facilities, the scenery, the surrounding area and the property. Images can make or break a hotel booking and the more visual information a customer has, the more confident and reassured they will be that booking at your hotel is the right decision. Make sure that your pictures are also high quality.

Fast loading times

The hotel industry is a ruthless, cut throat industry and you are competing with travel agencies, wholesalers and travel products companies where a customer can potentially make a hotel booking. Don’t make it any harder for the customer with a slow loading website because it’s an easy option to book at another website if they can’t find the information they need quickly.

While a large part of your hotel Internet marketing activities should be focused on attracting new customers to your website and building your customer base, there should be a continued focus on getting existing customers to re-book at your hotel and increase brand loyalty.

Speak to one of our marketing consultants at TA Fastrack on 07 3040 3588 to find out how we can help you with your hotel Internet marketing, social media marketing and client retention campaigns.

Keep your customers with email

Email marketing enables you to proactively communicate with your existing customers instead of passively waiting for them to visit your website, store or call you.

With email marketing, you can solidify existing relationships, start new ones (when they forward your emails to their friends and family), and convert your one-time visitors and buyers into repeat business and long-term customers or contributors.



According to research:

• A five percent increase in retention yields profit increases of 25 to 100 percent.
• Repeat customers spend, on average, 67 percent more than new customers.

It's All About Communication
Communication is a vital part of any relationship. Your business needs to keep in touch with customers on a regular basis to ensure you remain "top of mind." Research has shown that it takes about six to seven contacts before you can turn a prospect into a buying customer. All that contact can be expensive and time consuming and that’s where email marketing becomes a critical part of any business’s marketing efforts.

Why Is Email Marketing the Answer?
Email marketing is easy, affordable, direct, actionable, and highly effective. When you add email marketing to your marketing mix, you spend less time, money, and resources communicating with your customers than with traditional marketing vehicles (e.g. direct mail or print advertising). And, with email marketing, you can communicate more quickly and regularly.

Communicate More Information More Often
Email marketing is an affordable way to stretch a tight marketing budget. With a response rate five times greater than direct mail and 25 times the response rate of banner ads, email marketing is an effective way to increase sales, drive traffic, and develop loyalty.

Unlike direct mail, there is virtually no production, materials, or postage expense. Best of all, you can use email marketing to send newsletters, preferred customer promotions, sale notifications, new service announcements, event invitations, holiday greetings, and so more.

Use Email Marketing To Educate Your Customers
Your customers are more likely to buy when they can make an informed decision. Why force them to look elsewhere for the important information they need? Your email communications can gently lead a customer through the sales process, provide all the important information they require, and drive them to your website for more details or a purchase.

Foster Long-lasting Relationships
Email is an easy and inexpensive way of establishing early and long lasting relationships with your past customers. When you inform and educate your clients, they begin to perceive you as capable of addressing their needs. Even better, they start to look to you as an expert. This develops trust, opens the door to two-way communication, and allows them to share their pain points with you.

Use the information you gain from your customers and you will be able to better serve their ongoing needs. In the process, you may discover hidden sales opportunities that you may not be addressing or even considered.

Measure and Improve Your Results
With email marketing, you can easily measure the number of emails sent and opened, bounce backs, and unsubscribes, as well as your click-through rates.

You can also see who opened your email, which links they were most interested in and who clicked on what link. All of this useful information can help you send highly targeted campaigns to the people most likely to respond to your offer, thus improving your results going forward.


If you would like more information about email marketing and how it can help your business, speak to one of the marketing consultants at TA Fastrack today on 07 3040 3588. TA Fastrack can assist you with setting up an email template and email marketing campaign.