TripAdvisor is a mega player in the travel and hospitality industry. 60% of surveyed travel consumers worldwide have booked trips after visiting TripAdvisor site and researching areas and accommodations on the platform.
From the consumer or traveler’s point-of-view, TripAdvisor is an excellent source of information that can help them decide where to book their next vacation or business trip.
However, there are issues with the TripAdvisor platform, and the company is seeking to remedy these problems, and bring more clarity and insight into the travel and accommodation industry.
Before unveiling their new social media plans, TripAdvisor was having problems with false and unverified reviews proliferating across the platform. Not only did this needlessly damage otherwise good vacation rental business’s reputations, it also damaged TripAdvisor, too.
As a company that markets itself on being a go-to source for all things travel related, TripAdvisor’s new social media plans aim to address inconsistencies and false reviews, and also make it easier for travelers to find relevant recommendations. For owners, the new TripAdvisor social media plans can help them gain greater visibility in a crowded, competitive market.
How will the new plans work?
The platform is still in the testing and tweaking stage, but the new interface will look similar to a Facebook feed. Users can log in to the new interface and search for their prospective destination. From there, they will be able to see personalized and highly relevant information:
- Verified reviews.
- Personal anecdotes and experiences.
- Recommendations from followed accounts or contacts.
- Videos and photos of their intended destination.
TripAdvisor users can also publish articles related to their travel experiences, and share photos and videos. The feed will also include guides and checklists, and recommend activities that users may find enjoyable. For added security, TripAdvisor users can make their information public, choose to share it with their network or keep the information private. The new social media plans will be highly customized, and save user’s time sorting through sketchy reviews. It’s possible that the new interface will speed-up the time it would typically take users to book a vacation rental.
How will this affect vacation rental owners?
It’s incredibly difficult for vacation rental owners to compete with large hotel chains or boutique accommodations. With this new user interface from TripAdvisor, vacation rental owners will need to put serious thought into their customer service and reputation. The new platform will cut down on sketchy, damaging reviews, but it will also make it harder for vacation rentals to turn a profit and book new customers if they are lacking in the trust and credibility departments.
How can you win with the new TripAdvisor social media interface?
It’s crucial that vacation rental owners protect and increase their customer service and support reputations. Networking with writers and influencers in the travel and accommodations niche can bring much-needed visibility to vacation rental owners on the new TripAdvisor social media platform. TripAdvisor has already reached out to more than 500 travel brands and bloggers to join the new platform and create content for travelers. Collaborating with your local tourism offices, or engaging in cross-promotions with local businesses can help you build a positive reputation and gain greater visibility on the platform.
It’s a good idea to set aside some room in your marketing budget to reach out to travel bloggers and influencers. You’ll want to get mentions, reviews, and links to your TripAdvisor listing on influencer’s profiles to increase your visibility and traffic to your listing page. When reaching out to a travel blogger, be sure to do your research and make sure that their followers and readership have similarities to your target customer.
Crucially, you’ll need an SEO strategy to make sure that your vacation rental listings will rank on Google. Also, your social media channels will play a role in your TripAdvisor success. Since TripAdvisor is placing such a significant emphasis on travel influencers and writers, you’ll want to promote your business on places like Instagram and Facebook. Using all available online channels at your disposal will help you build a more robust web presence for your business. Overall, the new TripAdvisor social media plans can give you more online visibility, and accelerate booking conversion times.
