As a business or a tourist, how TripAdvisor could be the tool you need.
I like using TripAdvisor when planning a trip or travelling. I hope in this post I can show you why I think that’s a very useful tool and how it works. To begin with, TripAdvisor is an application that you can easily download and install at your mobile, the fact that there’s no push notifications for me is a plus, because the app is not running the whole time in the background and using the mobile’s battery. I also like to read what people write about places. Consumers can be the best or worst advertisers for a company.
Read more: Travelling with TripAdvisorThou I’m an avid reader I don’t like reading many blog posts. Not everyone was born to/or can write in an engaging way. Nowadays our lives are so fast that I want punctual information and fewer words. When I’m searching for a restaurant I would like to see if it’s a good place with good service and food. The history of how you met your husband in there maybe in that time it’s not interesting to me. And I, as a consumer, think that’s the best advantage of TripAdvisor, it’s quick and goes straight to the point.
How to start: business or final consumer
If you have a business, like a hotel, a restaurant or guided tours somewhere I would definitely recommend that you create your profile and start using this tool for it’s practicality.
To create an user profile you have to download the app, you can create your login using your Gmail or Facebook account, as well as another e-mail you would like. From that you can start searching places of your interest and also add places, like your business.
How to list your business?
Browsing the internet to find more about how to put a business on TripAdvisor’s listings I found this very informative video from Vietnam Life and Travel Guide posted 7 months ago. With this tool you can add your business in the listings and make it easy for people to find you.
An example it is that if you browse: LUSAKA (a city in Zambia), you will see the options for hotels, restaurants, things to do. At the front page there will be general information about Lusaka, a link to a map and what is trending in the forums. You will first see the places that are better ranked, and you can also see price ranges, opening hours, companies websites and services offered, as well as the review of another users. Something that I think it’s particularly interesting, as a consumer, is that it suggests paid tours for example, and if paying for a tour is something that you still haven’t thought about that will definitely make you think.
If you want your business to be listed on TripAdvisor you must follow their criteria, that you can find in this link. Also before listing your business you have to read the listing guidelines to see if you fit in their criteria. You can find all the information in here.
Marketing tools and Data Network Effect
TripAdvisor offers different kinds of tools for companies. At TripAdvisor Owners you can find all tools they can offer, from stickers to widgets that display your businesses reviews on your page. They also offer sponsored placements, ads for restaurants and instant booking.
It’s interesting to notice how this app work, I found this engaging graphic that illustrate it well. The experience and the growing community is cyclic: the more reviews by users the more engagement for the businesses. In my opinion that’s the best marketing a product/company can have: people telling other people about it.
The rankings from TripAdvisor has an algorithm based on user’s reviews. Amongst the keys to improve your popularity there are quality of the reviews, quantity of the reviews and age of the reviews. The “fresher” the reviews the better, specially after almost 2 years of pandemic where lots of businesses closed.
My personal opinion
I have never used TripAdvisor as a business, just as an user. In the last few years it has being my main tool to plan a trip or when travelling. Reading people’s opinion about places, tips, looking for pictures that the client took and were not made by a professional advertiser it’s a very valuable information when choosing what to do or where to eat/stay. Sometimes you don’t have time to read a blog post, like if you’re in the middle of a safari in the desert and when going back to city you want to eat in a local restaurant, and have typical food, you just open the app and search what is near you, check the evaluations/reviews and that’s it. Simple and quick, specially if your internet data plan is limited.
