Responding to guest reviews on social media websites can be time consuming for busy hotel operators. A few tricks can help ease the process.

Managing a hotel’s reputation has always been a priority for property owners and operators. And given the widespread use of social media by consumers to comment on their travel experiences, it has in recent years become an even more time-consuming function for operators.

“It’s something we’ve always struggled with at Best Western because many of our members are owner-operators of mostly mid- and upper-midscale hotels, and in many cases, they’re working at the hotels and don’t have many layers of management,” said Michael Morton, VP of member services at Best Western International. “And with new review sites popping up seemingly every day, they probably don’t have someone (on staff) who can sit there all day searching through reviews.”

While according to a study from Lodging Interactive, 56% of hoteliers respond to reviews posted on TripAdvisor and 17% respond to reviews on Expedia, paying attention to consumer-generated revenues can make an impact on a hotel’s bottom line, Morton said. He cited research conducted by Medallia showing the positive effect engaging in reputation management can have on occupancy.

The data showed occupancy rates grew by 6.4 percentage points at Best Western properties where operators respond to more than 50% of social reviews. The occupancy growth was more than twice the rate experienced at properties in the chain that mostly ignore online reviews.

While managing a hotel’s reputation can be time consuming, sources offered a number of tips to ease the process and make it more effective:

1. Respond ASAP

Hotel operators need to think of online reviews in the same way they do when a guest comes to the front desk with a complaint, said Chris Jackson, president and partner of GCommerce, a digital marketing consulting firm.

“Whether they’re imparting a positive experience or a negative one, when a guest approaches a team member, you need to be very service-oriented toward them. You need to be a good listener and give them options if something needs to be corrected,” he said. “And just as you wouldn’t turn your back on someone at the front desk, you can’t turn your back on them in an online situation. Customers who see quick, effective responses online get a sense of the kind of service they can expect when they are on property.”

Several sources suggested hotel operators need to respond to social media reviews as soon as possible but certainly within 24 hours of seeing a review.

“There isn’t a specific timeline factor other than, as with any customer relationship, it needs to be done as quickly as possible,” said Jesse Ostrum, VP of revenue management for Vantage Hospitality Group. “I don’t know whether it matters if it is within three hours or six hours, but certainly you want to respond within 24 hours.”

While a quick response is important, it also needs to be the right response, said Riko van Santen, VP of digital strategy at Kempinski Hotels.

“In general, the faster the response, the better the engagement with the guest, but with specific feedback or complaints it might be better to take the time to prepare a proper reply rather than to respond just for the sake of responding,” he said.

2. Get personal

Although the volume of guest reviews can be overwhelming for hotel operators, it’s important that responses include a personal touch when possible, sources said.

“Guests today are looking for genuine, honest messages in marketing and communications,” said Brian Tkac, group senior VP of marketing and sales for Hostmark Hospitality Group. “Most often, canned responses will turn off the potential guest and create a negative association with your brand and not build the relationship you’re hoping to begin at that stage of consumer discovery.”

Some shortcuts exist to ease the process for the hotel GM or employee responding to reviews. For example, Vantage provides standard responses its members can use.

“We do that to make sure (the responses) are professional, but we also ask them to tweak them somewhat because every circumstance is different,” said Jim Maguire, VP of guest relations at Vantage. “Be sure to use the guest’s name. Make sure you’re addressing the specific complaint along with the guest’s name so it makes it more personal.”

3. Respond to the positive and negative

Sources said if possible it is important to respond in some way to all guest reviews—both positive and negative ones.

“It’s a matter of putting yourself in the shoes of guests,” said Philip Barnes, GM of the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver, Canada. “They took the time to let you know about their experiences, so it’s important to let them know you received it and you will share (the feedback) with the team at the hotel.”

Van Santen of Kempinski said responding to all reviews gives GMs and other members of a hotel’s team another contact point with guests.

“It’s an opportunity to build trust for future guests to show engagement and understanding of the ways guests have perceived their stays,” he said.

4. Make it part of the culture

Tkac said it’s important for hoteliers to make reputation management a part of hotels’ operating cultures for several reasons.

“Reviews provide a wealth of consumer behavior data that when applied to integrated marketing applications will focus your operating teams on the guest experience and help them drive confident marketing decisions,” he said.

Barnes said he incorporates the importance of reputation management into his talks with new employees at their orientation sessions.

“When I talk to them about the importance of caring for guests, I tell them to go online and read the TripAdvisor reviews about the hotel and what guests are saying about their colleagues,” he said. “That sets the stage for them as they begin their careers with us.”

Training is the key to creating a culture of reputation management, said Best Western’s Morton.

“It’s not going away and will only become a bigger part of our day-to-day lives and operations so it’s important to come up with a training plan,” he said. “Give the people who will be responding some guardrails. Whatever they are saying online is in a public forum and if things get too personal there are ways to take (the situation) offline.”