And while some might say that 'any publicity is good publicity,' a vitriolic Facebook rant is bad for business no matter how many shares it gets. So here are a few handy tips to help you get the best publicity possible: a complimentary cyber review.
Give them a good reason
Your quest for dot com-pliments starts with dotting all your I's internally. Give guests an experience to remember for all the right reasons.
Remember, passive experiences don't illicit passionate responses. Which doesn't mean walking all over your guests in an intrusive attempt to impress them. It simply means giving them exactly what it says on the tin, plus a bit more.
Make it professional, but also make it inconspicuously personal, as if they're the only guests in your hotel. But don't go overboard, or they will be your only guests.
You are effectively setting out to make your guests emotionally indebted to you for giving them an 'out of the box' experience, making their holiday or business trip unforgettable, and leaving them with happy memories they'll feel compelled to thank you for.
Be omnipresent online
The next step is to make sure your hotel features on all the popular hotel booking and review sites. Make it easy for guests to find you online and even easier to write a few nice words or give a star rating.
Often the site they write a review on will be the same site they booked you on, so base your own booking site selections on their review set up and the prominence of those reviews. In doing so, always be mindful of one fact: you are setting yourself up for very public, irreversible critiques. So get all your ducks in a row first or feathers will fly and float on through cyberspace for a very long time.
Create your own url of manipulated praise
Which basically means, if you haven't already got your own hotel website, get one. Not only do you have total control over how your hotel is portrayed as you create all content yourself, you have total autonomy over what guests say about you.
In other words, if they say something derogatory, you can delete it. That said, reviews on your own site carry as much credibility as personal income declarations for online scams and few will be fooled by your tasty, yet unsubstantiated testimonials. But include them for the few, and have your own website for the rest.
It will never rate on Google, but it doesn't need to as none of your prospective clients will seek you out directly unless your hotel name begins with Sheraton or Hilton. They will, however, be more comfortable staying with you if booking sites provide a direct window into your soul, otherwise known as 'Visit this hotel.'
Don't dangle carrots to get what you want
Train your front desk staff to spot happy and enthusiastic customers as they check out. Equally train them in the art of suggestion; suggestion as to whether these checkouts would be happy to convey their effervescence online.
Do this with professional nonchalance; don't offer them a keyboard before they leave. And don't, whatever you do, offer them an incentive for an online review, such as a discount on a future stay. Bribes are bribes no matter how tastefully they're presented.
