Wisdom for Hoteliers – from MITSloan Management Review

A couple weeks ago, we read an enlightening article from the MIT Sloan Management Review - and we think the new research on online reputation and influence management holds valuable lessons for our hotelier clients. Our favorite bit from this article:

Lessons for Managers Who are Listening to Social Media

1. Don’t forget about the silent majority. Many forums are dominated by a small, hardcore group of individuals who may not be representative of the broader customer base that has chosen to remain silent.

2. Social dynamics in the forum can influence who posts and who remains silent. In the face of conflicting opinions, less involved and more positive customers increasingly remain silent, letting the more critical customers steer the ratings environment.

3. Don’t overreact to negative feedback. Negative reviews don’t necessarily mean that your brand or product is uniformly disliked. More favorable customers may have chosen to remain silent rather than contradict the harsh criticism expressed by previous posters. Trying to appease your dissatisfied customers may be quite costly — and not necessarily worth it.

4. Ignore the white noise. It is important to differentiate between the white noise and the meaningful insights. Many trends and dynamics observed in online opinions are simply a result of “healthy” dynamics. A careful statistical analysis of ratings dynamics can help identify when a marketer should address an issue raised by a negative comment or modify a product in response to criticism.

And for more in-depth reading, check out the rest of the article here: http://bit.ly/pRN7ZB