23.80 percent of tourists who like to spend their vacation en plein air choose which Camping Village to contact based on the reviews they read online. This figure emerges from tourists’ own responses to CampingVillage.Marketing’s annual Survey.
It is clear, therefore, that a very large proportion of potential customers might discard a Camping Village among the possible facilities to stay in just because they have read negative reviews or perhaps because they have not found any testimonials from past guests at all.
The risk is to focus on what channels to use to intercept new customers, how much budget to invest or whether it is better to make a new video or photo shoot only to see one’s efforts thwarted by some mistakes made with Camping Village reviews.
ERROR no. 1: FORGETTING TO ASK CAMPING VILLAGE GUESTS FOR REVIEWS.
This mistake is the most common one when dealing with the topic of Camping Village “reviews.”
Often en plein air tourism professionals lack the time-given the many aspects to focus on in season-or worse, they do not realize the opportunities they are missing.
For those who find themselves in either of these situations, it is important to know:
- if the limitation is time there are tools that can make up for it with automatic messages that can be set up and customized in advance; for example, among the many functions of a CRM like Mr. PRENO (by TITANKA!) it is possible to manage communication with the clientele of a Camping Village not only before the reservation, but also during and after the stay!
- if, on the other hand, the importance of stimulating people to leave a review online is not well understood, it is necessary to consider that people – if not properly addressed – in most cases tend to share their experience only if it was negative, because they have experienced something unpleasant and want to make it known. Therefore, by letting everything take its course you run the risk of finding yourself with few reviews and moreover negative ones; that is why it is essential to incentivize and spur those who have experienced a wonderful vacation in a Camping Village to talk about it online.
ERROR no. 2: IGNORING CUSTOMER REVIEWS.
Reviews have the power to heavily influence guests and potential customers’ perceptions of an accommodation facility.
But how management reacts (or does NOT react) to testimonies left online can also make a difference.
Let’s try to put ourselves in the shoes of a guest who-stimulated by the review request-has expressed his dissatisfaction with small aspects of his stay and receives no response. What might he think? Not only would he feel neglected, but – worse – he would find reconfirmation of the aspects he experienced as negative during his stay.
At the same time, all potential new customers who read the online review in the future will have no other information to form an opinion. If, therefore, a staff member is designated to respond by explaining his or her side of the story or admitting any errors-if there were any-the Camping Village would manifest care and give a broader view to those who are reading online testimonials to choose the facility where they will spend their next vacation.
Last aspect-not in order of importance-to consider is that the analysis of reviews as a whole can help improve the service you offer to your guests. To date, many tools allow you to analyze the sentiment of online reviews concerning a Camping Village, but going back to CRMs (and specifically to Mr. PRENO) you can see in a very immediate dashboard what aspects customers appreciate most or least:
ERROR no. 3: NOT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF REVIEWS FOR CAMPING VILLAGE MARKETING
As mentioned initially, a large percentage of tourists rely on reviews to choose and compare their ideal Camping Village.
Then it is necessary to make it easy for them by having them quickly find testimonials from guests who experienced the perfect vacation in a Camping Village!
Anyone has surely heard of social proof. Before making a purchase we want confirmation that this is the right decision, and this confirmation we seek in the words of those we perceive as similar to us. This is why when booking our family’s vacation we are most influenced by the words of other families (the main target audience of many Camping Villages!).
For these reasons, photos and videos posted by guests during their stay can (or rather should!) be re-shared on social channels and on one’s own website. This content is perceived as authentic and engaging precisely because it was generated by other users and shows the true experience visitors can expect to have at a particular campground.
In short, it is clear that reputation management of a Camping Village is not an activity that can be neglected; but if these reasons were not concrete enough, it is important to consider that reviews have a direct link to the turnover of a Camping Village!
BONUS MISTAKE: UNDERESTIMATING THE IMPACT ON REVENUE
In an extremely competitive landscape such as the one we live in, that is, among all the choices a potential customer is faced with when choosing where to spend his or her next vacation (destinations, types of facilities available, and other campgrounds in the surrounding area) let’s remember that the user will always tend to choose the ideal solution-all things being equal-on the basis of reputation.
Looking at the topic from another perspective, a quote can be evaluated as adequate or excessive based on what your potential client has read online from previous guests.
It is explained in a very simple way by the price/reputation matrix:
Trying to examine what situation your Camping Village is in can be an interesting exercise in developing a strategy toward improvement.
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