TripAdvisor was established in February of 2000. Rightfully, in a small office located in Needham, Massachusetts. According to travel enthusiast website Traveller,” In 2000, a software engineer and some pals created an axis-shifting travel Website above the Needham business.” Their names were Stephen Kaufer, Langley Steinert, and Saman Mortazavi. The significance behind their curation of the website was to serve as a convenient way of planning trips, along with making the entire process smooth for current and future travelers. This was achieved through gathering all relevant information commonly used when travelling and placing it under one outlet. Their approach at the beginning in terms of content was set around this almost informational and referential approach for travel consumers. However, as they began to further evolve, they were seen as one of the earliest adopters of user generated content. This was through their implementation of reviews.
Reviews enable people from all around the world to share their thoughts on anything they have experienced to give consumers a fair run for their money. All reviews had/have to be in relevance or regards to traveling affairs, because that is what TripAdvisor is and only about. TripAdvisor’s content is based on given reviews, the functionality of comparing prices, and booking travels. This can be used for booking flights, cruises, and vacation rentals. To even booking hotels and restaurants. It also provides insight on the local amenities regarding entertainment. Currently, TripAdvisor has an estimate of “…390 million monthly unique visitors and has amassed 435 million reviews and opinions covering close to 7 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions” (TripAdvisor). Mind that despite the fact that their targeted audience is solely based on travel enthusiasts, it serves a higher purpose to all who are planning to take a trip whether it be now or in the near future.
The functionality behind TripAdvisor is completely free and based upon users. The optimal use of the site is to provide a smooth planning process from point “A” to point “B”. Essentially, TripAdvisor can be used to determine the most economical rates for transportation in terms of aerial or coastal. This is through their comparison feature that gathers the distinctive rates of travel sites and compares them altogether so that users can see where they can obtain fairs at a much more affordable price. This is also applicable amongst hotel resort rates.
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TripAdvisor can also be used to determine what’s best when it comes to entertainment upon the areas that are being visited, and where to catch a great bite or formal dinner. In retrospect, “TripAdvisor has, over time, managed sustained growth underpinned by usage and engagement, especially as the company has evolved from a hotel reviews site to a place where travelers can plan and book nearly every aspect of their trip” (TripAdvisor). Therefore, TripAdvisor pertains to the fourth zone of social media, known as social commerce. Social commerce emphasizes on shared participation amongst buyers and sellers, this is ideal for decision making purposes. And considering TripAdvisor is a review site for travelling affairs their “review and rate” feature plays a significant role for buyers and sellers across the globe. Here consumers can make an account where their reviews are recorded as “contributions” and have the capability of gaining followers who can then view the contributions for reference.
In terms of monetization, TripAdvisor relies heavily on advertisements as the main source of revenue considering that the is site is available for free to users. According to Bunessinsider analyst Alex Cocotas,” …the company earns substantially all of its revenue through click-based advertising, although they also have display advertising” (Cocotas). However, given the fact that TripAdvisor works closely with another travel company known as Expedia, they both have managed to attain a reciprocal relation amongst revenue. Alex Cocotas further mentions “Expedia shareholders are being compensated with TripAdvisor stock as part of the spinoff.
In other words, the companies have a mutual interest in each other’s success” (Cocotas). The strategy behind this reciprocal relationship is based upon using each other’s platforms to advertise their distinctive content. TripAdvisor advertises their content under Expedia and Expedia advertises their content under TripAdvisor. This strategy is far greater in terms of success with monetization than just click based advertising in general. Refer to figure 1 in the appendix for an illustration demonstrating the advantage of Expedia on TripAdvisor. It graphically addresses that “Expedia-related revenue accounted for approximately 36% of TripAdvisor’s total revenues” (Cocotas).
TripAdvisor is useful because it gives people the opportunity to book their full trip within the site. It also allows provides businesses opportunities to reach out to one of the biggest travel audiences. The “Network Effect”, is beneficial to the users, it helps build a bigger community that allows users to get up to date reviews on restaurants and attractions (TripAdvisor). Along with the reviews, TripAdvisor also lets members post photos to add a visual aspect to the community forums.
Since TripAdvisor relies heavily on Google traffic, it’s a huge risk that can affect their marketing strategies. If Google changes its algorithm, it will stop users from being able to see any promotions from TripAdvisor. The SEO strategy that TripAdvisor utilizes will not be successful as it’s operating now (Schmidt). To limit this risk, TripAdvisor should optimize their social media sites to market more, provide value, and promote business.
In 2017, TripAdvisor launched a global TV campaign with its spokes-owl Little Wiser. At a time where the perception of TripAdvisor was that they are just a review site, they aimed to show that they are a one-stop destination for booking travel as well as destination. This owl, with a pleasant English accent, has an appetite for great hotel deals and shows how he uses TripAdvisor, showing viewers in a cute and fun way that they can help you with the whole trip from start to finish. There is a total of 32 spots of this campaign in 8 different countries aiming to change their brand perception. “…with their Ad Awareness score rising to 24 among those who are most likely to use a travel or leisure service in the next 12 months” (Stacey). This ad was successful in making sure their target audience knew about their brand and its capabilities in helping them out with their trip. It is safe to say Little Wiser did his job.
With TripAdvisor having no major campaign or marketing effort failures, we can take a look at where other tourism websites might fail. One area other brands might run into problems is poor mobile performance. It is quite common across a number of websites in the industry. It could mean the difference of bookings per website visit. Another problem for these online booking sites could be little to no testimonials or reviews. TripAdvisor is run off of people accounting their experiences through the booking app. So, not having any could make a business like this unreliable. Because people are heavily influenced by consumer opinions online, it would be detrimental to the brand. Lastly, not being able to book on the app can cause problems moving forward with the app. A brand must be able to offer the ability to book or purchase the product online and not just send in an inquiry. If that is not available, it could cost the opportunity to convert more website visitors.
TripAdvisor plans on relaunching as a travel “hub”. This would mean that they would revamp the current app and make it more social. “…that will allow users to save recommendations, follow friends and influencers and create their own ‘inspiring’ content” (Fleming). TripAdvisor would then work as a social network where people can post and see others updates. They noticed that recommendations from friends and family were more effective when making a decision. It would curate a feed from people they follow that is unique for every traveler. “For example, if a user was planning a trip to Rome they would find a friend’s review of a hotel in the capital from 2015” (Fleming). They believe this will help more consumers have a place to socialize and talk about trips while, at the same time, booking and using their site. The function is currently in beta mode, but there are plans to release it later this year.
Ideally, it would be effective for TripAdvisor to approach another social platform. Specifically, social entertainment. Through the use of social entertainment, TripAdvisor may be able to leverage new consumers and well as gain overall brand awareness. A prime example would be for TripAdvisor to utilize social music, perhaps create a playlist for different locations. Maybe implement a cultural playlist of all the local artists of a particular geographic location. Such as visiting the United Kingdom, TripAdvisor can create a playlist of all the hottest artists from that particular region such as Dua Lipa, Little Mix, and Ed Sheeren. This can be done through Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music. Another example would be an influencer using TripAdvisor to plan his next offseason vacation to a company that’s sponsoring him or her. This will build up a social community towards people with similar interests.
