According to Rich Ord, CDE, iEntry, Inc., blogs are "now being used to build personal and corporate credibility that will eventually attract customers."
Visit http://www.webpronews.com/ to read a variety of articles about blogging and e-commerce. Use the site search and the keyword - blog.
How would you use a blog to build corporate credibility for your tourism company?
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In order to build corporate credibilty you must first have a tourism company based on values of respect, honesty and integrity. As with any company in the tourism industry you must be able to sell, communicate and produce a valuable product or service for which you are proud of. Employees are key and the first step to building corporate credibility, if you cannot treat your staff with respect and deliver all promises how can you begin to sell an honest product and/or service?
In addition, you must not try to be too perfect, deliver your service/product to the best of your ability using the highest quality staff and tools.
Utilizing a blog for your company creates a sense of honesty not only in representing your company, but in the quality of your product or service.
It provides an outlet for your company to announce new products, receive feedback and creates a forum of discussion for product inquiries, including professional Q&A. It enables your clientele to voice any praise or concerns they may have for your product or service.
In the tourism industry, a blog would be an ideal way for new clientele and old clientele to discuss the quality of your product or service. This would in turn allow the company to evaluate the real way their product is being received. It can be used as a tool to evaluate which products are effective and which ones may be hindering return customers. Depending on the amount of response to the blog, it could be extremely useful technique or the response could be too large to accurately evaluate. In addition, it could negatively influence potential clients since the public’s opinions are just that, opinions and may not justly represent your product or service.
Katherine,
The points you made are valid ones, but do not address the issue of the blog as a tool for building corporate credibility.
Jeanette,
Your answer applies more to a corporate web site than to a blog, although you have made excellent points about the value of e-marketing to a tourism company.
A blog is a kind of website that can stand alone or be a component of a larger site.
What distinguishes a blog from a bulletin board or a corporate website is that a blog usually has a single voice. In e-commerce that voice is often a subject matter specialist (SME) or senior manager, sometimes the president of the company.
The single voice expresses a point of view (POV) about the company's products and services. The level of expertise or the significance of the communicator's position lends credibility to the information posted. That is the value of the "profile" or biography that accompanies the blog.
How does the visitor to the blog know her or she can trust that the bio is real and that the comments are coming from an expert?
A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption (www.bytowninternet.com/glossary)
In my opinion Corporate credibility is EARNED by getting positive feedback from patrons after providing them with exceptional service and/or tourism experience.
As a corporation i would look to incorporate blogs into the main page of the company website, this would encourage patrons to leave blogs about their experience with us (be it positive or negative).
Also this blog can be used to make the website more "personal". Patrons can post photos of their tours,leave recommendations for future travelers and even praise employees.
A perfect example of a corporation incorporation the use of blogs is Sheraton http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/index.html
Another good example, Sam, of a blog used within a tourism industry website can be found at National Geographic Traveler.
http://www.intelligenttravel.typepad.com/
Friday, September 7, I sent everyone a copy of an article from an Australian newspaper about blogging. If you didn't receive the email, let me know and I will resend it to you.
In any business, customers are looking for reviews and honest opinions of their experiences whether positive or negative, it is surely helpful to many. Blogs that are created specifically in the hospitality industry helps people determine whether that destination is worth their trip or is it better to look somewhere else with more positive feedback. Novotel is an example of a hotel utilizing the blog as a tool to help get feedback as well as updating current events that occur in the organization. These tools can help management as well as staff understand their strenghts and weaknesses through these blogs.
To view the newly opened blog for Novotel, please visit http://www.novoteltorontoairport.blogspot.com/
How would you use a blog to build corporate credibility for your tourism company?
You would use a blog to build corporate credibility by using the blog/comment to the fullest regarding whether it is a negative blog or a positive blog. It is a good sign that negative blogs are posted, communicated and understood by the company as there are great opportunity for improvements. On the other hand it is great to have positive blogs to identify company's strengths, however, companies should always seek for improvements through negative blogs and continue with increasing guest satisfaction. Nonetheless, positive blogs can also be used as marketing tools. It is crucial to deal with negative blogs as they will spread very quickly, especially with word of mouth. Hence, both negative and positive blogs are reflections of the company. Therefore, corporate credibility reflects company's reputation of whose product and services they offer.
An example website that allows clients to post their comments or critiques would be www.tripadvisors.com where travelers around the world are able to give their feedbacks regarding their experiences. This website also allows travelers to post current pictures of facilities.
A blog is a great resource for a tourism company. A tourism blog usually contains entries in reverse time order(newest entry first) about many tourism topics, serving many purposes from newsletters, personal opinion journals, to opinionated personal views. A blog can be an online diary which reflects writings, images (photos), links, and viewpoints of users. To make the blog credible the blogger can follow and use many different dimensions which would recognize the legitimacy of the organization. One could look at the company’s portfolio, the address, and telephone number to verify that this company exist. Next, I would make the blog very professional. I would avoid jargon and text symbols as much as possible. I would make the appearance to the tone of the company and use proper photo images, and keep away from crowded advertisements and unnecessary gimmicks. Wording, spelling, explanations, and well-written blogs create a great image. Getting industry professionals to help with the blog could help the reliability and credibility of the company. A well known corporate professional can enhance the image greatly and make the blog have positive feedback. Lastly, not deleting negative comments can help determine different viewpoints (venting). The blogger responding to these comments can show how reputable and responsive to consumers the blogger is. Replying, taking action to correct problems and respond to viewers, their emails, or postings blogs can promote the company. You should use sources when posting your tourism data such as Vlog, TV, Radio, and commentaries. Using the above methods will increase one’s company productivity, reliability, creditability, corporate image, and good will.
I think that corporate credibility using a blog can be built by diversifying the blog. A blog can be a great marketing tool but difficult to measure because of it's intangibility. I would be sure to incorporate relevent and supportive documentation about my company, extensive polls and discussions related to current activity within the company or tourism sector, and other relative interactive compenents. In turn, the movement I create on my blog will hopefully validate the information I include and, in turn, credit the tourism company I represent.
Building corporate credibility means you should give valuable and unique information to those that are interested in a specific topic. The communication will enhance viewer's idea of what one's opinion is and also give feedbacks. Topics can vary since topics can be about anything relating to a specific matter. This method helps viewers as well as the blogger to give ideas in the topic of discussion.
To use a blog as a marketing tool can be a bold move. In using a blog to build your corporate credibility for your tourism company I would entrust that my business has a solid foundation before I would use a blog. In using a blog it can help get better reviews and opinions. With that, consumers or guest will have a better idea of your company and would likly choose your services or recommend your service becauce they have heard many good things about your company.
A blog is a marketing tool. As globalization dominates the business sector the ability to sell ones product or service on an international scale is increasingly important. The use of a blog can be one method of reaching potential customers all over the world. While borders are dissolving and people are more open to purchasing in an electronic environment there remains the concern of credibility. Companies can reduce fears and improve customer relations by creating a secure blog that will allow customers to perceive credibility in the organization. Some ideas a company could use to build corporate credibility through a blog would be to: post open and honost information about their product or service; inform customers about who manages the site and how often information is updated; allow customer feedback (positive and negative) to be viewed by all who visit the blog; use security protections if personal information is posted; answer all questions in a timely manner with all information available at the time; provide links to other sites that support the information on the blog (eg. Newspaper article written by well know source that promotes the procuct or service); and be honest about breaches of access (eg. Hackers) so customers are notified.
Having a blog can increase business but if that channel is not viewed as a credible source it could end up hurting the business instead of helping. By implementing the suggestions above and working to build relationships with customers the company blog will be seem as credible.
When developing a corporate blog, establishing credibility is a key to reaching its corporate objectives. In fact, in that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to the centralized hosting system, it makes it easy for readers to read posts even without actually visiting the blog. But such an advantage of the blogs sometimes can generate unexpected results such as customers’ complaint and a bad brand experience. I guess it comes from overlooking the importance of credibility. In order to prevent the unexpected results from actually happening, we need to diversify the blog in terms of perspective
If there is only one perspective in using a blog, especially on corporate side, it will be harder to build credibility between a tourism company and readers. Therefore, balanced perspective highly recommended. Having multiple editors and supporting a corporate blog with a qualified team will be a good start. Also, before posting any posts on blog, a tourism company needs to reconsider what they are posting on a blog with putting themselves in readers’ place.
There are always three sides. My side, your side and right side.
Chaen Cho, you have made a good case why more than one voice has validity.
However, using more than one voice can create a different entity, more like a bulletin board or an information web site.
It is a balancing act with a blog to find just the right combination of components.
In an article written by Jason Price and Max Starkov on Hospitality.net. Price and Starkov describe the immense power of blogs. Blogs reach millions of people around the world and are constantly growing in popularity. They offer everyone a chance to be heard, which can be either beneficial of detrimental to your hospitality business.
One of their major arguments is that if a hospitality business does not recognize this power they could face large publicity problems. To build credibility, I would monitor public blogs and comments about my establishment. This way I could respond as well as fix the problems discussed on the blog. Essentially, I would use it as a personal audit to improve my business as well avoid publicity disasters.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4026867.search?query=blog+hospitality/
Corporate credibility is my opinion is key in running a successful business. Having a blog whether it be from a president or a administrative assistant is a way to reach the public in a personal way. This may not make sense to all of you but I enjoy it when radio stations have their staff create blogs, it is a way to reach the people you are want to listen in a realistic way. We all like to voice our opinions and it is always more effective when people feel like it is genuine and honest. I notice some people mentioning comment boards on blogs or web sites and the opportunity for people to leave comments freely. I really agree with this as a positive step in gaining corporate credibility, it just shows that the little people have a say in what goes on behind closed doors.
Since the majority of the responses posted here in regards to your question about corporate credibility and blogging are somewhat similar I have decided to include some tips for successful corporate blogs:
• Culture: If a company has particular cultural traits worth revealing or a bad reputation it wants to repudiate, blogging can be an attractive option.
• Transparency: Critical to establishing credibility and trust with an audience. People want to see an honest portrayal of a company.
• Time: It takes a lot of time to set up, research and write a quality blog. Companies need to identify a person who has the time or whose schedule is freed up to make the time.
• Dialogue: A company's ability and willingness to engage in a dialogue with their customer base about topics that the customer base is interested in is critical to its blogging success.
• Entertaining writing style and personalization: A blogger's writing style and how much they are willing to reveal about their life, experience and opinions brings human interest to a blog, helps build a personal connection with readers and will keep people reading.
In today's society, people are bombarded with adds, billbords, pop-ups, flyers, jingles, commercials, etc. almost every minute of their waking lives. It is becoming more and more difficult to grab people's attention, let alone get your message across.
Blogging is the new "it" thing as far as marketing goes, as it allows a company to post information and topics of their choice, but also allow for a two way discussion between customers ans the company; something previous types of promotional marketing did not allow for.
Credibility cerntres around 3 factors:
-Opportunity (Is the source in a position to know?)
-Ability (does the source have the education or experience?)
-Dependability (Has the source proven to be reliable and trustworthy?)
(source- Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
If an author is able to demonstrate these three factors, they can then be deemed credible.
A blog is a great way to get your company name out there and get people familiar with what you offer; especially in the tourism industry because it is something that reaches all ends of the world. However, it is important to ensure that your company builds credibility because online these days it is so easy to post anything and everything. It’s important to ensure that people trust you in order for them to deal with your company. I think a great way to build corporate credibility with a blog simply begins by ensuring the use of proper grammar and spelling. If things are spelled improperly people may discredit the website thereby discrediting the company. As well, a great tool would be to allow clientele to post comments. Whether they be recognizing a job well done, or commenting concerns they have with the company it allows people to get a true look into what the company offers. I think people so easily distrust corporations that it is important to show the acceptance from other clientele that they can relate to in order to gain the new clientele.
As well, with the internet allowing for the posting of information at any point in time it is important for a corporation to stay up to date and post frequently. If information is outdated then people may discredit the blog because the information may no longer be valid. So, it is very important that once a blog is started the company stay up to date and offer their clientele frequent updates.
Due to the fact most Hospitality and Tourism companies are selling intangible items it is important to build trust in the product prior to the customers purchase.
In this day and age many potential customers research products over the internet. Blogs can allow for open communication between past guests and potential guests to connect over the product, as well as buyers and sellers. As Aaron Wall said “it is easier to sell in small steps overtime than it is to go from anonymous to sold” (http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2007/09/06/non-value-of-open-communities) Blogs can create trust in a product, and trust in a corporation, that would encourage a sale.
Using blogs on a regular basis help clients connect with the company and the company in return connects with the market. When a tourism company uses responsive communication, they are creating a bond with the clients, because they make customers feel like the company is actually listening to them, that they care about their opinions. In blogs, people can feel free to express their concerns and they ofcourse expect an will receive feedback if the tourism company is credible. They will intake what their customers have to say about the product and/or service and find solutions to improve its own business. By allowing the customers to feel free to post their comments about the tourism company, signifies that the company is loyal to their customers as people are a good sourse of advertisement, but they can also damage a company depending on how they feel and what they say about the business to society. This gives total control to customers and therefore, gives credibility to the readers. Text and photos can also be a source of credibility as they are the fastest and easiest way to attract and grab the client’s attention, as well as a simple way of conveying a message, after all a picture is worth a thousand words. Videos are also a good strategy for giving the viewers the ability to experience events that might interest them, an example could be a 360 view of a panorama, a wonder of the world, or of a hotel. Youtube has become a well known distribution channel as it is free and it exposes to a global market. If companies were to allow employees and employers to use blogs, having employees contribute and share their viewpoints in this case about a tourism company in my opinion, it would be a great source of credibility, because different market segments have different views about the same company as they see things from a different perspective.
Credibility is a very hard thing to gain, and I believe that gaining corporate credibility is even harder the gain through "blog marketing" if not done correctly. The way in which i would use a blog to build corporate credibility for a tourism company would be to create an effective blog that allows the blogger and the audience to communicate affectively. After doing some homework on effective blogging i can across an article that stated " selecting a blogging policy and guidelines to set the level of interaction between a company blog and its readers will help you to avoid bad publicity and diminished credibility" (Guidelines for Using Blogs- www.scoutblogging.com/guidelines.htlm). Therefore false information posted on a destination or hotel property would definitely diminish credibility in regards to your blog. The blog must be created in a user friendly way so that the audience can navigate with no confusion. Also, having a significant amount of space to add posts is also very important. The user should not feel constrained to limit what they can post. I also believe that "pictures are worth a thousand words" therefore the blog must also have an option to add pictures to journals or diary entries created about a destination they have visited.
The authenticity of an image on a blog can make or break a company's credibility. Whether it's one image or one of many, the practice of using non-authentic images can devalue an entire blog posting.
No one is going to return to a hotel after being completely mislead by the hotel's online images. Maybe the images are completely false, or maybe they are from thirty years ago. Either way they are not true to the picture they are painting in a customers mind. Just as companies may falsify their products or services, a company may also modify them. Perhaps a competing company shows photoshoped images of rodents in their competitors kitchen.
Whatever the case may be, if the image misrepresents what the company actually is, customers will not forgive easily. Word of mouth is one of the main areas of marketing in the hospitality industry and it could definitely break a company. The authenticity of images will promote trust in a blog posting and make it a much more useful marketing tool. More and More people are looking towards blog posting as a way to get the bulk of information they require of a company. Today, more than ever, people seem to be on a time crunch. If people feel a company is wasting their time, the blog will be ineffective.
The bottom line is, if a company needs to disrtibute misrepresented images, then people such as customers and investors will take their blog entries as useless internet garbage. A company should always authenticate their images to promote a professional, trusting and successful company image.
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