Are Your Review Scores Above Industry Benchmark?
Love or hate reviews, they are valued and trusted by potential visitors. In fact, in a survey from Bright Local, 50% of people trust reviews from strangers just as much as they trust personal recommendations. Crazy but true!
For the past five years at Agility, we’ve consistently monitored review scores for over 130 visitor attractions split across five categories on Trip Advisor, Google, and Facebook.
As we approach the main 2024 season, we wanted to share the average benchmarks across five categories: Zoos, Farms, Indoor Play Areas, Theme Parks, and Heritage Attractions.
The review scores are just one KPI Agility monitor in our visitor attraction reviews.
How do you compare?
| Trip Advisor | |||
| Zoos | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Farms | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| Indoor Plays | 3.8 | 4.1 | 3.9 |
| Theme Parks | 3.9 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| Heritage | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
In today’s digital age, where information spreads faster than ever, review ratings are extremely important to an attraction’s online reputation.
Changes year on year
Whilst individual attraction scores go up or down, there has been very little variation in the average review scores over the last 12 months for each of the categories.
What we have noticed, however, is where the volume of reviews are being posted is changing. Historically Trip Advisor used to lead the way for visitor attractions, but over the years this is losing popularity to Google.
It was good to see these results were mirrored by Bright Local who have tracked the shift in popularity of review ratings systems over the last 7 years.
Source: Bright Local Consumer Review Survey, 2024
Why reviews are important
They are trusted by customers.
Online reviews serve as a window into your attraction, offering potential visitors a glimpse of what to expect. Positive reviews can bolster your credibility and in-still trust in prospective customers.
Valuable Market Feedback
Reviews provide valuable feedback from your customers, highlighting areas of strength and areas for improvement. By listening to customers, you can refine your offerings and tailor your services to better meet their needs.
Great for search engines
Search engines prioritise businesses with favourable reviews, making them more visible to potential customers. Higher review scores can improve your ranking in search results, driving organic traffic to your site.
How can you improve your review score?
Apart from the obvious of delivering excellent customer service, there are certain actionable steps to enhance your review scores:
Encourage Feedback:
The more reviews you get the better your rating will be. You can actively encourage customers to leave reviews by incorporating subtle prompts into your interactions.
In the Bright Local Survey, the top three methods for asking for reviews are: email (32%), in-person at activities, events or in 1 on 1 conversations with customers (28%), and via social media (27%). With Agility client base, we’ve found that email sent within 24 hours after the visit has been the most successful way to encourage feedback.
Monitor and Respond:
By regularly monitoring your online reviews across various platforms and responding promptly to both positive and negative feedback gives a better impression.
The Bright Local Survey revealed 88% of consumers would use a business that responds to both positive and negative reviews, compared to just 47% that said they would consider using a business that doesn’t respond to any reviews. Replying to both positive and negative reviews demonstrates that you value customer feedback, which can enhance your reputation and foster customer loyalty.
Staff Prizes:
Across the visitor attraction sector, we’ve seen some huge success of staff being rewarded for getting their name mentioned in a review. Used carefully, this is a guaranteed way of involving your team and encouraging them to ask for reviews. Review scores play a pivotal role in shaping your online reputation and influencing consumer behaviour. By understanding their importance and implementing strategies to improve them, you can elevate your attraction above industry benchmarks and cultivate a loyal customer base.
Are your review scores meeting the mark?
Written by Esther Felix-Awosope, Marketing Manager of Agility Marketing | Posted 21/03/2023
