DIGITAL DESTINATIONS

Dr Philip Alford Bournemouth University

www.digitalhub.co.uk

www.pinterest.com/digitaldest www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub

ddp@bournemouth.ac.uk

@schooloftourism | @philipalford

#DDBU

Digital Destinations project is an ESRC funded research project, delivered by Bournemouth University,

with an overarching aim to:

‘capture change in the adoption and use of digital technologies and to develop a strong, competitive local tourism economy.

Through increased understanding and use of emerging digital technologies, visitor economy businesses will be in a position to increase their marketing and management effectiveness, and

develop new products and services that will provide an enhanced experience for visitors to their destinations’

The businesses benefited from 4 workshops which covered: Background to on line marketing

Individual Business objectives

Developing the strategy

Measuring impact

Reporting outcomes via case studies

All course material can be found at http://www.slideshare.net/DigitalHub All business outcomes and blogs can be found at http://www.budigitalhub.co.uk/

The following presentation is the case study provided by Highcliffe Castle Highcliffe Castle views social media as being critical to the future of business. We saw the Digital Destinations project as a way of providing an insight which could improve our marketing, assist in understanding the media and produce a manageable e-marketing strategy. As a result in our participation we have provided information and coaching sessions with other staff and volunteers, empowering and enabling them to learn, contribute and support the marketing of Highcliffe Castle

Case Study – Highcliffe Castle

Highcliffe Castle, Rothesay Drive, Highcliffe, Dorset, BH23 4LE Tel: 01425 278807 E: enquiries@highcliffecastle.co.uk W: www.highcliffecastle.co.uk

A Grade 1 Listed Victorian Mansion

Highcliffe Castle

Owned and operated by Christchurch Borough Council with principle business areas of;

◦ Heritage Centre

◦ Weddings and Functions

◦ Corporate Hire

◦ Retail

◦ Public Events and Exhibitions

◦ Tearooms (run under licence)

The Council’s website is www.dorsetforyou.com but this has little profile for attractions and is more geared to statutory service delivery (waste collection, roads, planning, Council meetings)

Highcliffe Castle was allowed to publish its own website – originally entirely managed by a 3rd party company, and more recently in-house where all content is produced by castle staff.

The potential of the website as a marketing tool rather than an information site has always been recognised, but needed to be unlocked.

Digital Marketing had been identified as a powerful media but we weren’t sure where to start…

Then the opportunity came to join Bournemouth University in the Digital Destinations Project

Social Media was daunting – as a bit of a luddite (I still use an OHP for some presentations!) I was presented with an Aladdin's Cave of different applications, all of the marketing tools were there, but which should we use, and how?

Instinct told us that we needed a Facebook (FB) profile but access was restricted by the Council to two members of staff for one hour every morning. This limited the use and effectiveness of our FB page.

Involvement in this project helped persuade the Council to open up access to the full team - 24/7. Over the life of this project, the Council have opened a Corporate Facebook page and Twitter account – good progress

Highcliffe Castle had no clear plan or objectives and little appreciation of what was possible.

Digital Destinations opened up the potential and demonstrated the many and varied media streams and applications available. With the additional support of our student, Leah Gyngell, we were able to begin an analysis of our current situation , and define a way forward.

Leah gave a presentation to the team at the Castle which helped to demystify and motivate them to get involved and engage with digital media.

Leah was able to demonstrate that social media is;

◦ cost effective, when budgets are decreasing;

◦ Measurable;

◦ able to help us build a relationship with our audience;

◦ Fun!

Leah helped us to set up a twitter account and populate it.

All of the team were motivated, engaged and enjoyed using this media and could see the benefits. As the season has got busier and pressures increase, this has waned as far as twitter is concerned. Facebook continues to be our primary tool.

Our Facebook account was opened in 2010, and in the first 3 years we had passively achieved 711 ‘likes’. In January we set a target to more than double that rate of growth. 1,000 likes by July is on track with 971 to date (6/6/13).

Posts are regularly being seen by 10,000+ people.

User generated content, particularly photos are becoming quite a feature.

The Digital Marketing Analysis & Plan for Highcliffe Castle, written by Leah now forms the basis of our digital media strategy and has been shared with senior managers at the Council.

The Council has recently appointed an E-communications Officer who will continue to support our development, and take over where the student support ceased. It is hoped that we can help lead other departments in this field.

Being in a cluster of 10 businesses of various sizes was very valuable. To appreciate the business potential demonstrated by larger companies as well as the creative developments of smaller companies (like us).

A great benefit of engaging with digital media is that it is scalable to the resources available, whether financial or human.

Unfortunately, early in this project we lost our Marketing Officer, and the post is still vacant. Whilst this has been difficult, there is a positive aspect. When we are in a position to advertise the post, we know that we will be seeking a person that has extensive knowledge of digital marketing, website content and Google analytics.

If we hadn’t been involved with Digital Destinations our appreciation of this need would not have been highlighted.

Bournemouth University and the Digital Destinations project have helped identify the opportunities and clarify our needs.

Without this we wouldn’t be in a position to build a digital media strategy which is sustainable across all areas of our business and supported by a new marketing Officer.

Thank you to Dr Phillip Alford, Maureen, Leah, Lisa & Jane and Bournemouth University for the opportunity to be involved with the project, for their patience, advice and support.

David Hopkins

Highcliffe Castle Manager

For more information on DIGITAL DESTINATIONS contact:

Dr Philip Alford, Bournemouth University

ddp@bournemouth.ac.uk

@schooloftourism | @philipalford

#DDBU