Not Just a ‘Traditional’ Cottage Agency
Here at Cornish Traditional Cottages we embrace social media to interact with previous, current and potential guests in a non-obtrusive way. There are many social media platforms out there, some you will have heard of, some are more obscure. The most popular are Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Buzzfeed with Google+ gaining momentum.
Social media is no longer a teenage playground. In fact the number of users over 25 years of age is on the increase. You may be surprised to hear that Grandparents are the fastest growing demographic on Twitter.
With 93% of shoppers’ buying decisions influenced by social media there’s no better place to create meaningful relationships with our customers, and to promote our cottages, special offers and the beautifully dynamic Duchy of Cornwall. Our social media activities, which also include videos, competitions, and tongue-in-cheek blog posts, serve to increase brand awareness, build trust and result in increased website traffic leading to a greater number of bookings.
A property video promoted on YouTube and Facebook can take interaction to another level. Our statistics indicate that providing customers with the opportunity to tour a property virtually can increase bookings by up to 26%.
Our combined following on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ reaches over 30,000 accounts. It is often our light hearted material that attracts people to our pages, and we do like to have fun with it. This year marked our 50th Anniversary, so to celebrate we have been giving away a bottle of Cornish Sparkling Wine each fortnight through competitions hosted on Facebook and promoted across all platforms. We have also teamed up with Yeo Valley to give away a week at our largest coastal property. Competitions like this offer significant exposure for a property and help attract new customers.
We realise that it’s important to work closely with our owners. When one of our owners told us that she intended to decorate her cottages for Christmas and provide free festive hampers, bursting with seasonal goodies, we shouted about it. We began posting about her offer via social media and emailed all her customers. Needless to say the bookings have been coming in.
But it’s not just our newest properties that receive attention. We frequently push discounted rates to generate last minute bookings. When followers recognise a cottage or location they have visited, they often reply by telling us what a great time they had and their wish to return. When 90% of consumers trust recommendations from peers but only 14% trust advertisements this customer interaction is an effective form of publicity. To encourage reviews we also have a dedicated section on our Facebook page and pull in additional reviews from our feefo page.
We regularly blog about all things “Cornwall”. In addition to hosting our own blog we have also recently jumped head first into the world of Buzzfeed. Our first post “13 Reasons to Fall in Love with a Cornish Person” received more than 33,000 views. It certainly created a buzz, with over 27,000 of these views associated with Facebook activity. The aim is to create relevant, shareable content that gives users a reason to visit our website.
Blogging increases the variety of content on our site, which is great for attracting customers and great for search engines. Ask yourself, how often do search beyond the first results page or even the first handful of links? Search engines love a site that knows their subject and shouts about it!
