Social Networking to promote your business
Would be interested in hearing from any other business owners in the East Neuk who are successfully using Social Networking - sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc to promote their businesses.
Have been encouraging other businesses in Crail to 'Tweet' on Twitter and so far we have a small network of Crail Twitterers:
If you know what to do on Twitter, then follow:
@2crail
@altonhousecrail
@crailcoffee
@aboutcrail
@caiplie
@balcomiehotel
Let us know if you set up a Twitter Account, or if you're finding any other ways to use Social Networking to your advantage. Or give me a call if you want some help setting up your account.
Susan McNaughton
Sandcastle Holidays (Scotland) Ltd
Kilconquhar Castle Building
Hi,
Just a quick question -
Do you know if any of the Crail or any other East Neuk or Fife businesses that have delved into the world of social media have seen a positive impact on their business i.e. trade levels or free publicity (the good kind!)?
Thanks,
Amy
Hi Amy,
I'd love to say, 'yes, absolutely', but actually that would be a lie!
I can see that the East Neuk Festival are doing well in promoting their events via Facebook, and this has included Crail Coffee House (Honeypot B&B's cafe), but other than that no big wins that I know of.
I'm getting publicity from Twitter (2crail) arising from blogs (2crail.com) and have had good feedback from that, but to be honest at the moment it's just 'noise' and nothing concrete for the business. At present trying to cultivate some social media with the guests who are coming to stay at Sandcastle Cottage, and that's resulted in a 'like' on Facebook, but that's it so far. However, I don't regard Social Media efforts as a 'quick fix' but rather as a 'long tail'. Think it's necessary to balance various different strands of social media and keep providing value in your communications so that you build up a network of followers who trust you and who may then book with you, or who will tell others about you.
I'd be very happy to share my experiences with others. Only proviso is that I have two children and I would have to work any sessions around school holidays and running my Edinburgh cottage too.
Keep in touch!
Susan
Kilconquhar Castle Building
Hi again Susan,
Thanks for your reply.
I was just curious as to see the effect it was having but it is great for encouraging communication with your market/audience for the reasons you have said.
I have worked for a Communications and PR agency in Glasgow and we used to use Twitter, Facebook and Youtube as a way of communicating with clients, letting people know about the company and what was going on and it proved successful but it is a completely different sector to tourism.
I am new to tourism so just looking at building up lots of ideas etc and it is great people such as yourself has ventured into social media to test it out and see how it goes, it would be interesting to see how your social media and effects develop!
Amy
I have set up a Facebook page for my bed and breakfast, Rooms@25, but it has had no impact on bookings etc. It is early days and I can see potential for this type of networking.
Hi again
I have posted a news story about a European document that comments on how useful social media is within the tourism section. Might be of interest!
Winning with Twitter in Edinburgh - our @2edinburgh twitter account has now generated a few enquiries about Edinburgh accommodation, and we've had one booking to our cottage there and one booking at @Anne_House which I also manage.
The person who has booked with us uses Twitter to promote her holiday property, and as a self-catering property owner always prefers to book self-catering places when she goes to stay elsewhere.
I think it's a great idea to promote holiday rentals to other property owners as they are more likely to understand what is required of a renter and to help promote your place by leaving reviews or exchanging tips with you when they stay.
Have yet to have a Twitter booking in Crail, but we have had our best year ever in 2010 (after 17 years of renting), so I'm sure that one will be coming along soon....
Susan
Great to hear about the rooms@25 Facebook page.
In Crail I've just set up a Crail.Last.Minute Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crail-United-Kingdom/Crail-Last-Minute/148592051832685) and have got the owners of other holiday properties in Crail to 'like' the page. Then I've made them administrators of the page so that they can post their own late availability. We've also set up a Twitter account called VisitCrail (http://twitter.com/VisitCrail) which can either be updated directly, or is updated automatically when anyone posts anything to the Facebook page. We're now including links in to this on the new community blog for accommodation businesses in Crail. (http://visitcrail.wordpress.com/) This is in it's infancy, but maybe you could try something similar with other B&Bs in Pittenweem to see if you can help each other.
Your B&B looks super by the way, and great reviews on Trip Advisor. I've 'liked' your page, and added it to the Favourites page for Sandcastle Cottage - maybe you could reciprocate?
Susan
This is very much the way to go - perhaps you could attend one of the East Neuk Local Tourist Association meetings to share your experience.