Rumsey Holiday Homes

DIGITAL DESTINATIONS

Dr Philip Alford Bournemouth University

www.digitalhub.co.uk

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

[email protected]

@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 Rumsey Holiday Homes Rumsey Holiday Homes was looking to gain a better understanding of digital marketing and impacts for their business. They focused on SEO optimisation via adwords, and links to social media. Measurement and market focus also raised some key questions about branding and on-line presence.

a Case Study / Action Plan

by Paul Dredge of

Rumsey Holiday Homes

Situation Background

A long established (traditional) Self-catering holiday letting agency.

Marketing used to be a 12 week print media campaign.

Historic ‘monopoly’ on self-catering accommodation in the area.

Situation Now No print advertising at all other than an entry in the Poole guide.

No online or digital specific marketing beyond a paid for listing on Holidaylettings.co.uk

Some ‘ad hoc’ Twitter, Facebook & Ad Words activity.

Direct repeat business down to around 30 to 35%.

At least 3 new local competitors & potential competition from ‘national agencies’.

Situation E-SWOT Strengths: 1/ Search Tab on every page; 2/ Ease of use; 3/ Important

Information kept above ‘crease’ line. Weaknesses: 1/ Not all links shown on navigation bar; 2/ Brand

experience not shown online; 3/ Lack of images. Opportunities: 1/ Increase use of Social Media; 2/ New markets; 3/ New Services; 4/ Reach new demographic. Threats: 1/ Easy online access to comparisons with competitors; 2/ Increased online competition. 3/ ‘New’ competitive products (& services) 4/ Channel conflicts.

Objectives Historic

1/ Within the scope of the DDP, create an AdWords campaign aimed at

‘Doubling the number of visits to rhh.org during February 2013’.

Strategy A.I.D.A

Tactics Twitter

Increase number of followers.

Improve quality and frequency of Tweets so as to engage audience.

Marketing Action Plan

Actions M.A.P

Develop ‘specifics’ – i.e.: Creation of Hashtags

Gain greater knowledge, insight and understanding of Google Analytics.

Plan specific changes to website.

Controls

Conclusions Has the DDP been worthwhile? – Yes, without a doubt.

What has Rumsey Holiday Homes gained? – Greater insight and understanding of digital marketing generally and our own business needs in particular.

Any other benefits of the Project? – The Action Learning Group meetings were a productive ‘networking’ opportunity. The involvement of a ‘dedicated’ student was helpful, informative and educational!

For more information on DIGITAL DESTINATIONS contact:

Dr Philip Alford, Bournemouth University

[email protected]

@schooloftourism | @philipalford

#DDBU