Those of us living on Guernsey know only too well how lucky we are to have the beloved island of Herm just across the water. We all know and love the special charm and magic that the island has; you step onto her shores and immediately you are transported. Blissful sunshine, beaches, beauty and outstanding serenity can be found even on the busiest of days. We can look back and reminisce about childhood holidays spent barefoot, carefree and eating Herm ice-cream. A time when life seemed less complicated and simple perhaps?
There is something very emotive about Herm Island; that magical feeling you get when you arrive, until the moment you leave; tired, sun-kissed and sandy.
This ‘feeling’ is something that would indeed be a fantastic marketing tool if only it could be bottled and shared. Anyone having a glass or two of “Vintage Summer of ’76” from Herm’s cellars would be immediately transported!
Bottling Herm’s magic may not be possible but sharing the emotive experience of this destination is definitely a reality. This was the exact objective when I first approached Herm Island on a windy, cold day last October. Pitching the idea of Herm Island and social media seemed to me to be an obvious choice as part of their marketing strategy. I have been lucky enough to work with Herm Island’s Director of Hospitality, Jonathan Watson, who bravely agreed to give it all a go.
Our campaign launched at the beginning of February and included collaborating with local web developers, Submarine, on the build of a new website which incorporated a blog. The strategy also embraced Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and TripAdvisor. All platforms that exist under the umbrella of what is now known as social media. These sites enable us to publish content, images, video, news and events in real time and at the same time enjoy dialogue with our Herm fans and followers.
The Facebook page in particular has been a hub of activity, with over 3,650 fans joining the page, representing 20 countries across the globe. The level of engagement is fantastic, with an average of between 70-90 interactions between Herm Island and fans per week. The page is also used to broadcast last minute special offers, competitions, Herm news and has even been very successfully used to recruit seasonal staff.
The Herm fans on this platform also engage with each other; so you have the benefit of those that already know and love Herm, sharing its unique and special qualities with potential new visitors on a very personal level. Content that is posted via Facebook and Twitter is also shared to the friends of the Herm pages, thereby referring more targets by way of word-of-mouth and referral.
Very often we see social media platforms as being the conversion point from when consumers are just thinking to then committing.
Destination marketing now relies heavily on peer recommendation. As consumers we now trust these recommendations more than we do traditional advertising. We all research and even book our holidays online. Sites such as TripAdvisor have over 35 million trusted traveller reviews listed and Herm is included in this number.
We have taken advantage of being able to offer multi-media marketing messages via YouTube with three promotional videos (one very funny spoof!) getting over 5,400 views in the last four months. The photo sharing site, Flickr, has multiple galleries of Herm Island images, grouped into easy sets for users to view the island as a complete destination. These images have had over 16,000 views since the end of February.
The campaigns have been so successful that they have recently been recommended for entry into a National Digital Communications Competition.
All of the social media outposts have been integrated into the traditional marketing mix still employed by Herm Island including print, email and newsletter marketing. This is essential when implementing any social media activity. You need to define your marketing objectives, develop a strategy and measure, just as you would with offline or more traditional marketing methods.
The true digital content hub lies at www.herm.com and the social media activity has driven large numbers of traffic to specific landing pages within the site. Facebook has consistently been the highest referring site to Herm’s own website, after the search giant Google.
Analytical measurement also confirms that Herm is hitting its ideal target market demographic specifically via the social media platforms. Incidentally, the largest growing demographic on Facebook is women, between the ages of 55-65, dispelling the myths that only youth groups dominate these online communities.
So to sum up, the tiny island of Herm has taken huge steps when it comes to its marketing strategy. Embracing social media channels has allowed the island to build and nurture valuable, trustworthy relations with its client base. We expect even more response as the summer season gets going and the real value of these efforts will hopefully reap further rewards.