Crowd met up with Jonathan Watson, head of hospitality for the tranquil and beautiful Channel Island of Herm, to find out how utilising social media tools as a part of their communications strategy has helped the Island and its visitors.
Tell us a bit about Herm.
Herm is a beautiful Island, whose businesses are wholly engaged with tourism. The peace and tranquillity of the Island, along with its outstanding natural beauty ensure that guests that visit end up falling in love with it, and wish to return time after time. Shell and Belvoir beaches are some of the best in the British Isles, and regularly gain recognition nationally for their perfection, with beach cafes operating at both during the summer season. The Island offers accommodation at the White House Hotel, in its Holiday Cottages, and on its campsite, whilst the White House Hotel sports a two rosette fine dining restaurant and a less formal Brasserie, and the Mermaid Tavern offers excellent pub fayre along with the Black Rock Grill restaurant. It’s amazing what you’ll find in Herm’s gift shops, with some quality clothing brands along with everything that you could need to have a great day on a small Island.
Herm has a great online presence on social media. Which platforms do you believe have benefitted the Island the most? How are these complimenting your traditional efforts?
Twitter and Facebook are the two social platforms that have been embraced by Herm fans and followers. The engagement on both platforms have significantly benefitted the Island from a variety of perspectives. Herm is a visually beautiful destination, and so Facebook in particular has seen great success in content posted by fans and the Island getting a good deal of likes and shares, with the resultant reach peaking at just over 50,000 during a week in mid-2012. As a business we have maintained our traditional marketing approach, which has been wholly complimented by our presence on social media platforms. Herm’s followers and fans have consistently advocated the Island and endorsed its businesses, thus anyone researching the Island for a visit will be greatly encouraged.
When did you decide to adopt social media as part of your online marketing strategy, and why?
We decided to adopt social media platforms when Crowd Media’s founder Jo Porritt pitched the benefits to us of how she saw social media integrating with our current marketing approach. Jo’s enthusiasm and sound reasoning as to why social media would reach out to a further audience compelled us to begin as soon as we could. The pitch came in October 2009, and Herm’s entrance onto the social media stage came along very soon after.
In which areas of business has social media been most effective and beneficial to Herm?
We have always considered our social media presence as essential to endorse the Island and its operating businesses, rather than to directly benefit a particular aspect of the business. Sure, we have sold hotel bedrooms, dining in various restaurants and holiday cottages and camping as a direct result, but believe that the positive engagement, upload of content and sharing of information has a significantly beneficial effect on guiding the decision making of potential visitors.
When using each of the platforms Herm is signed up to, how do you feel the audience varies? Do you have differing approaches?
I would imagine that the audience and reach varies across each platform, although many people will interact with Herm on multiple platforms. Facebook and Twitter see the highest interactions, but Flickr, YouTube and Pinterest all see some too. There is no doubt that Facebook is more visual, and information appeals to its audience in different ways to Twitter, but we often use similar messages on both platforms. We use YouTube to create interesting video content with a number of staff and guests talking about their experiences and lives on Herm. This has now been integrated onto www.herm.com as a further feature to the site.
Are there any opportunities that have been created as a direct result of incorporating a social strategy?
The greatest opportunity created by Herm’s social strategy is the reach of people that would have otherwise not been introduced to Herm Island. This is not just for visitors, but also for potential staff recruitment for our seasonal teams across the business. In addition, social media has opened up several more channels of direct communication with the Island, although we often find that fellow followers and fans have answered any question that appears on the platforms.
Have you had any issues or faced any barriers on entry to using social media? e.g. Internal or external, perceived risks etc.
There have been no real issues that we have had to face with social media at all. Both internally and externally they have been received very well indeed, with visitors in particular enjoying the freedom to share their content and experiences of the Island. Each of the businesses have the opportunity to pass on details of offers, information of products and services and recruitment requirements to a potential audience of 10,000 plus.
What are your future plans for Herm’s communications strategy?
As and when there are technological advancements with the platforms that we use, we will aim to keep up and respond positively. We would like to continue with all current social media platforms used, but populate Pinterest and YouTube with further content as and when time allows, although it is likely that Facebook and Twitter will remain our two main platforms for the foreseeable future. It is likely that we will continue to move online rather than traditional advertising, however, there is still good value in print in a number of formats for the businesses on Herm Island.