The Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa

The Coniston Hotel

Maximising sales, boosting direct bookings and growing reputation through social media

The Challenge

We were introduced to Amie, the Sales & Marketing Manager at The Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa, who gave us a tour of the facilities and laid out their aims.

Here was the challenge Amie had to deal with – The Coniston was an already very well respected brand and an increasingly busy establishment, with 71 rooms, holiday cottages, spa complex, restaurant, weddings, activities and more. With all that to deal with already, Amie and her team were tasked with maximising sales and spreading their good reputation even further.

There was a clear need for someone on their side with the skills and knowledge to represent their brand with care across digital platforms, to maximise their time by offering them regular support, and to work with the team to offer a strategic approach to grow their social media channels.

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The Solution

Taking on board all the information we’d gathered from our meeting with Amie in what we call the setup interview,  and capitalising on the experience we’d already had working in the hotel industry,  we formulated and carried out a tailored social media strategy which included the following…

 

Active feeds

We produced fresh, regular, quality content across their Twitter & Facebook feeds—building awareness, links and bookings.

 

Promoted offers

We promoted special offers through Facebook—maximising ad spend, generating sales.

 

Positive social press

We were able to make the most of positive social press which they just didn’t have the time to tend to in-house. We responded and retweeted on their behalf, saving them time and building their reputation.

 

Balanced messaging

We liaised with the team and created a monthly plan. This helped to ensure messaging stayed balanced and appealed to every corner of their following (from hotel guests to spa users, adrenaline junkies to foodies) and stayed in sync with Amie’s sales goals and broader marketing efforts.

 

Targeted cross-platform approach

With the above in mind we took a targeted cross-platform approach, focussing efforts on the most relevant platforms for the target customer. Facebook took the focus for weddings and hotel news, while Twitter messaging focussed on corporate clients and leisure activities.

 

Weekly blog posts

We also wrote short weekly blog posts on their behalf—building awareness, activity and representing their love of local businesses with content about community events and awards.

 

Competitions

In addition we ran competitions through Facebook and Twitter which were very well received, helping to gain new customers and retain existing ones. Each campaign was designed to increase follows and likes, increased reach or gather email addresses of potential customers.

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The results

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Monthly growth in Facebook page likes in the range of

593 to 1,100

Page likes

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A happy following with an audience engagement rate above industry average

+5.8%

Engagement

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Increased awareness with average monthly post impressions of

164,980

Impressions

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Great social press with a monthly average of

90

Shares

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“The team at Arise have done fabulous job of maintaining the Coniston Hotel’s social media for the past 4 years. Myself and the team have found them invaluable. Highly recommended for engaging online customers and producing quality content.”

Amie Capstick

The Coniston Hotel Country Estate & Spa