So today we meet the new star of MiHi Digital, Juliet. Our resident climber and list maker, she’s relatively new to the team but has become a vital part of the MiHi family after only a few weeks! So here are 10 vitally important things you MUST know about Juliet…

What’s your name and role?

Juliet Sawyer, Senior Social Media Manager and Content Coordinator

When did you join the MiHi team? 

June 2023

What’s your favourite viral video?

Ooh, that’s a tricky one! I’m going to go with the video of those kids gate-crashing that live news report.

Who’s your number one influencer?

At the moment, I’m loving Amelia Dimoldenberg AKA chicken nugget girl.

What is your office essential?

I always need a pen and paper so I can whip up a good list. But other than that, it’s got to be my cat.

What was your best holiday experience?

I hiked 96 miles across the Scottish highlands with my family and it was absolutely beautiful. My feet were throbbing by the end though.

Top tip for starting out on social media?

There’s a clue in the name but social media is supposed to be social. It’s not about spitting out posts and hoping your people will flock to you. Social media is a two-way thing and a large chunk of your time should be dedicated to chatting, networking and engaging with your community 

What would your mastermind category be?

I know a lot about climbing as that’s my main hobby. Failing that, maybe Shrek.

How many followers do you have on your most popular social media account?

My Instagram account for type 1 diabetics has nearly 6k followers.

instagram.com/type1untangled

Recommend a great place to eat/drink in the southwest?

There’s a great tapas bar in Exeter called Calvo Loco. It’s a small, independent restaurant with a cosy atmosphere and the food is incredible. Make sure you try the chillies!

if you want to know more about how MiHi Digital can help your business grow, then get in touch with the team!

Call us on 01566 232323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk.

The post Meet the team at MiHi Digital… Juliet Sawyer appeared first on MiHiDigital.

So, if you’re wondering if you’re on trend, behind or perhaps even a little ahead of the curve, here are our Managing Director’s thoughts on how the South West Tourism Sector has been shaping up in the second quarter of this year…

When are we now comparing to?

You’ll be familiar with the saying you want to be comparing ‘apples with apples’ or ‘oranges with oranges’. It’s certainly no different with website data; you want to be comparing like for like, season with season, year with year. However, Covid has obviously made that very difficult; if you compare 2021 with 2020, you’ll likely be filled with a warm fuzzy feeling. Compare 2019 with 2020 and you’re likely to be brought out in lockdown sweats.

But when should you be comparing to? Up until the start of this year, I had been a strong advocate of comparing your data back to 2019. It was the last year of ‘normality’ and a decent gauge of where you stood against that stasis. However, far too much water is now under the bridge, so it’s time to move that comparison forward and reflect on where you stand against the same period last year.

Although there are of course variances to take into consideration, we can factor those into our own thoughts and feelings on overall performance.

Let’s take a look at the average performance against last year….

Bookings are still being made late

I highlighted at the start of the year that people were making booking decisions a lot closer to the date of arrival. This trend has continued throughout the second quarter of the year, with those looking forward in their booking calendars still seeing gaps where they’d usually not. But, when looking back, thinking to themselves that performance on the whole has certainly not been as bad as they would have anticipated.

Late bookings are an obvious breeding ground for uncertainty and nervousness. However, with website traffic starting to rally, my belief is that bookings should pick up from here, although they will be made later, even as we head into the school summer holidays in some cases (read on for more on that!).

The exception to any late booking rule is repeat bookers; they will always book earlier and more regularly, so if you aren’t already putting in place methods to woo people that have already been with you, then now is the time to get moving.

Your cash flow will look better as will your booking calendar.

Website traffic has strengthened through May

The first four months of the year represented a 10 – 20% drop in traffic for most websites when compared to last year. That kind of makes sense; they’re booking later, so they won’t be looking earlier!

However, May was the first month that we saw most sites rally above their 2022 traffic levels; sometimes only marginally but some are up by 10 – 15%. These are certainly encouraging signs for those still looking to fill the months ahead and do buck the trend of lower traffic often seen on bank holidays (if you’ve forgotten, May was rammed full of them!).

Further evidence of the late booking culture is the level of traffic seen during school holidays; this is riding higher than usual and does suggest that some are looking for a holiday during the actual period of the school holiday. Very last minute indeed.

The July and August divide

Funny one this; if I tell you that people are booking later, then logic would suggest that July is booked before August. Not the case for many; several of our clients are busier in August than they are in July. If I cast the data net wider, that’s not necessarily uncommon and we’ve often seen a trend of August booking before July in the past.

However, if you’re reading this and thinking you’re the opposite, then you’re also not alone! Several of our other clients are seeing strong July performance with a more hollow August.

The only common denominator here is that there are still gaps in these school summer holiday months when there are usually not. Remember though, later bookings suggest that not all is lost here.

Deals aren’t gaining traction

We’ve seen a poor response to deals and offers. Why might that be? It’s important to remember that a deal or special offer is there to nudge someone over the line; it won’t change their mind completely. What I mean by this is that if someone is wanting to stay during July, when they can get time off work or it’s during school holidays, offering them a discount for June is not going to work. Having an offer that makes your price competitive for when they are staying will.

But what I would say there is that that is more about price than the offer itself. We’re undoubtedly in a strange pricing stage; we had Covid and the resulting period where prices went up purely because demand was so high. Since then, the input costs for you as a business have soared, so the temptation is to now rise again. That’s understandable but getting your pricing right now will mean you’ll gain more than any deal or special offer you have to resort to down the line.

Our overall feeling?

Reasonably optimistic. We’ve had a slow start to the year and all indicators are suggesting that the late booking trend will continue into the busiest part of the year. The growth in traffic during May and into June gives definite hope that demand is picking back up (although there is still too much in the way of supply on the market), so getting your pricing and proposition right now will stand you in good stead for what’s to come.

If you’re a business in the tourism industry that needs help from experts in the field, then get in touch with the team. 

Call us on 01566 232323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk.

The post Our Overview of the South West Tourism Sector During Q2 of 2023 appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Because we work with more than 100 accommodation and hospitality providers in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Dorset, as well as some of the major destinations, we’re fortunate to have a front row seat to overall trends in the industry in this part of the world is seeing. 

Here’s what we’ve noticed….

A drop in early traffic levels during the year

Many sites within the South West Tourism Industry have seen year-on-year traffic for Q1 drop by somewhere between 5 – 25%.

There are two core reasons for this:

• January of last year was at the back end of the post-Covid traffic surge of 2021 (brought about by a lack of international travel and people seeking their first opportunity to get out after lockdowns). This means that figures were artificially higher last year, and you would expect to have some drop off this year.

• However, there has been a noticeable drop in demand since last year, which has been exacerbated by people booking closer and closer to the date of their arrival. This means, as an example, that traffic that would commonly be booking for the summer may currently be booking for Easter. As a result of that summer booking traffic levels (which are often higher) are being pushed to later in the year.

In terms of good news, the majority of the 5 – 25% drop is usually found in January, with February and March traffic levels rallying against and sometimes above last year’s numbers.

My overall feeling is a lot more positive now than it was at the start of the year.

Uncertainty leads to a delay in decision making and bookings 

We’ve mentioned that people are booking closer and closer to the time of arrival, but why are they doing that? As humans we like certainty, and many people need it when planning. Over recent months we’ve faced what seemed like a long winter, economic difficulties, a cost of living crisis, a war in Europe….the list goes on and on….

All those factors bring uncertainty and that in turn delays decision making. For you, it means their booking comes into your booking engine closer to when they’ll be joining you. That in turn brings you uncertainty, as you look at your calendar and feel that it’s not as full as it usually would be by now 

My view on this is that bookings will come, but they will come later; I’ve every expectation that if your marketing is right, booking revenue this year shouldn’t be dropping by any large amount.

The importance of repeat trade

There’s one thing that trumps the trend above (of people booking later) and that is the beauty of repeat guests; they book earlier, they come more often and they’ll also tell people about you too! 

There’s never been a more important time to be on your game when it comes to getting people back to your property than now; if you’re not doing it then you’re going to be paying more for new guests (see my next point) and you’re going to have the stress of them booking later. 

Levels of supply are still high 

Another factor affecting the market is the level of supply. During the Covid period, and just after, the number of cottages on the market through platforms such as Airbnb soared. That wasn’t a problem when supply was also soaring and there was a limited amount of international travel. 

However, there has been a drop in demand and because supply is still high in South West Tourism, it means that demand is spread across a wider range of options. Just like spreading jam on a loaf of toast rather than a slice, it means that booking coverage is being stretched and effective marketing to a defined audience is becoming more important. If you don’t market, you’re likely to find yourself often being the ones with the gap.

My summary: 

• Traffic to sites was down in January but has begun to rally.
• Levels of supply are still very high, and demand has dropped slightly.
• People are generally booking later.
• A focus on repeat trade can insulate cottage owners from market fluctuations.

if you want to know more about how MiHi Digital can help your business grow, then get in touch with the team!

Call us on 01566 232323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk.

The post Our Overview of the South West Tourism Sector During Q1 of 2023 appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Here we explain exactly what that means and how you can avoid potentially costly mistakes.

What exactly is copyright?

Whilst we’re not lawyers, we’re going to give you a quick overview; if you take a photo, then you own the copyright to that photo and can choose where it goes and who is able to use it.

You could choose to use it on your own website, or you could allow someone else to use it on theirs if you were happy for them to do so.

The key point is that you have control of the image and you’re happy for someone else to use it.

Where problems arise is if someone uses that image without permission. If you were browsing the internet and found that someone else was using your photo and hadn’t asked, you’d probably be annoyed and rightly so.

And this is where people are being caught out when they (hopefully innocently) use a photo that they don’t have permission to.

When can you use an image and when can’t you use an image?

You can use an image if:

–        You took it yourself.

–        You have asked for and gained permission to use it.

–        You have purchased a license to use it (usually from a stock photography website, such as iStock or Adobe Stock).

How about images you see on Google?

When you do a google image search you will see an option to allows you to select USAGE RIGHTS (you can get to this by tapping on ‘tools’ under the search bar).

There are two types of image copyright you can choose from:

Creative commons licences:

Creative Commons licences are free licences that a rights holder might attach to an image. It lets people know how they can reuse an image without having to go back to the rights holder to ask for their permission.

Commercial or other licences:

Commercial or other licenses: These images have non-Creative Commons licenses and can be from either site available at no charge or commercial sites that require payment.

The latter would need checking in terms of whether or not you can use it, but if in doubt, simply don’t.

What happens if you use someone’s photo without permission?

If they find that you have been using their image then you’ll likely receive an email from a company such as Alamy, who will detail the page and place you’ve used the image without permission. This will also include a fee they would like you to pay in compensation. This fee can run into hundreds of £’s, so the key point here is never to take images unless you have permission, have bought them or have taken them yourself.

Please note this article is not providing legal advice for image copyright and is only an introduction to the topic area. Always seek professional legal support should you wish to discuss or learn more about this subject.

if you want to know more about how MiHi Digital can help your business grow, then get in touch with Mark and the team!

Call us on 01566 232323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk.

The post Staying on the right side of image copyright appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Using more than five images on a post:

Adding five or more images to a post automatically turns it into a gallery for them to click on – and as humans we do love clicking on things (research shows the larger a button the more likely it is to be clicked!). Once they’ve clicked on it, they’re going to get a light box – that’s when the image is the only thing that is on their screen! This means there’s no news feed distractions, there’s more engagement… And it lasts longer… Win, win, win!

Getting the timing right:

Posts go further when they gain Facebook engagement (likes, comments and shares) as soon as possible after they’re posted. Just like other things in life…. they need a little momentum to gain that, think about when your target market is going to be online; and also bear in mind that every page is different. If you’ve got a holiday cottage complex that’s perfect for parents, they’re likely to have different lifestyles and timings to others. A general rule of thumb can be early evening or tea time, but do always test and work out what’s best for your own following.

Including a link to click on:

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, we love to click on things! So if you don’t ask them to click, or you don’t give them the opportunity to, then you’re likely, if not certain, to miss out. Don’t let them off the hook (fishing puns rarely work but we’re going with it)…add a link in and give them a good reason to click on it. 

Getting the tone right:

There’s nothing worse than a post that’s written as a post! Write it as yourself and sound like yourself. The best brands on Facebook or Instagram are not only the ones that have great content for their target market, they are also the ones that are the most authentic. That ultimately comes from your personality – so don’t start posting like you’re a robot…. Keep it real, keep it you.

Ask for engagement! 

That could be asking for them to share, to comment, or to like…. No matter what it is, you’re definitely not getting it if you don’t ask for it! Remember when we said that posts travel further when they are engaged with quickly? This also helps with that… it’s a double whammy! 

Competitions…

Competitions are a fantastic way of increasing Facebook engagement and reach, because you know what? We all know we need to be in it to win it! The only thing you need to consider is how much your prize is worth (don’t go too high and don’t go too low) and also watch out for competition spammers… We’ve got a post coming up on those pesky people real soon….  

Have an extra one… Call us! 

We’re going to boost our ego a bit here… But we’ve helped a huge amount of our clients sky-rocket their social media engagement, so why not see how we can help you? 

Give us a call on 01566 232 323 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk

The post Facebook engagement – 6 easy ways you can give your posts a boost appeared first on MiHiDigital.

There are 3.6 billion email accounts in the world!
There will be 4.6 billion email accounts by the end of 2016!
96% of your customers will have an email account!

Your customers want to hear from you!

77% of people prefer receiving email to other forms of communication such as telephone!
44% of people made a purchase as a result of a promotional email in the last year!
82% of people open emails from company’s they know!

What’s in a subject line!

33% open an email based on the subject line alone!
64% say it impacts whether they open it or not!
Emails with subject lines 10 characters long are opened 58% more!
If you can personalise your subject line it can increase open rates by 22%!
If you’d like to know more about email marketing or any other areas of online marketing please do gie us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk

The post 10 Reasons You Should be Using Email Marketing appeared first on MiHiDigital.

Loads of Users

There are 24 million Facebook users in the UK – that’s around 38% of the population.  Take a moment to think about that, one in every three people in this country are on Facebook, a social network that is less than ten years old.

We are big fans in the UK; we have the second highest usage in the world!

They keep coming back

If you are one of those 38% of people in the UK with a Facebook account, how often do you go on, even that quick look on your mobile?

The average user will visit their Facebook account 40 times in any given month.  That equates to nearly 500 times in a year!

Every other person on Facebook will login on a daily basis!

It’s young but ageing

The demographic is still highest between the ages of 18 – 29 but it’s getting older.  It only makes sense that those people that first signed up when they were 21 years old are now around 28 or 29 years of age.

Facebook has also had greater penetration with older demographics in recent years.  A person when asked why he had left Facebook on television quipped that a deciding factor was “when he realized his mum had signed up!”

Getting older

The point we have made is wider than just that one person; the 45- to 54-year-old age bracket has seen 46% growth since year-end 2012.

Gender neutral

There is a slight Facebook skew towards men but it is reasonably gender neutral.

How many friends?

The average person has 130 friends – some have more, some have fewer – don’t panic!

It is a social network!

As a business it is still important to remember that Facebook is a social network!

Quite an obvious point you may think but when compared to a network like Twitter, where there is more of a skew to businesses, Facebook remains for people and their peers.  They essentially need to opt-in to correspondence from your business (aside from advertising) and the success a business is able to derive from Facebook will hang on their ability to connect with their customers on this social level.

For more information on how we can grow and expand your Facebook presence through training and support please give us a call on 01566 784860 or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk

The post Facebook Facts – The Average User appeared first on MiHiDigital.

• An estimated 84 million visits are made to retail sites on Christmas Eve (972 per second)
• Once the turkey is eaten and the presents are opened an estimated 107 million of us will make a visit to an online retailer (1,238 per second)
• Boxing day, the traditional day for sales shopping, sees the largest day for online retail with a massive 113 million visits.  This accounts for 1,308 per second and 4.7 million every hour!
• Amazon has leapfrogged eBay as the most visited site during the Christmas period, raking in approximately 12% of visitor market share.  That means an estimated 36.5 million visitors will visit the Amazon website over three days, accounting for 141 visits per second!
• Despite Amazon’s impressive figures the Next Sale continues to be the most popular searched for sale on Google
• More than one in three visits made to retails sites over the Christmas period now come from a mobile.

So where will you be doing your shopping?  Is it online or the high street, or a combination of both? Does it depend on price? Are your purchases and visits made from your mobile device?

We’d love to hear! Have a very merry Christmas!

The post Christmas Statistics – Online Shopping Continues to Soar appeared first on MiHiDigital.

• Americans are big fans of Halloween: they spent nearly $7 billion last year and this figures has continued to rise in recent years
• It’s a great time to be in the pumpkin trade – 18,952 tonnes of pumpkin will be sold, which is the equivalent of 15,420 Ford Focus’
• The top adult costume is a witch, flying away with the win and accounting for 13.4% of answers provided.  A distant second was a pirate, closely followed by a vampire
• 1 in 3 parents will take their children trick or treating
• A third of all expenditure throughout Halloween is on sweets
• 11.5% of those asked got their pets involved by dressing them up for the occasion!

We hope you enjoyed our Halloween stats – watch out for our bonanza of Christmas facts and figures coming soon!

The post Halloween Statistics 2013 appeared first on MiHiDigital.

“Instagram is a fast, beautiful and fun way to share your life with friends and family. 

Take a picture or video, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram — it’s that easy. You can even share to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more. It’s a new way to see the world.

Oh yeah, did we mention it’s free?” (quote from www.instagram.com)

So here are six facts that you might not know about Instagram:

If you would like to discuss if Instagram could be used by your business please give us a call on INSERT or email hello@mihidigital.co.uk

The post Six interesting Instagram Statistics appeared first on MiHiDigital.