Member Article

Cumbrian Lettings Agency Wins National Digital Campaign Award

Sally’s Cottages picks up a Social Travel Britain Award, which honour the top social and digital marketeers in tourism in Britain

The cottage lettings agency, ZSL London Zoo, Visit London and East Coast Trains were among the winners of the inaugural Social Travel Britain Awards.

Sally’s Cottages won the Accommodation Award for ‘Best overall use of social media’. The company has recently reached over 100,000 likes on Facebook and prides itself on its loyal social fan base.

The Social Travel Britain Awards took place during the Social Travel Britain 2015 conference, from 17-19 April in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Recognising the best digital innovations and social media campaigns in British tourism over the last year, the awards specifically looked at the best use of social media and online video content in marketing campaigns to encourage greater enjoyment and engagement with the British Isles.

Judges for the Awards included Nicholas Montemaggi, digital press officer at Emilia Romagna Tourist Board in Italy and the co-founder of Blogville; Gary Grieve, managing director of Capela Training and Capela China and board member of UKinbound; and Kash Bhattacharya, travel blogger at BudgetTraveller.org.

Award organiser Mark Frary said, “Sally Fielding is a social superwoman and has grown her company from a start with £1,000 in 2003 to a £3.7 million business today. Half of the company’s web traffic now comes from Facebook, where she runs monthly cottage giveaways and has built a 100,000 strong following. This really is the blueprint on how to do social properly.”

Founder of Sally’s Cottages, Sally Fielding, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won our first social media award. Over the last year we have invested significantly in our social channels and we’re delighted to be recognized for this.

“Our social communities are at the core of our digital strategy and help us to inspire visitors, showcase our properties and deliver personal customer service. We encourage our followers to share their holiday experiences through social media so that our other fans can make an informed decision on where to book.”

39-year-old Sally continued: “Reaching 100,000 likes on Facebook was a huge milestone for our company and the platform has become one of our biggest sales drivers.”

This is the second time Sally’s Cottages has tasted success this April after winning the 2015 Cumbria Business Boost Award earlier this month and securing a £10k advertising campaign with the Cumberland Newspaper group.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chloe Luper .