Ghulam Hasnain

Digital Marketing Strategy of Auchindrain Township Executive Summary Auchindrain Township was the last inhabited highland of the framing township in Scotland where people were lived and worked there till the 1960s. The site is still working as a farm where sheep and chicken and the cat are been seen at the Auchindrain township site. The overall findings of the study showed that Anchindrain Township is facing challenges in a number of the visitor due to the limited budget of marketing and not having a marketing department to promote and attract more tourists to the site. Auchindrain Township uses digital marketing strategies in attracting more people having an interest in the history and heritage of Scotland. The digital marketing strategies including social media marketing on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube through sharing photos and videos and sponsored ads weekly. The other form of digital marketing which helps Auchindrain to get more people on the township is the increase in the traffic on the website through SEO and keeping the museum website more updated and effective and navigated. Through video and content marketing of sharing blogs related to the stories and documentaries about the history of Auchindrain Township and sharing those short videos on social media platforms as well. The major competitor for Auchindrain in that area are the Inveraray Jail and castle having a strong visiting area at Argyll. Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Challenges and opportunities of Anchindrain Township 3 3.0 Situational analysis of Anchindrain Township 4 3.1 SWOT Analysis 4 3.1.1 Strength 4 3.1.2 Weakness 4 3.1.3 Opportunity 4 3.1.4 Threats 5 3.2 Competitive Analysis 5 3.3 Consumer Analysis 5 3.4 Product Analysis 5 3.5 Communication Analysis 6 4.0 Target audience and campaign objectives 6 4.1 Objectives of the digital marketing strategy 6 4.2 SMART Digital Marketing Objectives 7 5.0 Digital Marketing Strategies of Auchindrain Township 8 5.1 Increase in traffic on the website through search engine optimization 8 5.2 Keeping the museum website longer while investing in design and outlook 8 5.3 Social media marketing and connecting with the lovers of museums 8 5.3.1 Facebook 9 5.3.2 Instagram 9 5.3.3 YouTube 10 5.3.4 Twitter 10 5.4 Content Marketing 11 5.5 Video Marketing 11 6.0 Digital Marketing Budget 6.1 Timing Plan 11 12 7.0 Evaluations 12 8.0 Reference 13 1.0 Introduction Anchindrain is a historic site in Scotland with 22 A-listed buildings spreading over 22 acres of the historic land, where there is a museum which enables the visitor for the authentic experiences and the people used to live in Scotland for centuries ago. The sites tell the story of the ancient Scottish ordinary people and their struggles. This historic site is the only sole survivor of the way of life that existed throughout Scotland. Anchindrain has different visiting places which can be accessed through the help of a site map. The township is owned and operated by The Auchindrain Trust. The purpose of the trust is to promote and advance heritage, education, and culture. The site of Auchindrain is covered with fields, houses, barns and demonstrates the living style of the people who work in that rural area of Scotland. Tourists can tour the Auchindrain Township while displaying the valuable and fragile articles which are owned by villagers living in that area. The most notable thing exhibit the ingeniously and largely constructed weaving loom made of driftwood called “Flintstones. The self-reliance and marvelous example of the skill of the crofters (AuchindrainTownship, 2021). This study seeks to identify the challenges in the digital marketing strategy of the Anchindrain Township and how the museum attract visitor to the site through digital marketing campaign and marketing tactics. 2.0 Challenges and opportunities of Anchindrain Township The challenges the Anchindrain Township is facing is the lack of the marketing department and the digital marketing strategies in attracting tourist to the sites and having a limited budget. The Anchindrain Township is facing several other challenges which are the improvement in the appearance of the sites and the limitation of the financial budget and historic nature of that areas. Anchindrain Township failed in getting attention from the public because of the fail in the marketing strategies done by the other department of the Anchindrain. The role of marketing strategies is handled by a person who has another role in another department. There is no separate department for the marketing of the Anchindrain to attract more tourists to the places through advertisement and promotions (AuchindrainTownship, 2021). There is an opportunity for Auchindrain Township to attract tourists as the areas between Inveraray to Oban are the most visited area. Through digital marketing of the Township by sharing videos, blogs and social media posts Auchindrain attracts more visitors to the site. 3.0 Situational analysis of Anchindrain Township 3.1 SWOT Analysis 3.1.1 Strength Anchindrain Township enriched with cultural and heritage sites for the highland Scottish people. Its strength is constructed weaving looms that are made of the Flintstones. Furthermore, the old craft and the house are the major strength of Anchindrain. 3.1.2 Weakness The weakness of Anchindrain Township is not having a proper marketing department and specific person for marketing the museum in promoting and attracting the tourist in that areas. The second main weakness is not having enough budget to finance the expenses and promoting the site for tourism and not having improvement in the sites. 3.1.3 Opportunity The opportunity for Anchindrain is to attract new tourists and people having history knowledge and interest in Scottish history. The site has the potential to attract different visitor interests in the heritage and cultural history of Scotland. All the sites and buildings have access to the road. 3.1.4 Threats There are chances of the other heritage and historical sites being opened for tourists as well at Argyll. The wear and tear of the old craft and not having proper maintenance of the barns and houses result in the loss of the historical item for the Anchindrain. 3.2 Competitive Analysis Under the competitive analysis, there is a strong competitor in that area of Argyll but Inverarary castle and Inveraray Jail also have a place at Argyll where tourists use to visit there because of the historical and cultural items. Inveraray Castle is famous for the Ancestral home of the Clan Campbell and also an iconic visitor attraction in the west of Scotland which is a strong competitor for the Auchindrain Township. The caste is also the home of the Argyll Duke and Duchess and their families. The Inveraray jail is also a famous visitor location in that area because of the old prisoner jail and the wooden hammock and beds (AchindrainTownship, 2020). 3.3 Consumer Analysis The major visitor of the Anchindrain Township is a person with ages of 45 years and have an interest in Scotland history. The families and the kids having age between 5-10 and more studying the national history are also the visitors. The group agricultural, knitter, quilters, and history having an interest in the heritage and history are also the consumer of the township. People whose ancestors lived there in the past visit these places and sites as ancestral tourism having a connection with the Auchindrain township to seen the simple genuine highland as their ancestor village (AchindrainTownship, 2020). 3.4 Product Analysis Anchindrain Township is an example of an 18th-century highland township, the site has a high potential of tourist attraction because of its tangible authenticity. The township is now run as a visitor and the museum, where the visitors can explore the building and lands of the township through the tablets guides. The old farming houses and the barns and furniture’s over there offering a lot of charming scenes. The descendant of the Scottish family roots over there in Auchindrain having a history of the ordinary people in that area. The Anchindrain Township is located 6 miles away from the Inveraray and can be seen from the road of the Lochgilphead. A town is an ideal place for the tourist in avoiding overcrowded spaces and have a unique opportunity in embarking on the past of the surviving township of Scotland. This site has huge importance in the extraordinary and unique environment and potential if it’s further developed. Promoting the site for the tourist, it’s required a digital marketing strategy in attracting new tourists. The township is enriched with Scottish cultural heritage, tradition, and genealogy. The township building is being recognized by the Government of Scotland as their historical and cultural national significance (AuchindrainTownship, 2021). 3.5 Communication Analysis The Auchindrain have museum and important place in the Scotland past having a deep stunning view at the countryside at Argyll where houses and the building of the small farming communities are located in the township (AuchindrainTownship, 2021). The communication of the Township is done through the social media account and the website of the trust to update about the event and opening time for the public. 4.0 Target audience and campaign objectives The target audience for digital marketing is the age of 45 plus having an interest in the history of the Scotland and families having kids with age between 50-10 years and the older kids as well having an interest in the national history and the heritage. The groups of the visitor may be the agricultural and the knitter and the quilters and people have ancestral tourism. The target audience also is those ancestral who have connections with the Auchindrain because the ancestor left the areas in past. Furthermore, the schools, educational and universities students, and the local community living in that areas are also the target audience for Auchindrain Township. The digital marketing of the Auchindrain Township is to attract more tourists from the UK to capitalize on the staycation effect and also increase the visitor to the site as well. 4.1 Objectives of the digital marketing strategy The objectives of the digital marketing of Auchindrain Township is to attract the visitor and increase the pride of the local heritage and the history of Scotland. The museum and other building and burn have strong potential in attracting the tourist from the United Kingdom to Auchindrain Township to experience the heritage and the working style of the ordinary people of the Scottish lived there. The main objective of the digital marketing of Township is to increase the number of the annual visitors and the customer having more interest in the Scottish history and engage them as well. Furthermore, through digital marketing of the places, in raising awareness of the Auchindrain as the example of the Scottish highland township. 4.2 SMART Digital Marketing Objectives 5.0 Digital Marketing Strategies of Auchindrain Township Digital marketing strategies are the plan in achieving more visitors to the Township through online social media posting and search via online channels. The strategy will provide tactics through making an investment in the tactics and channel and capturing more visitors to the website leading to an increase in the visitor to the museum and heritage and cultural site through digital marketing. 5.1 Increase in traffic on the website through search engine optimization One of the digital marketing strategies for Auchindrain Township is to use SEO in their website for optimization through boosting their organic ranking in the search engine and get more traffic on their website. The majority of the online users search through search engines which will help in optimizing the Auchindrain Township in the search engine. To get more traffic on the website of the museum to update the visitor about the site and ticketing, Auchindrain trust has to use the right keyword in targeting more visitor on the website which help in increasing the visitor on the site as well because of the information about the township. The usage of SEO in their websites help the Auchindrain to get more visitor on websites which lead to increase the awareness in the visitor as well about the heritage and cultural site of the Auchindrain Township. 5.2 Keeping the museum website longer while investing in design and outlook Through investing in the website, Auchindrain Township gets more impression on their website as according to the research, web design has much impact on the visitor get the attraction of the visitor positively. They have to more focus on the website user experience in terms of the customization of the website, navigation giving the perfect location of the site, and having visual elements and videos through which visitors are attracted to visit the heritage sites and get a genuine experience of it. 5.3 Social media marketing and connecting with the lovers of museums Through social media marketing on the different platform can build the personal connection with the people have interest in the museum and historical and heritage place in Scotland. Auchindrain Township has to use different popular social media websites including, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, and LinkedIn in attracting through a social media marketing campaign. The social media platform is a great place for sharing the content for the audience of the museum and history lovers. Each type of social media platform provides an opportunity to share different aspects and old craft and the sites of the Auchindrain Township in getting more visitors. 5.3.1 Facebook The Auchindrain Township have their official Facebook page with 3,437 followers and have different post shared on the timeline on different date related to the events and the ticket sales online. Auchindrain has to use its own Facebook page regularly and get more followers on the page through sharing the photos of the township sites and the museum through videos, photos, and blogs posts and also sponsored ads to get more visitors to the site of the township. They have to create posts related to different events and offering ticket discounts and making posts educational and funny to attract visitors. Facebook Post: 5 Post Weekly Auchindrain Township Poster ( (Facebook, 2021) 5.3.2 Instagram Another way of digital marketing is sharing photos and videos of the Auchindrain Museum through sponsored ads and promoting on their official page. There are 500 followers on the official Instagram account of the Auchindrain Township. Through sharing photos and videos related to the event and ticket prices to motivate and attract the tourist to the site for a genuine experience of Scottish history. Instagram: 5 Post Weekly Auchindrain Township Instagram Account 5.3.3 YouTube Through sharing videos on YouTube related to the Flintstone and the loom of weaving machines and other heritage and culture items with complete documentaries and stories will attract more audiences to the site as well. The Auchindrain trust should adopt videography of the site areas and making documentaries and stories with short clips to attract more tourists to the township. This will help to get the historian and the cultural expert to visit the site. YouTube Videos: 5 Videos Monthly YouTube Sponsored ADS: 3 ADS per Month 5.3.4 Twitter Through using the hashtag on Twitter while sharing photos in promoting the cultural and heritage site of the Township to update people about the event and the ongoing program at Township. Twitter: 5 Post Weekly 5.4 Content Marketing In this type of digital marketing, Auchindrain Township has to make focuses on engaging, reaching, and connecting to the history and heritage lover of England through different content which may be consisted of the infographics of the old craft and the visiting centers and sites, videos, and blogs posts which provide enough information to the customer in motivating them to visit this site. The high quality and creative original content of the places, houses, and burns at the townships make the users in sharing with their families, friends and colleagues, and other people who use social media platforms. Overall content marketing of the township will provide valuable information to the audience and increase the traffic on the Auchindrain Township website while focusing on visibility (Webfx, 2021). Content Marketing: 2 Blogs per Month 5.5 Video Marketing Video marketing is another strategy of digital marketing in which, through sharing information and valuable videos about the Township cultural and heritage sites, including the old craft. In video marketing, the videos will be like an announcement, behind the scene videos and instructional videos, and the videos of the event to attract more tourists to the site (Webfx, 2021). Video Marketing: 3 Videos per Month 6.0 Digital Marketing Budget Digital Marketing Three Months Six Months Budget Platforms Facebook £20 £40 £60 Instagram £20 £40 £60 YouTube £30 £40 £70 Twitter £10 £20 £30 Content Marketing £20 £30 £50 Website Design and £200 £200 £400 Improvement Search Engine £150 £180 £330 Optimization Total Budget £1000 6.1 Timing Plan Digital August September October November December January Marketing 2021 2021 2021 2021 2021 2022 Facebook 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post Instagram 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post 10 Post YouTube 5 Ads 5 Ads 5 Ads 5 Ads 5 Ads 5 Ads Twitter 10 10 Tweets 10 10 Tweets 10 Tweets 10 Tweets Tweets Tweets 7.0 Evaluations The overall evaluation of the Auchindrain Township shows that it’s facing challenges in terms of the limited budget for digital marketing and attracting new tourists to the site. There needs an improvement in the heritage and cultural barns and buildings. Furthermore, the Auchindrain Township is struggled to increase the number of visitors having an interest in Scottish history. To increase the number of visitors to the township, they have to use digital marketing strategies including, increase the traffic on the website through SEO, keeping the museum website up to date about the events and ticketing prices, sharing posts and photos with sponsors on the social media platform including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter through schedule posting on the social media platform through information people on the social media. The other digital marketing includes content marketing while sharing blogs about stories and events and video marketing through posting videos while making documentaries and posting them on the YouTube sponsored ads while targeting the United Kingdom population. 8.0 Reference AchindrainTownship. (2020). Achindrain Township . Retrieved from Achindrain Township : https://auchindrain-museum.org.uk/ AuchindrainTownship. (2021, July 13th). About Auchindrain. Retrieved from Auchindrain Township: https://www.auchindrain.org.uk/about-auchindrain/ Facebook. (2021, July 8th). Auchindrain Township. Retrieved from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/auchindrain.township/photos/a-/-/ Webfx. (2021). 7 Digital Marketing Strategies for Your Campaign. Retrieved from Webfx: https://www.webfx.com/internet-marketing/actionable-digital-marketing-strategies.html#conte nt