Bookings Up, Energy Use Down For The Craig-Y-Don

“We created a Facebook reel that gained 250,000 likes and views. The minute we put out a good reel we see the bookings increase.”

The Craig-Y-Don’s Laura Taylor explains how marketing and other support from Blackpool Growth Business Academy and Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy is helping secure a bright future for the Blackpool hotel.

If you’ve ever driven along Blackpool promenade, you know the Craig-Y-Don. Overlooking the Irish Sea and handily placed for enjoying all that the town has to offer, it prides itself on “real northern hospitality”. It’s a place that has been part of director and general manager Laura Taylor’s life for decades.

Team Craig-Y-Don, from the left Ben, Dan, Laura and Barbara

Her mum and dad once owned it. Then, when they sold the hotel, she stayed on supporting the new owners. Now things have come full circle. She’s back in control of a bigger-than-ever Craig-Y-Don, which has expanded into the former Balmoral Hotel next door.

“I've gone from a 63-bedroom hotel to a 110-bedroom now,” Laura says.

Making more of social media

In many ways, Laura’s journey has taken her full circle. She started the Craig-Y-Don’s first Facebook account almost twenty years ago. When she took control of the business again, the world of hospitality marketing had changed and she realised she needed help.

After spotting an ad for Blackpool Growth Business Academy offeinrg fully-funded support from the UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund, Laura got in touch with Nikki. “She's helped me so much,” says Laura. “She’s just brought everything together. We’ve done a marketing course with her. A MailChimp course. We’re about to do a sales course. And we’ve done the Facebook ads course with her several times – I’m not sure she’ll let us do it again! But it’s become so crucial to the business.

“I’ve now got my own social media team [which includes Laura’s mum, who’s “enjoying the job she loves most as a marketing manager and writer for the hotel she once owned”] and I’m doing exactly what Nikki says: I’ve been able to step away from the detail of working in the business to working on the business and I love it.

“We created a Facebook reel that gained 450,000 views. The minute we put out a good reel we see the bookings increase. We’ve definitely seen an uptick in direct bookings. That’s so important, because otherwise we’d have to increase our reliance on Booking.com and coaches, and they all take a commission. Raising our profile by sending our guys out to have fun creating reels about the town has made a massive difference, and we love doing it.

“We’ve always managed to maintain a good percentage of direct bookings. Despite becoming a much bigger hotel, we’ve still managed to maintain that percentage, and that’s all down to knowing what we’re doing with our marketing.

“When you're putting a Mailchimp email or Facebook ad out and you don't fully know what you're doing, it's quite stressful. You don’t get the best results because you don’t know how. Nikki has made it simple. We come up with a marketing plan every month, everyone knows what they're doing and what we need to create. And it’s working great.” 

Saving energy. Saving money.

Not content with transforming the marketing of the Craig-Y-Don, Laura is working with Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy to make the hotel more sustainable too.

“We met with Megan Tucker [leader of the academy], who spent about half a day at the hotel exploring opportunities. There are some simple, quick wins we can make, like adding draught tape to our windows, which will help lower energy consumption.

“We’re now waiting for the report that follows the audit, and we’re excited about that. My dream is to be the first Blackpool hotel to have solar panels on the roof – we’d be happy to invest in that.”

“Embrace it and get stuck in”

What would Laura’s advice be for other Blackpool businesses thinking of asking for support?

“Just embrace it and get stuck in,” she says. “Every business owner is too busy. It’s never easy to take time out.  But doing this has helped me take a step back. It’s made me more creative. And I’m really enjoying it.”

To access fully-funded support, talk to Blackpool Growth Business Academy and Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy