Weymouth sailing Olympics, crowds watch and celebrate Gold and Silver wining Olympic sailors

Creating engaging social media campaigns and community-building

Helping Dorsetforyou develop a social media strategy to best take advantage of a variety of social channels to reach out to the public during the Games.

Background to Project

Over the summer of 2012, we were lucky enough to work with West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council in the build-up to and duration of the Olympic Sailing events taking place in Weymouth and Portland.

The Challenge

Recognising the unprecedented opportunity for social media interaction and community-building, the Councils asked us to help them devise and implement a strategy to best take advantage of a variety of social media channels to reach out to the public during the Games.

Olympic Racing in Weymouth credit John Snelling

Our Approach

The help we offered the Councils came in the form of both consultancy and hands-on help. For the former, we held weekly meetings and kept in regular contact to offer ideas and advice on their campaign. Amongst the support we gave was assistance with keyword monitoring, targeting social media influencers, time-optimising posts, and branching out into platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Our hands-on help for the Dorsetforyou team included writing SEO-friendly blog posts, and creating simple, easy to understand KPI reports so they could judge the success of their social media campaign.

Our Results

DorsetforYou Sailing 2012 Olympic rings at Portland. To celebrate the Olympic sailing events held in Weymouth and Portland 2012 Olympic Sailing, Weymouth Dorset Weymouth Beach Olympics 2012

By the end of the Games, the Dorsetforyou Olympics Twitter account (@Sailing_2012) had gained 3,652 followers, while the website had 738,000 visits coming to the site from Olympics related searches.

As intended, the WDDC’s & WPBC’s online presence played a crucial role in the public’s understanding and enjoyment of the Games in Weymouth and Portland.

Key Project Facts

  • 3,652 – Twitter followers gained
  • 738,000 – Website visitors during the Games
  • 680+ – new Facebook Followers
Weymouth sailing Olympics, crowds watch and celebrate Gold and Silver wining Olympic sailors
Visit Dorsetforyou Olympic Sailing 2012 website