The document outlines Salisbury Cathedral's digital strategy and efforts to improve their online presence and engagement. The strategy aims to bring digital marketing efforts in-house for more control, facilitate participation from all areas, and increase engagement with online audiences. It discusses establishing objectives, developing content strategies and calendars, optimizing their website and social media presence, and changing organizational culture to embrace digital opportunities. It also notes some initial mistakes and next steps to continue improving, such as creating more interactive content, focusing on social media regularity and key community voices.

1. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
A Cathedral in a Digital World
David Coulthard, Director of Marketing and Communications

2. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
2Introduction
Full disclosure...
A Digital Strategy, in a Cathedral
• Objectives
• Strategic approach
Changing the culture
Mistakes
Next steps
• Social networking and community engagement recommendations

3. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
3Full disclosure…
1. I’m not a guru
What I can offer is an alternative perspective
2. I’m not who I say I am...

4. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
4Digital strategy
Digital strategy includes:
• Website
• Social media; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pintrest,
Soundcloud
• Email marketing
• Mobile optimisation – responsive design
• Revenue generation?
Our work aimed to bring all together, giving :
• integrated approach
• common voice and skills
• consistency of approach
Partly driven and shaped by Chapter

5. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
5Digital Strategy Objectives
A strategy that is ambitious, scalable and integrated
Bring ownership in-house and deliver control
Facilitate and indeed drive participation from all areas of
Cathedral – cultural change
Increased engagement online from stakeholders and audiences
Client side = people AND KPIs

6. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
The strategic approach
Content Management Strategy - supported by Themes and an
editorial calendar and integrated with social media
Website based on an open-source platform with appropriate
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Develop Email Marketing and social media promotion and sharing
Mobile optimisation
Digital infrastructure that engages different audiences
Data monitoring and analysis
6

7. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
Changing the culture
The most exciting element
Offering control, and opportunity – everything becomes a
potential digital opportunity
Training – CMS, copywriting and SEO
A new culture – identify and bring together the digital evangelists
7

8. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
Finding that engagement
Finding those internal evangelists – who has that enthusiasm to
tell stories?
What stories do we have to tell?
When are cats better than vicars?
What type of content are people comfortable with?
This shows how far the organisation has travelled, and that it
remains patchy
8

9. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
Mistakes
Search Engine Optimisation - Redirects, 404s, impact on organic
search
Organisational focus and resource allocation
Failure to ensure partners fully understand resource availability
Over-professionalism, fear of the informal
Realism about training, and SEO
Know how scary social media is for some people
9

10. © Salisbury Cathedral, 2015
Next steps
Interactive Magna Carta animated and interactive content
Social Network and Community Engagement recommendations
Re-design site header, adding social icons and email signup
Learning to be more conversational – seek dialogue
More multimedia content
Work on regularity of social media
Better engagement with key voices in our sectors
Have a proper go at Soundcloud, Pinterest, and Instagram?
Integrating TripAdvisor into website
Automated posting
10

11. 33 The Close, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3EJ
T: 01722 555120 F: 01722 555116
www.salisburycathedral.org.uk
© Salisbury Cathedral, 2011