One of the industries that experienced a strong rebound this recent winter is the snow resorts industry. According to an article from The Colorado Sun, skier visits to resorts in the United States totaled 59 million for the 2020-2021 winter season. The report also revealed that 78 percent of ski area operators said that the season surpassed their expectations, despite the public health restrictions currently in place amid the pandemic.
If you happen to be part of this industry and want to benefit from the rise in skier visits, you’ll need to create and execute a solid marketing strategy using several channels of engagement. By doing this, you can help your snow resort thrive not just in winter but in any season, as well.
Take note of these impactful marketing strategies for snowboard and ski resorts:
E-Mail Personalized Promotions to Your Customer
Staying in touch with potential and existing customers, whether it’s sending a thank-you e-mail after a customer’s visit or a newsletter, can help drive more booking to your resort. As a matter of fact, nurturing your leads can bump up sales. This involves walking your leads through the booking process with e-mail marketing.
Personalizing your e-mails with a special offer may also raise your sales figure even more. Here’s an example: you could issue special promo codes to customers regularly staying in your ski or snowboard resort via e-mail (or snail mail if they’re not tech-savvy). An example is including promotional offers for the Spyder kids ski pants your store just received or the professional-grade snowboards you’re launching.
You could even issue promo codes around a particular theme, such as a Christmas special and a new guest invitation. This way, the lead or customer is more inclined to make a reservation at your snow resort. Use a reliable and secure online booking system that enables easy redemption of codes, so customers can enjoy a hassle-free booking process.
Use Social Media to Your Advantage
Social media isn’t just a platform or tool to communicate or reach out to friends and family. Businesses can also use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other related websites for social media marketing.
You can start by maintaining an active presence on Facebook. You can achieve this by sharing information about any special event or activity you’re hosting or weather conditions in your area.
Facebook can serve as an incredible communication tool for snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts, as it serves as the ideal platform for sharing videos and photos about your snow resort destination in real-time. You could also use this social media website to allow for more bookings.
Apart from maintaining an active presence, you could use social media to engage current and prospective customers. Create buzz about your snow resort by sharing interesting content about your offerings. This could be a step-by-step guide on choosing the right snowboard or jacket or behind-the-scenes footage of a snowboarding team getting ready for an exhibition event.
What are you waiting for? Begin creating and sharing amazing content on social media to engage followers or fans. If you need more ideas, you could consider sharing videos of customers enjoying an activity, stunning photos of the landscape and images of current snow conditions.
Connect with Influencers
Another marketing strategy you could pursue would be to work with the right influencers for your brand. You could, for instance, connect with travel bloggers. Send a representative from your company who will network and promote your ski and snowboard resort. You could even take this a step further by inviting travel bloggers for an event you’re hosting or a free day at your venue.
You can attract travel bloggers by sharing information about a few of your most popular trails or details about the snowboarding and skiing experiences you provide on a company blog. By sharing this type of content with the public, you’ll engage the visitors of your website and may even entice travel bloggers in the area to discuss your offerings in their blog (or vlog).
Become an Authority in the Snowboarding and Skiing Community
Build a strong presence by hosting educational seminars or workshops about snowboarding or skiing techniques, gear and other information that will allow customers to enjoy these activities as a hobby. Also, you can become an authority figure in your community by:
- Creating video tutorials
- Responding to questions and concerns about the sport on your blog
- Positioning your lead tour guides as educators in the snowboarding and skiing industry
Don’t just wait for customers to find out about your snow resort. Be proactive and implement these great marketing strategies. By taking steps to put your destination on the map, you can increase your chances of succeeding in your business.