ad collaborative post // Skiing, snowboarding, skating, ice hockey, and other winter sports are becoming increasingly popular with each passing year. With 470 ski resorts operating in the United States, however, how can you stand out from the crowd and make your mark?
Let’s take a look at six effective marketing techniques you can implement for an unforgettable and successful winter sports campaign for your resort.
1. Hold Social Media Competitions
Competitions on social media have a conversion rate of 34%. With a number as good as this, organizing online competitions can help you tap into your prospects’ competitiveness, produce greater engagement, and generate more clicks and sales.
You can also integrate user-generated content (UGC) with competitions to reach out to more people organically. For example, you can invite clients to share an original photo demonstrating their love for sports, then ask people to vote for their favorites.
This makes it more of a community event while encouraging participants to get their friends and family involved so that they can vote for their entries.
2. Get To Know Your Audience
Any successful marketing strategy takes into account its audience. To get to know your target market better, have your audience fill out forms, quizzes, or surveys. Ask them relevant questions and collect their contact information. You can then have a draw to reward winners with sought-after prizes.
Use the information you’ve obtained to:
- Tweak your services
- Update prospects with offers and new product information
- Send online newsletters to keep them interested in your company. This can effectively help you generate 50% more sales while spending 33% less.
- Send text alerts about weather conditions and other important information. You can use them to emphasize safety and establish your presence as a business that genuinely cares about its clients.
3. Market Visually
Most people are visually inclined so it’s also a good idea to get graphics ready to promote events or campaigns. A few types of materials to keep in mind for are winter posters, flyers, social media graphics, e-banners, and e-cards.
Don’t shy away from this tactic just because you think that it’s going to cost a lot. There are online resources like PosterMyWall that offer free customizable templates that you can use on social media. If you visit their website, you’ll find tons of templates to match every look and feel you can imagine.
With websites like these, you can do away with hiring a graphic designer. You can prepare your materials yourself easily, quickly, and cost-effectively.
4. Become an Authority and Give Back to the Winter Sports Community
Establishing yourself as an expert in carefully chosen popular winter sports will not only boost your company’s standing in the industry but will also attract people to your resort. In addition, it lets people know that you care about imparting your knowledge and giving back to the community.
Gain and retain trust by offering instructional workshops that showcase your knowledge. Write blogs and hold workshops where you:
- Share insider tips about relevant topics like how to use gear and equipment, safety reminders, the benefits of taking up a certain sport, etc. You can use articles and lectures to attract new people to the sport and get more people to use your facilities.
- Target a larger audience by answering sports-related questions on your website. Share your insights and get a conversation going to drum up interest in winter sports and your resort.
While you’re at it, don’t forget that how-to videos are also useful and popular. Google searches for “how-to” videos are growing 70% each year. Make this work for you by posting simple how-to video tutorials. You can, for example, provide first-time skiers and snowboarders with a crash course in a sport.
5. Leverage User-Generated Content
Let’s face it: people trust real people. In fact, 84% of respondents believe peer communication is more influential and trustworthy than other forms of advertising. This means that when you encourage UGC in the form of images, videos, reels, and reviews you broaden your company’s reach and influence in a cost-effective manner while driving long-term ROI.
Pro tip: Start a hashtag campaign. This will help you gain user interactions, get your audience to create their own content, raise brand awareness, and consequently get more leads and conversions.
While tweets with hashtags can increase brand engagement by up to 50%, employing too many hashtags can also work against you. Your Marketing People recommends limiting it to three hashtags if you’re using LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook but you can use a few more when using Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok. Just don’t go overboard.
6. Loyalty Programs
According to an article on Retail Dive, 87% of loyalty program members indicated that they were open to the idea of having their activities and behavior monitored as long as they could receive personalized rewards. Since the probability of selling to an existing customer is pretty high at 60% to 70%, establishing a customer loyalty program may be a rewarding experience for your business as well.
Use your rewards program to make customers feel valued. Share exclusive updates and deals with your most loyal fans and give them greater value than first-time visitors. You can even entice members to bring in first-time clients in exchange for a discounted package.
Pro tip: When it comes to loyalty programs, don’t forget to consider consent. When a customer avails of your service, obtain their express permission before adding them to any mailing lists. If you’re having difficulties getting people to sign up, offer incentives like discounts, specially priced packages, or members-only privileges. Don’t be afraid to explore your options.
Wrapping Up
From holding social media competitions, getting to know your audience, getting your visual marketing materials ready, and more, there are many ways to promote winter sports at your resort.
Though offline campaigns can work extremely well, don’t forget that social media holds immense potential for your marketing efforts and the success of your campaigns.
It doesn’t have to cost you a lot either. There are several online resources like PosterMyWall that make preparing quality visual media easier, cheaper, and quicker. Good luck on your campaign!
