Posted by Christian Ramsey at 12:27 pm
A growing number of resort and spa destinations are spreading their wings and reaching a wider customer base via social media. With the help of social networking platforms and niche bloggers, vacation spots are broadening their branding efforts from the sand to the slopes, and connecting with potential patrons they may not have reached through traditional advertising.
Here’s a look at some of the social strategies these getaway companies are employing and what we can learn from their success.
Online Dedication
Ski resorts in particular are taking advantage of online opportunities to communicate with their communities and reach beyond their usual demographic. World-famous mountain resort company Vail Resorts is so dedicated to new outreach methods that it has shifted 80% of its marketing budget to digital production and social media strategy. As part of the company’s efforts to keep skiers up to date, Vail Resorts has launched three new websites: Lindsey Is Epic, which chronicle’s Vail-based Olympian Lindsey Vonn’s skiing adventures, content portal buzz.snow.com, and the Heavenly resort’s “underground” tahoestash.com.
Vail Resorts Senior Corporate Communications Manager Amy Kemp says each website, along with both of the company’s Twitter accounts (@snowdotcom and @vailmtn) caters to a slightly different audience, but each group shares one thing — a love for skiing and snowboarding.
Park City, Utah’s largest ski franchise The Canyons began harnessing social media two years ago by launching an employee-run blog in conjunction with Twitter and Facebook accounts. The Canyons Communications Coordinator Hannah Bowling says the road to social media has been long but worth the ride.
“A lot of the people here higher up don’t necessary understand social media,” said Bowling. ”But when I did a big contest giveaway on Facebook and they saw how our number of fans grew so quickly, we started thinking of future social media strategies that include more contests, making sure our blog is updated with information our customers want to see.”
In a similar fashion, Utah’s Park City Mountain Resort has broadened its reach by tapping into the mommy bloggersphere. The company’s Snow Mamas blog features five to six mommy bloggers who write about their ski trips. Each mama gives tips on dining, budget, lodging, and ski gear for the whole family.
Offline Action
While building communication through social networking is important for the resort industry, the end goal is to get people to show up. Some destinations are achieving this through integrated campaigns. If executed effectively, online efforts more often than not lead to offline success.
The management team behind Vail Resorts took the offline component of their social media campaign to another level in January when they hosted the 2nd annual Snowcial, a conference that brings the ski industry and the tech world together.
The four-day event highlights activities for vacationers to do throughout the South Lake Tahoe. While attracting customers who wouldn’t normally travel to the area, Snowcial serves as an offline destination for people to share their personal and professional developments with social media.
In addition to giveaways and conferences, blogger retreats are becoming increasingly popular in the resort and spa business. In January, the world-famous vacation spa Club Med held a week-long food blogger camp to bring attention to the culinary delights of the chain resort. A group of eight well-known food bloggers stayed at Club Med Ixtapa Pacific and gave seminars, while others enjoyed the amenities and networked. At a discounted rate, the blogger guests paid for their rooms, activities and food. The foodies with families were able to have their kids stay for free.
Club Med Public Relations Director Kate Moeller says the event started a conversation between the establishment and people who wouldn’t normally go to Club Med.
“Someone who’s reading [a blog by David Lebowitz] isn’t a typical Club Med guest,” said Moeller. “But that person now knows about what Club Med has to offer from a culinary perspective.”
Moeller went on to say that social media is the only realm where anyone can do effective branding. “With the advertising space, you’re limited and you have limited funds,” she explained. “With the recession, everything is about deals. With social media we can actually brand and talk about things like the food blogger camp.”
“The food blogger camp was great because the cost of hosting it was pretty minimal,” said Moeller. “And the power of search and bloggers is undeniable. Because of the blogger event, people can read personal stories about Club Med versus an article in a magazine or an ad. If you Google ‘Club Med, food and wine,’ all of the bloggers’ names come up.”
Social Media Takeaways from the Getaway Industry
With the click of a mouse being just as powerful, if not more so, than word of mouth, it’s apparent that social media efforts require dedication and consistency.
“There’s no escaping how much of an impact social media has on our business,” Bowling asserted. “I’ve heard people say ‘I just saw the Canyon’s Facebook page, or, ‘Hey, I need to tweet that I’m on the chairlift right now.’ It’s really important.”
When it comes to quality versus quantity, Bowling says “quality should take precedence in everything.” The Canyons’ take on social media is that growing with substance is more important than growing in numbers, because numbers don’t guarantee staying power.”
“We do want a lot of online followers, but we’re really only interested in communicating with people who are genuinely interested in what we have going on at The Canyons,” Bowling said.
Another important practice for resorts is to give their audiences what they want and expect, while offering a little something extra.
Moeller says Club Med customers expect ambiance and treatment of a certain caliber. By giving their guests a special taste of the food and wine at Club Med, the resort offers a taste of the good life with a twist. At the same time, it is important to heed the principles of Social Media 101: Transparency, authenticity, staying true to your brand, and strategizing to grow your business.
Above and beyond all, knowing your audience and knowing your social media contributors is paramount. Like with any individual or company leveraging social media, resort owners must accept that they’re no longer in complete control of their brand. However, research and attention to detail goes a long way in monitoring how a business is perceived.
Just like Twitter and Facebook, Buzz has the potential to be a powerful medium for sharing content. You can use it to share blog posts, special deals, or interesting links related to your niche. Just like other social media services, you shouldn’t overdo it though – you want to mix promotional messages with a balance of other useful information and conversation for your followers.
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