Ski Resort Marketing: 11 Effective Strategies

The world’s top resorts know the secret to successfully attracting visitors is a well-rounded marketing strategy.

Ski tourism is a massive industry that’s expected to grow from $38 billion in 2022 to $51 billion by 2028. Winter resorts need to evolve to meet the demands of modern skiers and snowboarders, who more than ever are seeking a sense of community.

That’s why I’ve studied what’s working for the world’s top resorts in 2024. My research uncovered 11 effective marketing strategies for ski and snowboard resorts looking to forge a connection with their target audience, generate hype, and create a legion of loyal ambassadors who keep coming back year after year.

11 Impactful Marketing Strategies For Ski and Snowboard Facilities

For ski and snowboarding lodges, great marketing is not only about creating a buzz – it’s about turning that attention into action.

Here are some proven strategies with case studies that prove their efficacy.

1. Create a community on social media

77% of consumers who have a positive experience with a brand on social media are more likely to choose them over competitors. Ski resorts can use this to their advantage, and use their socials to create affinity for their brand.

Use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to create high quality content daily, host events and contests, and encourage users to share their experiences. Winter resorts that are using social media most effectively have dedicated resources allocated to these marketing channels, with data tracking and associated KPIs in place to ensure things are moving along on the right track.

Reward users for their interactions, and ensure your social media manager is interacting with engagers throughout the day. When done right, the reward for an active social media presence is a thriving online community.

Why it matters: Having a strong presence on social media can create a 24/7, year-round marketing channel helping build brand awareness and create loyal followers and advocates.

Getting started: Focus on one social media channel at first, ensuring you gain traction before dividing your efforts.

Action steps:

1. Share daily content: Create high quality content that showcases the beauty of your ski resort, allows viewers behind the scenes, shares real-time updates, or teaches something new.
2. Create community: Reward, reshare and respond to users who engage. Create conversations, and gamify things where possible by running contests and giveaways.
3. Utilize UGC content: Leverage the experiences of your ski resort visitors by encouraging them to share photos and videos using a branded hashtag.
4. Experiment with ads: Consider running monthly experiments with paid ads and boosts to target potential new visitors using different targeting settings.

Success story: Mammoth Mountain in California has created a loyal online community who shares their experiences on socials using the hashtag #MammothStories.

2. Share engaging videos

The social media landscape has changed dramatically in the past few years, with platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube shifting their models to compete with the popularity of TikTok. Each major social channel now has their own dedicated short video sections which ski resorts can take advantage of when it comes to marketing. On the other hand, TikTok has also evolved to focus on long form video and compete with YouTube. 

Online users are more visually-driven than they’ve ever been, and engaging video content in either format can increase the desire to visit your ski resort. 67% of travelers use video to guide their decision-making when choosing a destination.

The most successful accounts carefully select music, visuals and other elements for their videos that maximize emotional connection with viewers. For ski resorts, there’s an opportunity to tap into the key emotions of freedom, adventure and excitement that snowsports enthusiasts typically associate with ski and snowboarding trips.

92% of marketers say that video has given them a good ROI in the past year, so as a ski resort this represents a major opportunity. Short-form video in particular is easier to create, more effective than it’s ever been, and has the potential to go viral quickly thanks to the generous algorithms.

Why it matters: Video content has exploded in popularity, and can help generate brand awareness, plus increase time on site, leads, and sales – ultimately generating more resort visitors.

Getting started: Do your research and pick a channel with the most viral potential for your brand and demographics, then experiment by posting short-form video content for 30 days.

Action steps:

1. Establish one channel: Carve out an audience on one channel by regularly posting high quality video content.
2. Optimize content: Focus on increasing the visual appeal of video content, ensuring you optimize for digestibility and shareability.
3. Experiment: Test out longer form content (tutorials, guided ski sessions, promotional videos, visitor stories), live streams, or other short-form content channels to gauge traction and potential.

Success story: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort has racked up millions of views on their TikTok videos and stunning long-form YouTube videos, helping them successfully brand themselves as a premier destination for adventure.

3. Team up with influencers and athletes

Influencer marketing is more utilized than ever, and there’s perhaps no better industry set to capitalize on the trend than snowsports. Resorts can collaborate with influencers and athletes to showcase their facilities and other offerings online through brand deals, sponsored posts and other types of partnerships. The ideal partnerships are with personalities who are genuinely passionate about your resort and can communicate authentically about their experiences.

Ski resorts aren’t just limited to major athletes and content creators when selecting ambassadors, either. Nearly 70% of brands opt to work with influencers with under 100k followers, with many preferring nano-influencers with followings of less than 10k. Not only is it more cost-effective to work with smaller influencers, but they often have better engagement rates when compared with larger accounts.

Done right, these types of partnerships can help play a major role in creating credibility and community online, increasing your ski resort’s visibility and bookings in the process.

Why it matters: The right partnerships can result in shareable, engaging content that connects with and persuades new audiences to visit your resort.

Getting started: Create a shortlist of potential influencers and athletes to work with your resort, and determine a budget for this marketing channel (even if small and experimental to start).

Action steps:

1. Define the campaign: Become crystal clear on what the objective of the campaign will be, what will be required of partners, and how success will be measured.
2. Select right: Seek out authentic partners whose content connects with the values of your brand and resort. Consider working with local micro-influencers.
3. Create engaging content: Allow your partners access to your resort, and work together to create relevant and relatable content that tells a compelling story.
4. Measure: Track and set up reporting for key metrics related to your campaign including reach, views, story views, impressions, engagement, and clicks.

Success story: Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, Canada teamed up with adventure photographer and influencer Callum Snape to create a campaign showcasing the natural beauty in the region and the resort’s top attractions.

4. Create seasonal packages and promotions

It’s no secret that ski resorts have a midweek lull, or that turnout decreases during shoulder season. Smooth out demand and boost revenue during these slower periods by creating strategic incentives, packages, and discounts to entice and reward off-peak visitors.

Different users also have varying booking preferences. For example, some users plan their ski vacations well in advance, while others make spur-of-the-moment decisions. Others might be swayed by discounted lift tickets and accommodation packages. Cater to all types by offering early bird incentives, last-minute specials, and package deals.

Knowing your exact occupancy rate statistics can help pinpoint opportunities where special packages and promotions can be most effective.

Why it matters: Through diversifying offerings and creating packages that appeal to different preferences, you can reach a wider audience segment and maximize turnout year-round.

Getting started: Dive into the numbers and pinpoint your resort’s slowest period, then brainstorm incentives and packages that could help boost visitor turnout.

Action steps:

1. Analyze your audience: Consider how different types of promotions and packages might appeal to different visitor segments (including families, last-minute types, couples, adventure seekers, tourists, etc)
2. Combine offers: Create new attractive offers by bundling ski passes with other local experiences, hotels or events to appeal to new audiences.
3. Test and track: Keep track of all the results of your experiments, and continue to double down on what’s working.

Success story: Vail Resorts released the innovative Epic Pass which allowed users discounted yearly access to various North American ski resorts, incentivizing new resort visits and creating a predictable up-front revenue stream.

5. Stay in touch via email 

Email marketing is a marketing channel that’s stood the test of time across industries, and it’s still as effective as ever for ski and snowboard resorts. For every $1 put into email channels, brands are seeing a staggering ROI of $36.

Not only can you use email to nurture leads, but you can use your campaigns to build excitement for the new season, increase the effectiveness of your promotions, follow up with visitors, and increase bookings. But you can utilize the opportunity to cross-promote other channels and feed into your community building efforts – it shouldn’t be all about promotions. Think: how can you add value to your audience?

Why it matters: Effective email marketing can significantly increase repeat bookings, keep your resort top-of-mind for potential guests, and provide a high return on investment compared to many other marketing channels.

Getting started: Create a simple welcome series for new subscribers that adds value and educates them about your resort and offerings.

Action steps:

1. Build a list: If you haven’t already, add lead capture forms to your website (and Linktree, if applicable). Offer incentives for joining your email list, like a discount, free report or exclusive newsletter.
2. Segment your audience: Create list segments based on website visits, demographics or other criteria to send more tailored promotions (hint: it massively boosts open rates). 
3. Give value: Use email to drive action, but also reward loyal readers with tips, tutorials, snow reports and other exclusive information to keep them coming back.
4. Test and refine: Run A/B split tests on subject lines and send times to learn from your audience’s behavior and boost open rates.

Success story: Aspen Snowmass uses email marketing to connect with their large email list(s), which are highly segmented based on preferences. They send visually pleasing updates that feel personalized and relevant, including snow reports, offers, summer and winter updates, and tailored promotions. This approach has resulted in high open rates and is a key driver for repeat bookings.

6. Optimize your website for conversions

First impressions are everything, and your ski resort’s website is often the first connection you have with your potential visitors. The difference between a well-designed website and a poorly designed one can make or break conversion and bounce rates. Ensure your website is not only visually appealing, but also intuitive and user-friendly.

Use clear calls to action. Make it easy for users to opt in to your mailing list, providing optin boxes with compelling lead magnets in obvious places on your website. This will help increase the number of email signups which can feed into other components of your marketing. Keep the booking process simple and streamlined to reduce customer abandonment at key steps in the booking process.

Be sure to optimize for mobile, as nearly 60% of global web traffic comes from mobile devices – but also ensure a solid user experience on desktop.

Why it matters: A well-designed, optimized website and checkout process can boost booking conversion rates and improve the perception of your brand.

Getting started: Install heat maps on your website and identify potential areas for improvement. Consider running user tests with small target groups and gathering feedback, or split testing design and navigation elements to improve user experience.

Action steps:

1. Simplify navigation: Map out menu structure to make it as intuitive and user-friendly as possible, using data to justify your decisions. All key information should be reachable in just one click.
2. Optimize for mobile: Ensure your site looks great and functions smoothly on smartphones and tablets, which many people use to plan their trips.
3. Run speed optimizations: Use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool to pinpoint problem areas, then use those insights to improve performance and load times.
4. Streamline booking: Analyze available data to minimize any points of friction in the booking process, making things as simple and intuitive as possible.

Success story: Deer Valley Resort in Utah has put a lot of effort into optimizing their website for user experience, and turning it into a predictable marketing tool. It’s clean, modern, and intuitive with stunning visuals that get users excited about planning their next visit.

7. Create unforgettable experiences

Ski resorts can appeal to new types of visitors by creating or hosting unique types of experiences. Considering more than ¾ of millennials would prefer spending money on events and experiences as opposed to material goods, there’s a unique opportunity for winter resorts to capitalize on this trend.

The benefits of cultivating resort experiences like concerts, culinary events, competitions, races, workshops or other types of cultural events go beyond differentiating your resort. You instantly appeal to a wider audience, encourage longer stays, win repeat visits, and ultimately boost revenue. 

Create a unique culture around your resort and give visitors the gift of last memories with strategic event planning. 

Why it matters: A strategic approach to event planning can distinguish you from competitors and help create a unique culture that visitors associate with your resort.

Getting started: Consider your target audience and plan a smaller-scale event to appeal to their tastes and preferences, using it as a test experience to plan for future larger events.

Action steps:

1. Brainstorm event types: Plan a range of potential experiences that appeal to various interests. Consider collaborations with local businesses or other brands.
2. Create an event calendar: Confirm dates for your planned events and add a visual calendar to your website in a dedicated events or activities section.
3. Promote strategically: Spread the word and create hype for upcoming events using all of your available channels – including your email list, social media, and partners.

Success story: Blue Mountain resort in Ontario, Canada runs successful events all year-round which bring in new visitors from all over the country. From Santa Ski runs and fun competitions to university week and season pass holder appreciation events, they’ve successfully created a unique “Blue Mountain culture” that keeps visitors coming back.

8. Reward visitor loyalty and offer subscriptions

Ski resorts that can create stability by implementing a subscription-based model within their business or establishing a loyalty program which rewards frequent visitors. 

Through making a commitment in advance, guests can be given special pricing along with flexible access to the resort, or even a group of resort partners with a network. Repeat purchases can be rewarded with benefits and discounts via a loyalty program, which 68% of consumers say increases their likelihood of using a brand’s services.

In return, ski resorts benefit from the financial stability even during imperfect weather conditions, and report higher guest satisfaction, retention, and number of days skied.

Why it matters: Subscription models and loyalty rewards help maximize the lifetime value of visitors, create predictable revenue sources, and help unlock new opportunities for long-term growth.

Getting started: Plan out a foundational points system that rewards visitors for basic actions including visits, purchases, and referrals.

Action steps:

1. Implement a pilot program: Dry test a loyalty program that rewards frequent visitors with special perks, upgrades, and discounts.
2. Collect and utilize feedback: Survey guests to gather feedback on their experiences with the loyalty program, and/or their interest in a subscription program. Implement changes based on your findings.
3. Launch a subscription: Create a specialized offering for guests who are willing to lock in their commitment in advance.

Success story: Powder Alliance brings together 21 independent resorts across 3 countries in one simple rewards-based model. Holders of a pass from any participating resort receive 3 free days of access to each of the other 20 resorts in the network. Their innovative offering not only provides massive value to pass holders, who receive large discounts for their advanced commitment and are encouraged to visit new resorts, but also increases customer loyalty and repeat business for all resorts in the network.

9. Use data analytics to your advantage

When data points guide decision making, financial outcomes are improved. Organizations that report the strongest adherence to data-driven insights are twice as likely to meet their business goals. 

The world’s top resorts use insights from data analytics to guide their decision-making and improve guest experiences. To capitalize on these insights within your ski resort, begin leveraging analytics data to understand the behaviors of your guests. Track metrics like booking rates and patterns, average stay lengths, sales numbers, guest satisfaction scores, and repeat visitor rates. You can also use data to inform your marketing strategy, tracking email open and click-through rates and the effectiveness of various channels for driving booking conversions.

By creating a company culture oriented around analytics and gaining deep insights into patterns and behaviors, your ski resort can gain a leg up on the competition. Not only will you be able to personalize offerings and adapt your marketing strategies, but you’ll be better positioned to predict future trends in the industry.

Why it matters: By letting data-driven insights drive your decision making, you can optimize marketing spend, improve the effectiveness of initiatives, make key hiring decisions and double down on strategies that move the needle.

Getting started: Install Google Analytics on your website and set up basic goal tracking for bookings.

Action steps:

1. Create a data-driven culture: Hire or promote managers who understand the power of an analytics-driven strategy and educate employees about data analytics.
2. Track key metrics: Tie the use of analytics to KPIs and employee assessments, and implement systems and strategies continuously track key numbers.
3. Study your audience: Run regular analysis of available demographic data, interests, and and other points of data to update your customer avatars and test new hypotheses.
4. Run A/B tests: Use insights gained from analytics to craft strategic A/B split tests of website pages, ads, emails, and offerings.
5. Utilize data: Make use of all historical data to predict future trends, optimize pricing, make hiring decisions, and personalize offers to guests.

Success story: Vail Resorts leverages their extensive guest data to understand visitor behaviors, then personalizes their products and offerings to incentivize action. For example, they use past data to drive advanced purchases, engage guests in advance of visits, and offer ancillary benefits to pass holders. The resort chain’s continued growth can be largely attributed to their data-driven marketing efforts.

10. Master retargeting

Retargeting ads allow your ski resort to re-engage visitors who have connected with your resort in some manner online. This form of marketing tends to be much more effective than advertising to cold audiences, with retargeted past visitors being 70% more likely to convert. 

The reality is that the majority of visitors won’t make a booking the first time they visit your website or see an ad. But by serving retargeting ads, you can bring back highly qualified leads who are much more likely to complete a booking.

You can also personalize the ads across various platforms, ensuring that they resonate with the visitor and relate to their past actions on your website. For example, you might have various types of ad creatives corresponding to each stage of the funnel, or offer limited-time discounts or incentives to users who abandoned during the booking process.

Why it matters: By running retargeting ads, you can dramatically boost conversion rates, bookings and revenue. You also ensure your brand stays top-of-mind.

Getting started: Have your developer install the Meta Pixel on your website and set up an event for bookings.

Action steps:

1. Install pixels: Have your developer install all relevant tracking codes to your website, including the Google Ads tag, TikTok Pixel, and others as required.
2. Create audiences: Segment audience lists based on behaviors on your website, such as cart abandonment, visits to specific pages, etc.
3. Create ad library: Strategically design a wide range of ads that speak to your audience segments, and run initial tests. Be sure to set frequency caps to avoid ad fatigue.
4. Set up dynamic retargeting: Utilize dynamic ads to serve ads to users on various platforms showcasing the exact product they viewed on your website.
5. Test and refine: Use data to drive your decision-making, tweaking ad budgets accordingly and turning off ad sets that are not converting.

Success story: Sojern is a digital marketing agency for travel-related businesses and resorts. They were able to achieve a 13x ROI on ad spend and 81% increase in direct bookings after implementing a retargeting ads strategy for a luxury resort brand.

11. Create strategic local partnerships

When viewed from a holistic perspective, your resort is part of a larger ecosystem of local destinations that appeal to tourists. By establishing strategic collaborations with other local businesses and tourism boards, you expand your ski resort’s network and create a more cohesive experience for potential visitors.

Through your partner network, you can then set up referrals, offer appealing package deals, and run regional marketing campaigns. Collectively, you can draw more visitors to your local area and encourage them to stay longer.

Why it matters: A local network can benefit your ski resort through enhanced offerings, and extended marketing reach.

Getting started: Create a shortlist of three companies in your resort’s local area that complement your offerings and reach out to begin exploring potential overlap.

Action steps:

1. Create package deals: Team up with hotels, restaurants, and other tourism activity providers in your local area and put together all-inclusive offerings and group packages.
2. Cross-promote: Partner with complementary businesses in the region and cross-promote each other’s offerings.
3. Partner with tourism boards: Work with your local tourism board to launch destination marketing campaigns that highlight the beauty and offerings in your resort’s region.

Success story: The Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority (LTVA) is a prime example of local collaboration done right. Multiple ski resorts in the region have joined forces with the LTVA to co-promote the area’s appeal and wide range of activities. Their combined efforts have helped boost visitor numbers to the region by more than 12% and winter occupant rates by 8%, with local businesses also seeing benefits in terms of tourism revenue.

How to Measure the Success of Your Ski Facility’s Marketing Efforts

Great marketers know that the success of any marketing campaign comes down to solid tracking. It’s not enough to just spray and pray, you need data to back up your results.

With that in mind, here are some key numbers to watch when implementing your ski or snowboard resort’s marketing plan:

• Conversion Rate: How many visitors are buying passes after being exposed to your marketing efforts?
• Website Traffic: How many daily visitors does your website receive? Is it increasing over time?
• Engagement: Track stats like likes, saves, shares, comments and followers. Is your social media engagement improving with time?
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): How many of your social media visitors are clicking through to your website? What percentage of users are opening your emails, then clicking on your CTAs?
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): What does it cost you to successfully attract a new visitor to your resort?
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): What’s the average amount a customer spends at your resort over their lifetime?
• Net Promoter Score (NPS):  How likely are your visitors to recommend your resort to others?
• Return on Investment (ROI or Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): For every dollar you put into marketing or advertising, how much do you get back?

By tracking these numbers, you’ll have a better idea of how to allocate your ski resort’s budget and resources.

Before you start implementing new marketing strategies, ensure you have measures in place to track their effectiveness. Focus on testing one approach at a time so that you can properly attribute results, and use data to guide your decision making.

Frequently Asked Questions About Ski Facility Marketing

How to market a ski resort?

Successfully marketing a ski or snowboard resort involves the strategic testing of new marketing strategies such as social media marketing, video content, influencer partnerships and package deals. You should ensure you’re tracking key metrics, and tweaking your approach based on data.

Who is the target market for ski resorts?

The target market for ski and snowboard resorts includes snowsports enthusiasts with an average age of 35, skewing 60% male and 40% female. Though women make up a lower percentage of visitors, they also account for the majority of first-time visits. A multi-faceted marketing strategy for ski resorts might also target luxury travelers, young adults, and families.

What is the outlook for the ski industry?

The ski industry outlook is positive, with a CAGR of 4.35% and expected growth to $4.67 billion USD by 2029. Europe is the fastest growing region for snowsports, while North America remains the largest. Ski and snowboarding resorts that focus on sustainability and offer year-round experiences are expected to thrive in the years to come.

How big is the snowboard market?

The snowboard market remains smaller than the ski market, yet still continues to grow year after year at a similar rate. Not only does the sport attract younger participants, but it also drives innovation and change within the larger snowsports industry.

Building Community on and off the Slopes

Considering that 87% of ski resort visits in the US are returning visitors, it’s just as important to focus on creating incredible experiences for your current guests as it is to attract new ones. 

The most successful facilities successfully implement these ski resort marketing strategies to help create a sense of community that encourages users to keep coming back year after year.

For ski resorts, the successful implementation of proven marketing strategies can make all the difference between a great season and a mediocre one. Be sure to experiment with various strategies and have measures in place to test their effectiveness.

If you need help with your ski marketing, head to Ski.Marketing!

Richard Patey

Founder of Snowbistro, I’m an ex-seasonaire (Whistler 05/06) and internet marketer who rides & resides in the mountains of Slovakia