Vital Resources for Ski Resorts Using Email Marketing

Love is a deep word, but a I really, really, really like email marketing. When a promotion is started, it’s amazingly powerful and efficient to be able to deliver your message to 5 or 10,000 inboxes of people that actually welcome your message for free. Here are a few vital resources for any resort using email marketing as part of their overall strategy:

1) Marketing Experiments Research Webinars
Millions of dollars of research at your finger tips. From best practices for improving opt-ins to tests of frequency and monetization. Only a few of their bi-weekly live webinars cover email marketing, but they’re worth the wait. My favorites are:

• Optimizing Email in 3 Steps
• Email Relevance & Conversion
• Listing of all their webinars.

2) Solid Email Software w/ Detailed Reports
First of all, an automated email program is a must for both sending and subscribers opting-in. I’ve received a couple emails from a fairly prominent ski media member who is on the “list” of an Idaho resort marketing director. This director made the rookie mistake of pasting about 100, comma separated email addresses in the CC: (not BCC:, which is still old school but not as bad) of a press release email (not to mention the fact that most of the email was in BOLD and ALL CAPS, ugh). Do this to a normal list and you’ll be in hot (if not boiling) water. If you are going to send to large groups, use software. My favorites:

• InfusionSoft
• AWeber
• Emma

3) Blogs and People to Follow
Most marketers have a basic grasp on email marketing, but sometimes it’s good to follow those that spend their entire day focused on one topic and have a team behind them doing the same. Here are a few to keep an eye on:

• The Mail Chimp Blog
• No Main is an ‘Iland’
• Email Precisely