This week, I’m hoping to give you a reason to refocus your efforts on email with a few, awesome examples of resort email marketing campaigns. Between subscribing to every new clients list at Ryan Solutions and having a tough time ignoring email boxes on resort websites, here are some of the campaigns that I’ve grown to love since I started my journey in the ski industry.

Pop quiz. What do Shane Co., Wendy’s, and Paul Mitchell have in common?

I’ve give you 10 seconds…7…3, 2, 1. Got it?

All three have someone very high up in the company who is or was the key spokesman. For Shane Co. it was the monotonous Tom Shane, for Wendy’s it was the loveable Dave Thomas, and Paul Mitchell always featured John Paul Dejoria. Everywhere you went, you saw their faces. It wasn’t a hired personality, it was someone on the inside.

Marketing Experiments Strikes Again
I’ve referred to Marketing Experiments before, but I’m going to again. Specifically, I’d like to quote from the “Marketing Experiements Creed” that hangs on the wall above my desk as it has for a few years now. Article One states:

“We believe that people buy from people, that people don’t buy from companies, from stores, or from websites; people buy from people. Marketing is not about programs, it is about relationships.”

I’ve often taken this to heart with my marketing. Though I could have found someone that doesn’t look like a nincompoop on camera, has a voice that doesn’t induce pain in one’s eardrums, or a speaker who could shoot from the hip like The Duke himself, over and over again I made myself the voice and face of all things marketing for my projects.

And it worked. Really, really well. So here’s my idea.

What If
What if every marketing email didn’t come from “Marketing – Templeton Resort” but from you? What if the signature wasn’t a logo but your headshot? What if copy didn’t start, “Templeton Resort has some great offers…” but “John, I’ve been working on these offers all week…” instead?

I know, I know. You may only be at the resort for a few years. If you move on, then what?

Well, I’m not saying you should be in EVERY piece of communication, but I wonder what would happen if marketing emails came from a person instead of a brand. A face instead of a icon.

So instead of this:

Something more like this:

Believe You Me
A while back someone got mad about something I was marketing. He was griping about me, my products, my marketing, you name it. Even though he had never bought a single thing, he wasn’t happy at all.

Now, think about that. He emailed me and my stuff. Why? Because every piece of marketing had my name on it. For lack of a better term, we had a small relationship. He didn’t go on Twitter to vent about “mean ol’ Company X” or Facebook to bemoan how this brand is “stupid and lame”.

So, I replied and apologized as sincerely as I could because I honestly felt bad. A few messages later in our conversation I got a different email with John’s name in it. Can you guess what it was? John’s order receipt.

Results Are Not Typical
I’m not saying this would happen every time and this is one incident on a small scale, but I do wonder what would happen if marketing emails came from people. Cool, smart, skiing, good looking people like you.

Of course I can’t guarantee that results would double sales, but from my experience with John and dozens of others, I honestly believe it would move the needle.

Food for thought at least.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.