A while back I wrote a post about how, with a little bit of innovation on the email side, you could technically run a resort’s entire web presence with nothing but a single sign up form.

Sell them on the basic, high-level stuff and then, using email, you could…

“…follow up with a steady drip of reasons, tips, and deals (aka, the rest of a normal website) all tied to the original theme they were sold on…finished off by a signature that lets them build a relationship with someone behind the scenes.”

While I don’t think you necessarily need to do the former (one-page website), I do think it’s time to start seriously considering the latter (steady drip of the rest).

Just Part
An email address is closely tied to a person’s online activity. So when you get a new email address in your database, it’s highly likely that in the grand scheme of things the address owner likely doesn’t have a strong enough relationship with you to have provided this email earlier.

Yet, over and over again, we stick them onto a “newsletter” list with the loyalists that have been around from the beginning and talk to them in the same way as everyone else.

There they sit, idle, until your next newsletter comes out where you talk to the group as if they were already sold.

But Wait, Gregg…Welcome!
No no, you say, that isn’t right, we also send them a welcome letter…day or night! Great, but I don’t think it’s enough.

Resorts don’t need a welcome email, they need a welcome SERIES.

Why?

Because these new signups aren’t sold on your resort yet! There are holes in your story, they haven’t seen the light. In short, they are missing a reason to act on the offers you are about to send in your newsletter.

An Example
If I were Beaver Creek, here’s what I’d send (automatically, mind you) to someone who signed up for the email newsletter on July 1.

July 2
Reinforce the brand with an overview of where BC is and the luxury side.

July 6
Dig a little deeper into the possibilities and potential experiences.

July 8
Support the earlier messages by highlighting the little touches (like the afternoon cookies) that are unique to the resort.

July 10
Then I’d slowly start to plant a few seeds about possibilities.

July 12
And finish up by connecting the picture I’ve painted of where they could be to where they are now.

I could write the copy, setup the emails, and be finished within an hour. Then, every person that signed up for my list would automatically get warmed up and sold on the resort so that when that first newsletter came, they’d be (more) ready.

Nothing New
Some of you might realize that this idea is nothing new. In fact, in web marketing terms, it’s old. What I’ve suggested is called an autoresponder.

But the crazy thing about autoresponders? They work!

They work because the act of providing an email address is a sign of relevance. It’s a sign that something you have can satisfy someones wants and needs at that moment. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that any window of needs or timing will have passed.

One message is not enough to capitalize on that window. A carefully written series, in my experience, is.

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.