Content marketing. Define it how you will, at is core is the simple idea that quality content can drive revenues.

While the term “content marketing” didn’t gain popularity until recently, it’s always seemed to find a way into my marketing in one way or another.

Luckily, I figured out a core concept early on that has helped me be much more successfully than I likely would have been otherwise.

Heartbeat of Marketing
Look at the list of content marketing efforts below and see if you can figure out what all three have in common.

• Salomon Freeski TV
• Every Third Thursday (Signal Snowboards)
• Warren Miller Movies

To answer my question, you may point out that each is successful. Yes, that’s true. Salomon and Signal have both snagged millions upon millions of views from their campaigns and it’s much harder to find a skier who hasn’t seen a WME flick.

But there’s something else.

Thank You & Goodnight
At the end of every Warren Miller movie, Warren would sign off with the exact same line:

” See you next year, same time, same place. Thank you, and goodnight.”

That’s the common bond I see between these three, crazy successful content series. Not a common closing quote, but a consistent release pattern.

Every Third Thursday comes out, well, every third thursday of each month. Salomon Freeski TV comes out every other Tuesday during the winter. WME releases a new video each fall without fail. Warren was doing more than signing off, he was priming the audience to return.

Consistent = Habit
I believe that a central component of successful content strategy is releasing that content at regular intervals. When you do that, I believe three things happen.

• First, like eating lunch at noon or reading your email when you get to the office, skiers can make consuming it a habit.
• Second, there is added motivation to subscribe (through various channels) because you’ve created the expectation of something coming in the future.
• Third, efficiency and reach is increased with each release because subscribers and habits snowball.

Imagine if every TV show were a pilot. No matter how funny or awesome, it would be an insanely inefficient model for TV stations. When you release random content at random times with few connections between each piece, that’s essentially what you’re doing.

So, try it out. Find some content your resort products and turn it into a series. Let guests create a tradition around consuming it and you’ll find more reach, value, and efficiency from your campaigns.

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.