There is a balance resort marketers have to find with each and every email they sends. It’s the struggle between email length and email volume. Do you send one email with lots of options or multiple emails with one, single option? Here are two examples that I’ve seen come down the pipeline during the last few months.

First up is Epic Tracks, the Vail Resorts newsletter. With more than two dozen links in the email body, this definitely falls under the category of one email, many offers.

The flip side would be Jackson Hole’s email style. You may see more emails from the resort, but each one is highly targeted with one, clear call to action.

Which is better?

The Subject vs. Content Conundrum
Part of the problem with the first example is the content covers a half dozen bases but can only briefly cover three in the subject line, “Tough Mudder | 100 Days Of Summer | Upcoming Events | And More!” Unless the “and More!” intrigues me enough to open the email, I may never see the other topics that may actually be incredibly relevant to me. However, using multiple topics might be like having three hooks in the water, giving your email a better chance of matching what a recipient might be interested in.

Flipping the script, Jackson Hole pays more to send more emails and, if that one topic doesn’t seem relevant to the recipient, they simply won’t open or care. It’s like a shotgun versus a rifle. Multiple topics means you spread focus and attention between all of them and having more options typically means less action. But if you can create segments based on guest behavior and hit them with a targeted message, there’s not noise for them to get lost in and your offer is more likely to be read, considered, and acted on.

What do you think. Where’s the happy medium?

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.