Over the years I’ve hit on a theme probably a dozen times. The idea is pretty simple: we often write marketing copy – especially on our websites – as if people were already sold and were simply figuring out what to buy.

In a post about how this manifests itself in headlines, I once said:

“What’s missing is copy for people who ARE NOT already sold on your resort. Instead of selling the value behind an offer, these headlines seem to assume the visitor is already hook-line-and-sinker on your mountain and are simply telling them what to buy.”

It’s an idea that, once you realize it exists, is something you start to see everywhere.

The Others

But as you start to watch for this trend, you might realize that other brands don’t do the same thing. For example, SaaS companies are really good at selling people on the value of their software right up front, restaurants do the same because they’re in a constant battle to differentiate themselves from the place across the street, and retail brands are great and not just saying what they have to buy, but telling you why you should buy it.

To that end, there is one feature all of these businesses (and many others) employ almost ubiquitously: reviews and ratings.

Reviews are a powerful way to show that, yeah, the business said their services are great…but their customers said the same thing. Social proof in tidy little packages.

The other day I was on King Pine’s website and, lo and behold, what did I see?

It seems obvious to include something like this, but it’s also extremely rare.

Inspiration

I love this simple move from King Pine.

Instead of doing all the talking, they’re letting their guests do it in a place where there are a lot of people who are encountering the resort for the first time. At a time when people need to be sold, they’re not just selling them, they’re letting their strongest voices send the message.

And that, in my book, is a very smart move.

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.