All across North America, ski areas are hard at work communicating important messages to both prospective and current guests. Two Tips Up showcases and celebrates the efforts ski areas are putting in, especially in the ever changing mountain environment to communicate with those who join us or want to join us. 

I truly believe in the power of social media to educate, and that power is harnessed so well by Batawa Ski Hill, located just north of Trenton, Ontario.

Resort social media can be almost overly focused on guests who know what they are doing, on the big pow days or those sweet, sweet carving turns.  For most existing skiers and riders, this is what we like to see and get excited about. But imagine if you’re trying to get your three-year-old out for the first time? Would those posts of skiers ripping up the black runs encourage you to bring your little one out on the slopes?

Batawa Ski Hill has really done a fantastic job at creating a mix of posts on their social channels to create content for those people who might not find those aspirational photos that inspiring.  Their series of educational posts focus on simple, easy to read tips without jargon, or aspirational, and perhaps unachievable, photos.  Using simple, branded text posted as photos, they’re able to share tips focused on those new to the sport in a longer form than just using the text on the post itself. These simple Facebook posts can even inspire the most nervous of parents into bringing their kids to the hill for some fun.  And from a marketing perspective, they’re easy to create and don’t require a fancy camera or editing software. By using Facebook to post the text as a photo, it also makes it easier to read while scrolling and catches the eye quicker than your average photo.

What I also love is that these posts also seem to give the answers to questions families might not even think to ask, but could really change the experience from one where mom, dad and the kids are in tears to one where everyone’s smiling.  Focusing on setting these families up for success isn’t just important for Batawa as a business but for the industry as a whole.

Having spent many hours watching beginner areas over the years, there’s a lot of complexity into bringing kids out for a few quick runs and there’s always a million opportunities for tears. These posts are doing what they can to remove that complexity and make the visit maybe just a bit smoother.

Two tips up to the marketing team at Batawa – these posts are fantastic.

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.