Two weeks ago, I started a new little mini survey/interview type setup called TwoTwo Tuesdays. Two questions every two tuesdays about a resort marketing tactic. A solid list of feedback was gathered from a long list of talented resort marketers.

Before I share those thoughts, don’t forget to get the ball rolling by answering this week’s question at the bottom.

Does your resort have an active Instagram account? Why/why not?
The Instagram adopters were clearly the more popular and vocal group (YES: 76% – NO: 24%), here’s what they said.

YES: [Resort Name] is a private club that prides itself on its social atmosphere. So, using social apps like Instagram (and Facebook and Twitter) only makes sense. We’ve had some good success this year (our 50th anniversary year) with #throwbackthursday showing old photos of the club. We publish most of the Instagram photos to Facebook and Twitter as well and they tend to get good play on Facebook. Overall, I believe Instagram has been a nice addition to the social media scene in terms of being able to quickly tell a story (either from years past or what is currently going on at the ski area).

YES: Instagram seems (with no data to back this up) to be the fastest growing social network around. It allows us to tell our story quickly, easily, and visually. Plus it’s fun. ”

NO: It doesn’t have solid Twitter account integration.

YES: Very current and engaging, more so than Facebook.

NO: No Blackberry support.

YES: Insta produces great content that is easily consumed and easily shared. Since it’s visual it really lends itself the sharing the action, beauty and fun of a ski resort.

YES: Content is king, and we’ve found that visual content is something our guests completely latch onto and relate to. Even on FB, images are what our fans tend to react to most. Instagram is an outlet that allows that visual satisfaction that people at home (or in their offices) use to daydream about their next visit.

YES: Instant gratification, easy to mindlessly update and promote the visuals of the resort, great to track hashtagging and watch your tag catalog grow among fans

YES: Highlights the beauty of our mountain and give users a behind the scenes look at the resort. Connect with guests who may not be connected to us via other social channels. Looking to expand this more next season!

YES: Instagram is just as social as Facebook and Twitter. We have seen faster growth with Instagram than Twitter. Many of our followers use Instagram to post photos as well as questions about daily operations. Our guests use our Instagram feed to see what’s happening on a daily basis through photo posts.

YES: Our groomers and snowmakers are on Instagram and share photos of “”behind the scenes”” operations. Many of our guests get to see late night grooming, snowmaking and first person views of nightly operations once the lifts stop turning. Our guests can share images with a simple hashtag. The hashtag will allow photos to o directly to our website photo feed.

YES: Because our marketing director loves it and a picture tells a better story with passion based brands.

Round 2: Mobile vs Responsive vs App
With some solid insights from round 1, let’s give it another go with this question: Does your resort us an app, mobile site / responsive design, or both?

PS – This is my early list of future questions. Let me know if one sounds more intriguing than the others.

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.