If you haven’t watched the videos from The Meeting I posted yesterday, watch them. Yes, it’s three hours of footage, but inside are some seriously golden nuggets of marketing wisdom. For weeks, no, months, I’ve been chewing on this idea of video promotion. Thanks to those panels, I finally have been able to organize my thoughts into a short sound-bite.

Most resorts take an “if we build it, they will come” approach to video marketing.

In other words, nearly all of their time is spent creating an awesome video, and almost zero time is spent on distribution in all it’s varieties. I probably wouldn’t have used the word distribution, but I think it’s probably the best word for the situation.

The Model Now
What I see over and over again is this process being used with resort video:

1. Get an awesome idea
2. Make the video
3. Share it on social media and maybe in an email newsletter
4. Get another awesome idea…

Now, if I were you (yes, this is one of those, “What I’d Do Wednesday” posts), the next time I am going to make a video for my resort, assuming it’s not mission critical, I wouldn’t make it. Instead, I’d put that time toward distribution of another video.

At this point, you may be thinking of distribution of a video that’s already been made, which is probably a wise use of time. Instead, I want you to look forward to the video after this one, and start planning now how you’ll distribute it.

As they say in the panels, start with the end in mind.

A New Model
Let me quickly back up and add a quick disclaimer, I’m not referring to quickies made almost specifically for your online communities, I’m talking about videos with a bit higher production value that tell a bigger story. With that in mind, this is what I’d do:

1. Make a list of outlets you’d love to have share your video (local news, mags, bloggers, etc.)
2. Contact/research each of them and ask them what kind of content they are looking for or what kind of content gets the best visibility
3. Get an awesome idea that fits the bill
4. Go back to them and say, “If I make this, will you promote it [for free or paid].”
5. Make the video
6. Execute your promotional plan

I can’t help but think of the “Faces of Copper” campaign rolled out by Copper Mountain last year. They did an awesome job, but I wonder what would have happened if they approached a ski mag first, collaborated on a “day in the life of resort employees” series, provided them awesome content, and in return had massive promotional reach from day one.

The Exchange Rate
From my experience, the time spent on video promotion is some of the most effective around. Instead of using another 10 hours to make a video, if you used 10 hours on promotion, I think you’d find a 5-10x increase in viewership.

Two videos of 1,000 views, or one video of 10,000 views? Not a bad trade-off.

That’s what I’d do.

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.