Pinterest is growing on me. Rather, Pinterest’s potential as a tool for marketers is growing on me…though I did actually pin something the other day for the first time in weeks. However, even with my power-user status, I still don’t feel it’s a particularly effective platform, but I do applaud the resorts that are giving it a whirl and testing the waters.

Therefore, I applaud Whistler/Blackcomb because they are one such resort.

The Contest
The contest was pretty simple: repin to win. Here’s the full low-down from the contest page:

“REPIN-TO-WIN for a chance to win a $50 après –> Contest runs until April 9. The winner announcement pin will be posted on this board: pinterest.com/… :: Complete rules at min.us/m5cnDXPDo :: Exploring Whistler Blackcomb is about much more than glaciers and glades. The mountains are serving up fresh, local cuisine in unique locations. From central and convenient to quiet and tucked away, explore a mountain of options and let your taste buds be your guide.”

Pretty simple, right? Repin and have a chance to win.

The Results
A few of the stats include:

• Total repins: 45
• Total views of pinned video: 2,005 (the day the contest ended)
• Total pin likes: 1

The reward, again, was $50. So, not counting the time spent on the campaign itself, they snagged views at about $25 per thousand. Not too bad. I didn’t record how many followers they had before it started, but they are now up to 90 followers.

A Winner?
I don’t see it as a dud but I’m not really ready to categorize it as a dandy yet either. While 2,000 views is solid, we don’t know how many of those came from other channels. I do think 45 repins is impressive (higher than I expected), but the fact that the content was the contest, I think the video itself lacked that marketing punch it may otherwise have garnered from 45 people sharing it.

I’m glad they are trying and breaking trail for resorts on Pinterest, and I’m still watching the site closely, but I’m also still not sold on it’s place in a resort’s marketing lineup.

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.