A growing number of resort and spa destinations are spreading their wings and reaching a wider customer base via social media. With the help of social networking platforms they are broadening their branding efforts and connecting with potential customers that they might not have reached through traditional advertising.
World-famous mountain resort company Vail Resorts now pours 80% of their marketing budget into a social media strategy. With this, the company has launched three new websites each with their own Twitter account. Each website targets a slightly different audience but the one thing everyone shares is a love for skiing and snowboarding and now Vail Resorts has provided an outlet to keep everyone updated with their news and events.
‘The Canyons’ began using social media two years ago by launching an employee-run blog in conjunction with Twitter and Facebook accounts. They began to understand the power of social media when they held a contest giveaway on Facebook. Overnight their number of fans grew so quickly that they started to think about more social media strategies.
Vail Resorts, ‘The Canyons’ and many other resorts are now realising that social media is the only realm where anyone can do effective branding. With advertising space, you’re limited by size and cost whereas with social media you can actually talk about all things relevant to you, as much as you want and for very little cost.
The click of a mouse may now be just as powerful, if not more so, than word of mouth but just don’t forget that successful social media strategies do require dedication and consistency.
When it comes to quality versus quantity, quality should always take precedence. ‘The Canyons’ take on social media was growing with substance and that’s more important than growing in numbers, because numbers don’t guarantee staying power. Whilst you want a lot of online followers, you only really want to communicate with people who are genuinely interested in using your service.
Above all, know your audience. Like with any individual or company leveraging social media, resort owners must accept that they’re no longer in complete control of their brand. However, research and attention to detail goes a long way in monitoring how a business is perceived.
