Last winter, Beech Mountain Resort embarked on a series of efforts to increase participation in snow sports locally, regionally and nationally by providing affordable and accessible lessons. Our promotions ranged from public relations efforts to Facebook contests, and from special learn-to programs to a poster contest in local schools. We tied into the January Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month (LSSM) program aggressively. All our efforts raised our visibility and drove increases of 300 percent in our Learn to Ski Package and 60 percent in our overnight Skiing 101 beginner’s package.

Like many resorts, we teach thousands of learn-to lessons on weekends. They made up a significant portion of our 110,000 total visits last year.

To encourage more midweek visits, we offered a $45 midweek Learn to Ski Package in conjunction with Beech’s 45th anniversary. The package included a mid-week day or twilight lift ticket, ski or snowboard rental, helmet, and a first time beginner lesson. Additionally, we offered the Skiing 101 package ($101) for a lift ticket, a beginner’s lesson and one night of midweek lodging.

The most important and unique aspect of our Learn to Ski Package is its connection with the group sales department. For many beginners, the hardest part of learning to ski or snowboard is often finding their way around the resort before they ever step onto the slopes. By redeeming the learn-to packages in group sales, we are able to provide beginners with advice and direction until they met their instructor. We place a mountain host or a group sales associate with them through every aspect of the process, from completing forms, navigating the resort, to carrying their equipment. With this, we hope to ease the anxiety and fear of trying something new, ultimately providing a smooth and easy day on the slopes.

By providing an amazing value and combining an inviting environment for newcomers, we significantly increased our midweek redemptions from the previous season, from 103 to 309—a 300 percent increase. Our overnight program brought in 64 newcomers, a 60 percent increase. Beyond the midweek numbers, though, we saw the most publicity we have ever seen for a promotion. We are certain that this helped drive our overall learn-to business and our total skier visits.


Marketing the Message
To extend our marketing reach, we partnered with the Beech Mountain Tourism Development Authority (TDA). Together, we brought an incredible amount of publicity to the area. We used all forms of advertising including radio, television, print, online, billboards, and social media. We combined our paid advertising with an aggressive and innovative public relations push. By providing our media outlets with a quality ski experience, we received a great deal of honest and valuable free press.

Our first major promotion was a December media tour. Co-sponsored by the State of North Carolina, this enabled Beech and our neighboring resorts to highlight our upcoming January specials. We tied these to the national LSSM program; as part of a national effort, our learn-to programs were easy to pitch. LSSM provides a great hook.

Two of our eight media attendees produced a commercial for the Beech Mountain TDA that highlighted our resort and our learn-to initiatives. The commercial aired in the Raleigh, N.C., area. A local TV personality, Sue Rodman of “Field Trips with Sue,” showcased our learn-to packages on CBS Better Mornings Atlanta, which had over 25,000 impressions.

Our second media tour drew seven mom bloggers and their children. These bloggers all write for sites dedicated to providing mothers with helpful tips and ideas for traveling with children. We provided lodging, ski instruction, meals, clothing, and gift bags. Each mom had a mountain host to help her through the day. The moms referred to their mountain host as “ski nannies,” a perfectly fitting term that we used for the rest of the season. The “ski nannies” helped the families throughout the entire day, providing a smooth and effortless experience. At the resort, the moms each tweeted a total of 50 tweets, totaling 117,467 impressions for Beech Mountain Resort. Each mom composed a blog about her experience, providing us with great publicity.

In addition to the mom bloggers, we hosted freelance writer Tracey Teo, who wrote a story on her first time experience that appeared in the Oklahoma City newspaper and the Nashville Tribune.

Gil Adams, our director of skier safety, worked with a TV station in Johnson City, Tenn., to compose a series of skier tips. These aired each Saturday in January.


The Facebook Connection
On January 1, we launched a Facebook movement to promote LSSM and our 45th anniversary. We changed the timeline cover to showcase 45 empty boxes comprising a generic Facebook silhouette and a ski season, starting with our very first in 1967. We challenged our Facebook fans to tell us the year they learned to ski at Beech and to describe that experience. We also asked them to send a picture of themselves. We hoped to find someone that learned to ski in each season. The first person that submitted for a certain season was added to the timeline cover. Each representative was mailed a voucher for a lift ticket. The timeline cover filled up quickly. Once it did, we gave out 45 prizes to 45 random fans.

Throughout January, we highlighted some of the representatives and their unique stories on the page. Gil Adams has been with Beech Mountain Resort since its opening in 1967, which is when he learned to ski. Gil was the representative for the first season, which sparked an interest among fans and led to a large influx of e-mails and messages pertaining to the contest.

Additionally, we picked a grand prize fan from anyone that shared our post about the contest. The grand prize was a Learn to Ski and Stay Vacation at Beech. We had a total of 137 shares on this contest, and the post about the contest reached a total of 51,075 people. All this activity on Facebook increased our site visits, impressions, likes, and fans by anywhere from 25 to nearly 50 percent.

We also hosted our second annual Learn to Ski Poster Contest. The theme of the contest was “Be Active, Learn to Ski.” This contest enabled us to market to our local children, teaching them that skiing and snowboarding are fun and healthy activities. Flow snowboards was the major sponsor of this contest. Pro rider Tim Humphries judged the contest and produced a film announcing the winners. We surprised the grand prize winner in his classroom by showing the film and bringing prizes for him and his class. The local newspaper covered this event and published an article.

We received more than 400 entries from seven different states, increasing our participation 100 percent from the previous year.

At Beech, we strive to raise awareness for the physical and mental benefits of snow sports with innovative marketing techniques and aggressive public relations. With well-executed advertising and quality customer experience, we hope to retain those newcomers, ultimately increasing overall skier visits.