April 02, 2009
Horse Power # 59 Krista Parry, Park City Mountain Resort
We’re really into ski resort marketing @ Twelve Horses, so I was stoked to get a chance to talk with Krista Parry, Director of Marketing and Communications at Park City Mountain Resort about the things they are doing to not just reach, but actually connect with their customers via social media online. (I was DOUBLE stoked to shred some awesome pow and groomers with Eric Hoffman too!)
Lots of Ski Resorts are using social media to market online, but Krista and Eric, Interactive Marketing Manager at Park City, recognized early on that the web was going to change the way they managed the PCSki message. They stepped in with a blog that they could use to communicate mountain information directly to customers and visitors who needed to know. What they found was an audience with a great desire to consume information and an ever increasing interested in exchanging information.
Since then, they have engaged their audience on Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and even created dedicated channels that communicate directly moms, a core segment of their customers. Their microsite which can be found at smowmamas.com helps mothers plan ski vacations for their families at Park City and gives them specific information to their needs and interests from real moms who write about real experiences. Eric has a great post on ski resorts using Twitter on his personal blog. There are some great comments there about how resorts are using twitter and social media for PR, marketing and engaging customers.
It was also my first time skiing at Park City, and @photo_John, @Jenni_LMT and I were happy to find some steep technical POWDER infested terrain to go along with all the moderate groomers on the mountain. It was a great day!
@pcski on Twitter: 956 Followers, 898 updates, Tweetstats for @pcski.
Park City Blog: 4 authors with profile pics, Video and Flickr slideshows, 19 comments on page 1 for 10 posts.
PCMR on Flickr: 18 sets, 2 friends (wha?), 404 items since NOV 2008.
PCSKI on YouTube: 11 videos, 1531 channel views, 4839 average views / video.
In Social Media it’s good to know what the “gurus” are saying and what the new tools are, but it’s far more important to know what the people in the trenches are doing. Krista, Eric and Park City are a team to watch. What do you think is good or bad about what they are doing? What other examples of Brands using social media effectively are there out there? What new directions are we going to see ski resorts (or any brand for that matter) take in the next year?
-Mike
Note: The video is about HALF the total interview. For the full deal, download the audio, or subscribe in iTunes.
Posted in Horse Power Podcast, Salt Lake City, Travel & Tourism
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:53 am
Mike,
It was great to finally get the chance to meet up,make some turns and have some great discussions with you last week. I’m glad you enjoyed the skiing (yeah, the Park City side of the Wasatch does have some decent terrain, eh?!) and I’m excited have gotten the chance to see your video skills in action.
I’d like to add a few more details, our Flickr account has had nearly 150k views in that time frame and yeah, I guess that I’m lame at following back, but we do have 20 people that have us as their contact.
In addition, Park City Mountain Resort current has nearly 1800 Facebook fans of our page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Park-City-Mountain-Resort/34244859225
and over 1100 on MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/pcresort
I think that we’re going to see all sorts of brands trying to reach out to their customers in these and other spaces and engage them in all sorts of interesting manners that I’m really looking forward to seeing and learning about.
Thanks for stopping by Park City Mountain Resort!
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:17 am
Eric,
Thanks for the additional details. I forgot to mention the Facebook page. That’s a great following!
I’m really into photos. So I really dig Flickr. I usually tell people that all the social media sites aren’t really that different, they just have different priorities. Flickr is just youtube for photos, twitter is just a blog for smaller posts, etc. But the powerful thing is that customers have different priorities. Ski pics draw great viewership and that can translate into good blog or website views if they’re linked up.
I try to create content pathways that lead in to the core. Powder photos with links to a blog post with a video with a call to action. Even if that call is just a spark to get comments.
Thanks again for the tour of the mountain! Next time we’re hiking PineCone!
-M
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 am
Mike,
I really like your strategy, I’m always trying to think of ways to bring our various channels into alignment and it’s so true that most social media channels do one or two things well and that you need to take advantage of those strengths in each site.
Always a pleasure to show off the mountain to someone who appreciates it – next time we’ll be sure to do Pinecone!
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Mike,
Thanks for all the kudos Mike (and for using your slimming lens!). The truth is that we are always looking for ways to engage our guests in authentic ways. I was raised to treat others the way you would like to be treated, which is why the different social media outlets is perfect for us as a ski resort. Plus, who doesn’t like to see the pics of Eric and team eating powder for breakfast day after day! It’s how some people who aren’t as fortunate make it through their day.
I look forward to hitting the powder with you next season.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:27 pm
Krista,
I don’t remember if it made it into the video, but I made a note from your Social Media 101 talk with the PC Chamber that social media was “made for me.” You can’t fake it…
If i have to ski more powder, i guess that’s the price I pay for dedication to social media.
Wish the best of health for you and your baby!
-M
June 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Hi guys,
keep up the good work! Great to hear about the excellent work your are doing on social media. Keep measuring the return on engagement!
June 19th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Thanks Milena,
Measuring, listening, engaging and more…it’s all part of the routine these days! Keep up the great work in your own endeavors as well.