When you look across the landscape of resort direct-mail marketing, it feels similar to the lifecycle of an ’80s or ’90s rock band. These groups are no longer on popular radio stations in every market—but even without mainstream popularity, their compressed tour schedules still sell out shows at a select list of stops.

Similarly, gone are the days when resort marketers casually threw significant chunks of their budget into direct-mail marketing and saw a nice uptick in revenue every time a wave of mailers arrived in guests’ mailboxes. An increase in postage and printing costs played a role, but the high ROI of digital marketing channels put direct mail on its heels. 

Despite these hurdles, ski resorts large and small continue to rely on direct-mail marketing for a limited, but nevertheless important, list of marketing tasks at which this tangible medium continues to excel.

So, what are these use cases? And how can resorts take advantage? Let’s start by getting a better feel for where we are right now. 

USAGE STATS

During the last week of April, I sent a survey to a group of resort marketers asking for their perspective on direct mail usage for their mountains. Of the 29 marketers that responded, 52 percent sent at least one direct-mail campaign during the 2022-23 season. 

When asked to compare the volume of direct mail they sent in 2022-23 relative to five years ago, 45 percent of respondents said they are sending significantly less, 10 percent said a little less, 21 percent said about the same volume, 17 percent said a little more, and 7 percent said significantly more. 

It’s easy to focus on the biggest slice of the pie—the resorts that have scaled back direct mail or have stopped altogether—but almost a quarter of responding ski areas are sending more direct mail now than they were before the pandemic.

The reason is fairly simple: they still find situations where direct mail works. However, the people I spoke with who are still using it all pointed out that direct-mail marketing has changed, and marketers first need to understand the challenges related to it in order to build successful campaigns.  

CHALLENGES

Tracking. Among the most common challenges: a lack of clear, built-in tracking or gaps in tracking was a common theme among resorts. A technology marketers hoped would solve this, QR codes, is seeing mixed results. 

Holiday Valley, N.Y., director of marketing Dash Hegeman said QR codes have worked well in his campaigns by “making sure that whenever possible there is some measurable action included in the mailing.” 

Valid, targeted lists. Boyne Mountain, Mich., director of marketing Kari Roder said getting your mailing list right is imperative to ensure addresses are valid. Other marketers agree and suggest filtering or qualifying recipients before finalizing a direct-mail campaign list. 

Boyne leverages direct mail for recruitment.

Speaking of lists, multiple marketers said they no longer get a ROI when using direct mail for general promotion to large lists, so direct mail has to be targeted. Otherwise, digital, email, and social are much better options. Tess Hobbs, senior director of marketing at Snowbird, Utah, said that there are more impactful and measurable channels these days when it comes to ROI, but “targeted direct mail campaigns with verified data have potential.” 

ROI. Executive director of marketing for Sugar Bowl, Calif., Jon Slaughter, similarly pointed to direct mail’s effectiveness among certain groups of guests, but admitted that “we also have plenty of more affordable options to communicate” with them. Survey results support this perspective: 37 percent of marketers said poor ROI was the reason they’re not sending more direct mail.

High cost is another limiting factor, according to Meg Fuller from Bristol Mountain, N.Y. “Direct mail reaches people in a way no other marketing method does. It is very effective,” said Fuller. “That said, between the cost of paper and the ever-increasing cost of postage, it has become more expensive over the years.” 

A direct mail season pass promo from Bristol Mountain, N.Y.

Despite the positive ROI, Bristol hasn’t been able to increase its direct mail volume due to the high cost of these campaigns. About a fifth of the survey respondents cited budget constraints as the primary reason they don’t send more direct mail.

Lead time. Another challenge is lead time. Alterra director of CRM marketing Molly Holmes suggested being extra careful with your messaging because the creative for a direct mail campaign needs to be finalized weeks in advance. For example, if there’s any chance a price may change, only include more generic details on a printed mailer.

Crowded space. It’s also important to pay attention to the dynamics of your market. Some marketers said many businesses in their area have jumped on the direct mail bandwagon, crowding mailboxes and making the ski area’s campaigns less effective. 

Brand values. Others pointed to their brands being focused on sustainability and worried direct mail may not align with those values. 

Design. A few resorts mentioned that the style and design of mailers takes some thought and practice to stand out. You have to put in the time to understand what works rather than just paste what worked in an email onto a postcard and expect the same results.  

OPPORTUNITIES

Once the hurdles are identified, success is largely dependent on designing a campaign within these constraints. But be honest with yourself when direct mail doesn’t quite fit the task at hand.

From the survey responses and marketers I spoke to, there were eight effective ideas that stood out.

#1 Season Pass Promos

At the top of the list were season pass promotions. The ability to target passholders who haven’t responded to other channels or can’t be targeted by other channels is among the more common reasons resorts of all sizes turn to direct mail. 

#2 Other Departments

One respondent pointed out that “while the marketing team has completely forgone direct mail, our sales team continues to utilize B2B direct mail with travel agents.” The Boyne Mountain HR team had success using direct mail for a recruitment campaign last fall, said Roder, and plans to send another postcard this spring “highlighting the benefits of working for Boyne Mountain.”

#3 Something to Keep

A few marketers said they’ve had success leaning into the tangible, “save it for later” nature of direct mail. Slaughter noted that “direct mail is great for things like events calendars, when you want to get in front of someone’s social calendar and, hopefully, they pop your calendar on their fridge.” 

One marketer pointed out that even if the recipient does throw it away, they’re actually seeing your message and holding it in their hands before they do, which isn’t the case with some digital channels.

#4 Going Big

Two marketers shared that while they’ve pulled back on traditional mailers, they have evolved many of the lessons learned from direct mail into larger campaigns, like books and magazines delivered to key segments. These certainly have a larger up-front cost, but they believe the likelihood of being saved, read, and shared makes it worth the spend. 

#5 Going Small

Hobbs’ direct mail philosophy for Snowbird has evolved to a spear-fishing approach. Instead of sending large batches of mailers, she goes for the personal touch with handwritten thank you notes to loyalists. 

#6 Bounce Back

In keeping with the pattern of sending direct mail to a focused group of high value or high intent guests, resorts have found success in sending bounce back offers to recent visitors. For example, a 10 percent discount on other activities or products after guests take a lesson, or discount offers for recent overnight guests to make a return trip.

#7 Variable Data Printing

Some respondents said variable data printing—where each mailer is customized based on specific details known about the recipient, similar to dynamic content in an email—has kept their interest in direct mail and produced a ROI. 

#8 Creativity

Multiple marketers pointed out that mailers can be more engaging and creative than digital ads. Rather than a fixed height and width of pixels, trifolds or other layouts provide a lot of real estate to work with, there are various options for paper stock, and mailers can even include magnets, cutouts, or perforations to make them stand out.  

COMBINING THE PIECES

While any one of these opportunities is worth exploring alone, a campaign from Mammoth Mountain, Calif., highlights the power of weaving multiple concepts into a single campaign. 

Mammoth created a mailer featuring an image of one of its popular branded beanies, with perforated edges around it and details for an offer printed on the back. Alterra’s Holmes said they hoped recipients would tear out the beanie and keep it on their fridge, which they did, but many took it a step further by punching a hole in the top and turning the direct mail into a Christmas ornament. 

Results like these are a big reason Holmes and her team continue to lean on direct mail, especially around season pass sales.   

ONE TOOL OF MANY

While each use case represents a success, there were also marketers who had opposite experiences doing similar things. One marketer told me they saw no change in pass sales the year they dropped their long-running direct mail campaigns—a result that finally convinced them to focus on digital. 

One marketer said direct mail is their favorite marketing channel, while another said it’s simply not worth their time. One pointed to recent campaigns they’d run as proof it’s making a comeback, while another argued that, based on their recent campaigns, the trajectory is headed in the opposite direction.

One thing seems to be clear: the days of low-effort, generic direct mail are likely over. To succeed at the mailbox, you need to have a clear objective, clean list, trackable call-to-action, thoughtful strategy, audience with a unique touchpoint, a creative message, and realistic expectations. These things take time and budget that not all resorts have, even if it does align with their goals. 

Direct mail isn’t dead, but the game has changed. For the resorts that have found a good use for this tool, it continues to be a strong ally in their efforts now and for the foreseeable future.