Trends Q: With summer in the books, how did resort email performance compare to last year’s warmer months?

The seasonal cycle of resort marketing leaves a typically large hole during the summer where, try as you might, skiing just isn’t as relevant to most of your guests. With another summer in the books, we took a look back at how well resort emails did this summer compared to last and what that means for resorts going forward. Take a gander.

The Goods
We took resort email stats from more than 30 US ski resorts for both 2011 as well as 2012. For this analysis, we’ve defined “summer” more as “offseason” and taken resort email performance from April 1 – September 30 for each year. Here’s what we found:

The first, clear takeaway is that all stats are up over last summer. Resorts are sending more emails, getting a higher open rate, and snagging more clicks than they did last year.

While open rates are still below those in winter, with this year’s increase in click rates, once opened, summer emails are just as likely to be clicked as those sent during snowier months.

What This Means
There are a couple big things to remember and takeaway from this simple analysis. Take note that performance is up even with an increase in sending volume. This could mean that we haven’t yet hit a saturation point with summer resort emails. You may not be 100% relevant, but you’re relevant enough to engage with your guests year round.

Plus, with more and more resorts offering and promoting summer activities, email appears to be a strong tool to turn to.

Next Week, Next Stash…
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