There is a large core of dedicated skiers and snowboarders aged 18-34 that use social media daily. This audience relies heavily on social media content and opinions from friends and brands to help decide their ski holiday destinations. We saw this audience gave us the best opportunity to enhance awareness and engagement.

Starting January 2012, Sunshine Village Facebook ads were deployed to gain Page Likes. This was an essential component of the strategy to hit the fan goal. Sponsored stories were the best performing ads, which employed a word-of-mouth tactic encouraging friends-of-friends to like the Sunshine Village Resort Page. The initial ad campaign hit the market and began generating a significant jump in new fans, up to 300 per day at its peak, an explosive success.

'Name the Terrain Park' was a great example of how a fan community can rally around an idea to enhance the branding and positive sentiment for a ski resort. Sunshine Village was receiving social media feedback throughout the early season with suggestions to improve the on-mountain terrain park. This gave us the chance to engage with Facebook and Twitter fans with 'Name the New Terrain Park' Page posts and tweets. We asked customers what they wanted in Terrain Park improvements and names. In doing so, customers felt they had an impact on an important feature of the ski/snowboard experience at Sunshine Village, and the positive sentiment helped foster a positive social media community.

With our 'Sunshiner of the Day' feature, we highlighted skiers and snowboarders on the Facebook Page. A photo of a skier enjoying their day at Sunshine was placed as the Sunshine Village Facebook Page cover image. The engagement from this tactic was significant, and created an excellent synergy between audience and brand.

Campaign Performance

Sunshine Village was able to harness the power of social media towards awareness, engagement, and sales leads goals. We became a North American ski-resort social media leader within a single season of dedication, encouraging skiers to visit Sunshine Village as their preferred Banff ski destination.

Our Facebook fan goal was exceeded: 43,600 total fans, a 1,211% increase. We now rank #13 in total fans for North American Ski Resorts. Our Page engagement goal was also exceeded: 5.30% Talking About Percentage (TAP) average.

Sunshine Village's year-over-year eCommerce revenue increased by 18% in 2011/12. A significant amount of this web traffic came from social media leads, with 17,800 social media-specific referrals directed to Sunshine Villageʼs web presence between October 30, 2011–August 31, 2012. These statistics show a positive correlation between the social media campaign and online revenue increase for Sunshine Village in 2011/12.

Considering the $28,406 social media advertising budget tangible, a social media specialist salary tangible, a social media lead value of $7,120 (17,800 social media leads x $0.40 Facebook ad average cost-per-click=$7,120), indirect social media engagement variables, and the increase in e-commerce sales for 2011/12 (+$309,560) —the return-on-investment (ROI) percentage can be calculated at a 262% gain.

The 'Name The Terrain Park' effort generated over 8,000 post views, two photo albums, 350 comments, 40 shares, and 190 post Likes across Facebook. The engagement generated was significant, and shows the reach and sentiment abilities of this channel. Sunshine Village connected with its customers in a unique and authentic way to enhance their ski experience and help them to be part of the decision-making process.

In addition, actor Kevin Sorbo spread awareness of our Page to his 16,000 followers when he was named Sunshiner of the Day.

Campaign Info

• Client: Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort
• Brand: Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort
• Company: Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort, Banff
• Target: Canada · North America
• Language: English (US)
• Category: Travel
• Objectives: Awareness, Sales
• Media: Online, Email

Creative and description provided by contributing agency or brand.

Credits

Social Media Specialist: Shawn Alain, Sunshine Village

Multimedia Specialist: Adam Locke, Sunshine Village

eMarketing Specialist: Chris Lamb, Clickside

Source: http://www.facebook-studio.com/gallery/submission/sunshine-village-2011-2012-ski-season