MEMBER PERSPECTIVES
the marketing simple” by going with what worked over the
past several years. “I break up my marketing plan into four
categories—seasonality, local, events and holidays—and use
what works to keep consistency,” Harper says. “We work
around the resort marketing schedule.”
Implementation and Follow-through
To illustrate what an effective marketing plan looks like in
action, it may be useful to walk through the execution of a
marketing plan from goal-setting to post-campaign analy-
sis. In 2019, The Spa at Sun Valley set a singular focus for
its marketing: increase the number of local guests. The
spa is highly seasonal due to its rugged Idaho location.
Summer and winter are mobbed by tourists, while the
Sun Valley overcame shoulder-season slowdown using clever marketing.
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MARCH 2020
shoulder seasons—typically April through early June and
late September through November—are much slower.
Harper surmised that by increasing local traffic, she could
improve her spa’s profitability during the shoulder sea-
sons.
As part of Harper’s marketing plan, her spa offered tar-
geted discounts geared towards locals. Furthermore, The
Spa at Sun Valley took out ads in a widely-read local news-
paper. Harper also doubled-down on social media and
was more proactive about inviting spa-goers to join their
Facebook page.
While Harper doesn’t have exact numbers for how much
revenue this campaign generated, there’s enough available
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