Seven digital marketing strategies for ski and snowboarding travel brands

Snowboarding and ski holiday statistics

• The term ‘ski holidays’ has an average monthly search volume of 22,200 in the UK (Semrush)
• The Alps region is consistently the most popular ski destination in the world by share of global skier visits. Known as the ‘Big Four’, the most popular ski countries in the Alps are Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France (Statista)
• The global snow sports market size was valued at over £3.2billion in 2023 and is projected to reach £4.3 billion by 2031 (Data Bridge Market Research)
• The average ski holiday spend is £1,580 per person (Club Med)
• 85% of younger people in the UK (18-24 age group) are interested in trying a snowsports holiday (Ski Press)
• Skiers are booking earlier, with 71% booking at least three months in advance of their holidays compared to 61% the previous year (Planet Ski)

Ready to discover seven of our top digital marketing tips? Grab your goggles, strap on your boots and let’s hit the slopes!

1. Visuals are everything

One of the most wonderful aspects of skiing or snowboarding is the beautiful scenery and views around you. This is where visuals - particularly videos - come into their own. The rise in popularity of GoPro and other small, lightweight weatherproof cameras (even iPhones) allows the viewer to take in the surroundings through the eyes of the skier while they whizz down the slopes or ascend snow-covered mountains and forests on ski lifts.

Consider including a range of ‘How to’ vlogs on your site and social media channels such as ‘How to get started on the slopes’ or ‘A beginners guide to snowboarding’. This will help you connect with people at the start of their winter sports booking journey and is a great way to utilise informational, long-tail keywords such as ‘how long does it take to learn to ski’ or ‘how to snowboard for beginners’.

 2. Get your keyword research right

You’re an independent travel agent offering ski holidays, so the obvious approach is to target keywords such as ‘ski holidays’, right?

Not necessarily. As tempting as it may be to go after high volume, generic ski-related search terms, this is probably one of the biggest SEO mistakes a small winter sports travel brand can make. In most cases, the higher the search volume, the more competitive the keyword. Type ‘ski holidays’ into Google and you’ll see the major industry players have the monopoly on rankings:

This can make jostling for online visibility pretty challenging. What you CAN do, however, is home in on your niche and focus on more bespoke, less competitive keywords, such as:

‘luxury ski breaks’

‘Skiing holidays for solos’

‘ski holidays in France for beginners’

These terms may not have massive amounts of search volume but do give you the best possible chance of ranking and getting your content in front of your target audience. Additionally, when they visit your website, users are going to see exactly what they want, boosting your chances of converting either immediately or in the future.

3. Make the most of user-generated content (UGC)

Technology may have evolved, but our love of sharing holiday snaps and stories remains as strong as ever. Encourage your customers to share their winter sports photos and experiences on social media using branded hashtags. This strategy serves multiple purposes: not only does it provide authentic content that your audience tends to trust more than traditional advertising, but it also creates a sense of community among your customers, offering constant, fresh content for your social media channels.

UGC isn’t just about sharing customers’ photos and videos. Written reviews on sites such as Trustpilot, Google or Tripadvisor can really make or break a travel business – and a brand that ignores feedback (either good or bad) is doing itself and its customers a huge disservice. Here’s an example of one well-known ski company getting it right:

4. Partner with influencers

Whilst we tend to picture influencers in sun-drenched locations such as Dubai, the Caribbean or Mediterranean, they also come in handy when it comes to promoting travel brands offering an altogether more wintery backdrop. Find influencers who align with your brand values and will be able to create engaging content such as reels of their skiing adventures, apres-ski activities or preparing to hit the slopes (like the example below).

Tapping into influencers' follower bases allows travel brands to reach a wider audience and benefit from the trust and authenticity that established influencers bring to the table.

5. Mobile matters

Does your brand still have a desktop-first approach? Time to rethink your strategy. 59% of consumers research their next trip on mobile, meaning if your website doesn’t have a truly mobile-friendly design, you risk missing out on a significant portion of potential customers.

But! That’s not to say you should forget about desktop either. While travel sees a greater share of mobile traffic than any other industry, it still lags behind desktop when it comes to actual conversions, with just 17% of people feel confident making purchases over £190 on mobile. So having a truly responsive design across all platforms allows you to provide the best possible user experience at every stage of the booking journey.

6. Create personalised email marketing campaigns

There’s a common misconception that email marketing is a stale and outdated form of comms, but this isn’t the case. On the contrary, according to Forbes, half of marketers in 2024 say that email marketing is actually their most impactful channel.

It’s easy to get email marketing wrong – a lack of personalisation is usually the biggest error marketers make. A well-crafted, tailored campaigns based on factors such as skiing ability, preferred destinations and with whom the customer is likely to be travelling will help you target your audience according to their respective interests and needs. Regular emails with fresh, engaging content will also allow you to build up a strong relationship with customers, helping to build brand loyalty over time.

7. Collaborate with a digital marketing agency specialising in winter sports holidays

It’s one thing to know how to craft the perfect marketing strategy, it’s another to find the time and resource to manage all moving parts continuously and simultaneously. This is why many businesses in the winter holiday industry turn to a specialist digital marketing agency like Adido to take care of digital marketing activities for them. Our team is made up of individual specialists, working together to provide a comprehensive service incorporating data analysis, extensive keyword research, expert travel marketing insights and ‘think outside the box’ creativity.  

If you're looking for an agency that cares about your success as much as you do, speak to one of our travel marketing specialists today. We know what it takes to build a successful marketing strategy for winter sports travel businesses, making it our mission to evolve each of our clients’ digital performance.