Email Marketing Case Study – Intrawest

Intrawest controls a number of resorts in North America. With its large portfolio, Intrawest has become the leader in experiential destination resorts in this region. The company started in 1976 as a residential and urban real estate firm and has evolved over the years include holiday resorts “where amazing experiences happen.”

Intrawest use Email Marketing tactics to stay in touch with clients during the off-season. According to Randy Cuff, Intrawest’s director of CRM and Email Marketing, their email marketing strategies “focus on promoting the resorts as four-season resorts.”

Intrawest is a good example of a brand that successfully integrates their Email Marketing and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Below are a few of the things they focus on in order to create more value for clients through their email newsletters.

• Targeted newsletters are sent out to clients that are visiting any of the resorts within 14 days. The email focuses on reminding clients that they are almost on holiday and offers them links to activities in the resort that they can pre-book to make their stay more memorable.




• Email newsletters are personalised based on 750 different criteria. For instance, if a visitors lives in the area, they won’t need directions to the resort. In newsletters to local clients a link to the weather forecast is included to encourage them to plan a break-away weekend.




• Intrawest makes use of subtle cross-selling, for instance if a first-time visitor hasn’t booked a ski lesson yet they are encouraged to do so in their welcoming email and they have the option to rent their ski gear in advance.

Intrawest also found that when visitors only take one ski lesson they’re less likely to come back. Yet, if they participate in two lessons they’re more likely to become a skier for life. To encourage first-time skiers to come back for a second lesson, the ski instructor will take a photo of the skier during the first session and send it to the skier after the lesson with tips on how to improve as well as an invitation to book his / her next lesson.

Read the full Intrawest case study on ChiefMarketer.com.