Wachusett Mountain Ski Area is relying on text messaging to build a database of skiers for re-marketing purposes.

The Princeton, MA-based ski resort has traditionally relied heavily on television as a major promotional tool. Now the Wachusett is including a plug for its Text for Deals mobile alerts program in TV ads.

"Mobile is a way to connect with people that want the most current and updated info like deals and snow conditions,? said Tom Meyers, marketing director at Wachusett Mountain, Princeton, MA. ?Text is an efficient, direct way to do that."

On-site promos
Wachusett Mountain conducted an on-site promotion offering a free hot chocolate to anyone who signed up for mobile alerts.

Out of the 300 people on-site, 147 signed up and received a message on their phone that said, ?You?ve received a free hot chocolate. Show this msg to cafeteria cashier.? 

The ski resort uses messaging to alert people and not only for deals.

For example, Wachusett sent out a message Jan. 15 to its database letting everyone know it will donate $5 for every online ticket sold in the three days following the SMS drop.

?It?s amazing to see the response to such a simple promotion and it shows the power of mobile,? said Freddy Ferbert, vice president of KaOoga Mobile, Boston.

By signing up for mobile alerts, subscribers will receive snow reports, special offers and updates sent right to their phone.

Wachusett?s goal with mobile is to build a database of consumers via TV, radio, online and other traditional methods. Several thousands of people have already signed up.

The most recent TV commercial that Wachusett ran is meant to remind skiers of all the different ways to stay in touch with the mountain and that text is one great way to do that.

Here is the commercial in its entirety:

With spam blockers, it is harder to penetrate and connect as deeply through email. Texting gives the mountain a dedicated communication channel with its customer base.

Why SMS?
Text messaging is the primary form of communication for people ages 13-34. In fact, 86 percent of the population 13 and up own a mobile phone, per comScore.

Ninety-five percent of existing mobile contracts have SMS built into the agreement and more than 90 percent of text messages are opened and read compared to less than 40 percent of all email solicitations.

So it is not surprise that Wachusett Mountain is banking on SMS combined with TV for customer outreach.

"We are pleased to be working with Wachusett Mountain," said Dave Everett, CEO of KaOoga. "It's incredibly satisfying and exciting to see these TV ads running in high frequency.

?Mobile snow reports are a natural fit for the ski industry ? Wachusett is leading the way with a wide variety of creative ways to implement text into their marketing initiatives," he said.