Background

A four-season resort in the upper Midwest came to us with existing name recognition among skiers and snowboarders, but leadership had a hunch they were missing opportunities by focusing so heavily on that core audience.

There was another issue they didn’t fully realize yet. Online lodging revenue wasn’t being tracked at all. They knew guests were booking rooms, but they couldn’t connect any of that back to their marketing. Our team would be optimizing with one hand tied behind our back if we didn’t fix that first.

Goals & Objectives

Increase winter-season conversions by 3%.

Stats & Figures

Over the winter season, the campaign beat expectations.

  • Conversion Performance – Overall conversion rate increased 5%, exceeding the 3% target – Site sessions increased 145%, reflecting a much broader audience engaging with the site
  • Revenue Growth – Total winter revenue surged 80% – Tubing and snowshoeing revenue increased 120%
  • Data Infrastructure – Online lodging revenue is now fully tracked, giving the resort visibility they didn’t have before

Strategic Approach

Identifying the Opportunity

Data confirmed leadership’s intuition: while skiing and snowboarding drove traffic, tubing and snowshoeing were also generating meaningful demand. Families and groups seeking a winter getaway—without skiing—were already searching, but the resort wasn’t visible to them. The objective became clear: reposition the resort from a ski destination to a full winter retreat.

Fixing Measurement to Unlock Growth

Effective optimization required accurate data. Lodging revenue wasn’t tracked, obscuring the true impact of campaigns driving longer stays. We rebuilt the measurement foundation with enhanced Google Tag Manager, first-party data integrations, and GA4 event tracking—enabling clear attribution between marketing efforts and high-value lodging bookings.

Expanding Reach and Revenue

With reliable data, we shifted paid media beyond ski-centric messaging to promote tubing, snowshoeing, and bundled lodging packages. The strategy targeted families and groups seeking an accessible winter escape. The objective wasn’t just more conversions—it was higher revenue per guest through longer stays and bundled experiences

Conclusion

The 3% goal was a starting point, not the ceiling. By looking past the traditional ski audience and fixing a tracking blind spot that hid lodging revenue, our team unlocked growth the resort didn’t know was there.

The audience you’ve been overlooking might be more valuable than the one you’ve been chasing. And if you can’t see all your revenue, you can’t optimize for it.

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