The Finger Lakes of New York state are more wine country than a ski destination. However, there is one key area dense with resorts worthy of consumer attention under the brand Ski Finger Lakes.
Cortland County Convention & Visitors Bureau wanted help promoting the county’s four ski resorts to a nearby audience. ABC came up with several themes to help push this social media-based campaign.
ABC used hyper-targeting to deliver the message to a mostly geographic-based audience: skiers close by so we could advertise Ski Finger Lakes as an in-your-own-backyard opportunity. We decided to focus on the proximity of these mountains, each within less than 30 minutes of each other. There was also the timely selling point of safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Here was a socially distant activity one could do outdoors – a perfect entertainment option during difficult times.
In addition, the Ski Finger Lakes web page was armed with tracking pixels that followed visitors over to Facebook and Instagram to create what is called a lookalike audience. This group was served ads that invited them to take some lessons. Finally, the lodges came to mind as an option for non-skiers, perhaps members of otherwise skiing families less inclined to hit the slopes.