Jay peaks social marketing run amuck

I love Jay Peak and have said many times that they do the best job in the east in marketing but i think that maybe their head of marketing is on vacation and they left the intern running things.  Jay has hit Facebook with 7 posts in the last hour so they are becoming annoying to the point that I just unliked them.  I think that one or two really good posts a day during ski season is fine and maybe more on a powder day.  But this many on a 50 degree day in May is way over the line.

What do you all think as I'm sure most of your have been drown in this as well.

I haven't noticed them over posting on FB. I just don't really pay attention. Most of what I have seen them post lately has been about Golf, and the Jay logo on a golf ball just looks stupid to me.

Well, it is summer and they as bored as we are. Check back in Coach, your complaint has been duly noted and responded to. You are an agent of change!

BTW, it is amok.

I did see that they replied about the posts and made some mention that maybe someone in marketing was behind a deadline and posted many at the same time.  That still means that they intended to post all those posts today but just more spread out.  I think that is still too much for one day.  Others posted on FB in support of my post as well.  I have heard that they are having some money issues  at Jay so maybe there is a great deal of pressure to generate business on the marketing folks.  I am not going to be spending a dime there in the summer so I guess I'll just unlike them for the summer and tune back in in the fall.  

I have many times pointed out how good Jay's marketing is but I think its a fine line between good and annoying and forcing FB users to tune them out or unlike them.  I am in sales and marketing and am closing following how social media is used for businesses.

I did spell check amuck and it is correct according to microsoft

You can also click "hide posts from this user".

The money issue that you reference is troubling because everyone holds Jay up as a financial success and model for future ski area development in the NE.

clearly they have spent tons on money the past few years upgrading the lodging and adding the water park.  Given their location in the middle of nowhere they are hard pressed to drive business in for those new beds and water.  I have to say that I'm very concerned that they over spent on non skiing assets and this could be their downfall as they have to be saddled in lots of debt.  This is what killed american skiing co and the Otten empire.

Coach, read up on the EB5 Visa program. The money Jay is spending isn't theirs.

I haven't heard anything about Jay being the model of financial success or the future model of the ski industry. They are trying something new that hasn't been done before in New England skiing. Other ski areas are trying to duplicate it but we still haven't seen if it will work for Jay. Jay needs to deliver on their financials by making enough money to support the job creation that got them the money.

None of this is related to someone in the marketing department screwing up the company's Facebook page. This isn't just a recent thing either, Jay has been over posting for a few weeks now. One post per day for a business is fine. Two for something big. Three for the biggest storm of the season. That's it.

Do what I did. Eliminate Facebook from your life. Trust me, it's just a time wasting annoyance with the only upside that it may rekindle a thing you had with that girl in college way back when.

riverc0il wrote

Coach, read up on the EB5 Visa program. The money Jay is spending isn't theirs.

I haven't heard anything about Jay being the model of financial success or the future model of the ski industry. They are trying something new that hasn't been done before in New England skiing. Other ski areas are trying to duplicate it but we still haven't seen if it will work for Jay. Jay needs to deliver on their financials by making enough money to support the job creation that got them the money.

None of this is related to someone in the marketing department screwing up the company's Facebook page. This isn't just a recent thing either, Jay has been over posting for a few weeks now. One post per day for a business is fine. Two for something big. Three for the biggest storm of the season. That's it.

River

I was aware that Jay heavily used the EB5 program to raise capital for their capex.  Basically these folks can't ask for their money back for a certain period of time and get a US green card out of it.

I totally agree with what you said about frequency of FB posts.  If its puking snow great post away but for a 55 degree in May they are way out of control.  I expect that occupancy there during the week right now is like 1% so they are pushing the panic button big time and the marketing guy wants to keep his job so he is a posting fool right now.

First off thanks for the kind words Dave.

Secondly, anything I offer here is purely my opinion on the matter.  You're in sales and marketing as well and can certainly strike a different arc as it relates to how to manage sm.  I  always get a yuck about people telling us what the right formula is, how many posts per day anyone *should* be doing, or giving anything as the definition of how to 'do it right'.  I've been doing this long enough only to fully understand that there are lots of opinions, stuff changes frequently and everything is test, test, update and change.  This isn't to slight your thoughts--quite the contrary as I appreciate what you're saying-only to caution against alerting the world that you've-or anyone else- discovered the perfect formula.

I will say, if you did actually read up on EB-5, you'd of understood that trying to align what happened to ASC-essentially adding infrastructure by paying with a credit card-with the expansion efforts here at Jay Peak, is as illogical as submitting 'over posting' as evidence that our business is in trouble.  Quoting verse and chapter here, as it relates to our financial success this winter, isn't altogether appropriate-I will say only that our business expectations were exceeded everywhere we turned-with new food and beverage outlets, a small increase in skier visits, lodging and, without question, interest and traffic to the PumpHouse.  Your suggestion about 'being in the middle of nowhere' really depends on where your particular somewhere is (6m Candians 90 min-2 hours from our front door is nothing to sneeze at)

As this all relates to the management of sm, you've been around the block enough to know that it, social media, is about a lot more than posting powder shots from December to March.  It's about building community by offering good, relevant content.  The amount of content any one friend or follower wants to see is entirely subjective.  You quote support for your theories in the same thread where half a dozen folks say the amount we're sharing is spot on.  One man's poison and all.  Truth be told, I was away for a few days and, if I'm being completely honest, we probably did go a little long on a few topics.  I think trying to live by a formula, as others have suggested, feels artificial to me.  What does feel strange to me, is when brands reach out during periods where they need support (ie, Dec to March in the ski biz) then, summarily, fall of the face when they don't need people to click on package specials.  This is the rough equivalent of having friends call when they need something and disappear when they don't.

It's a tough balance but, as I said in my post on our page, I do appreciate all thoughts on it.  I may not agree with aligning the number of posts to a particular temperature as you suggest but I understand the spirit behind what's being said.

So let me get this straight, If it is winter when you want to ski, 7 posts a day is great, especially if it is snowing, but when it is summer and you do not want to go to Jay, don't bug you. I live in Montgomery Center and my Nephew and his family were down this weekend for a visit. The new Water Park (All paid for) was full. Yes, these people had to stay somewhere and had to pay to use the park. The golf course was also pretty full for Mid May, again with paying people. I have talked to Bill on many occasions and I do not think that Jay is cash strapped or in any financial position other than good at this point. In my opinion, the expansion they have gone through and continue to be going through is great for everyone concerned, especially the skiers who can be assured their mountain will be open next year with even more improved facilities.

+1 to the above.

This past mid-May non holiday weekend?  Hockey tournament with 5 teams all staying on campus.  Vermont Lions Club Conference (150 ppl), Poulin Grain Annual Mtg (50-75 ppl), 3100 paid visits in the waterpark over Fri-Mon period, North Country Senior Prom, a curling tournament, 75 rounds of Golf on Friday, 100 rounds on Saturday, 80 on Sunday and 80 on Monday (Victoria Day on Canada).  All of this helped fill rooms (we were 60% occupied this weekend versus 9% last year), fill restaurants and gain increase impressions.  It's not the end-all-be-all but, for someone who's first May here included laying off most of the staff and shutting our Hotel down, it's a heck of a start.

I just hope that all this development won't change the character and feel of the place.  Of course, there are the obvious "changes" with building all this new infrastructure.  What, I am most worried about....can be summed up by what one of those 6m Canadians that are within 90-120 mins from Jay, told me on a lift in 2010:  While on the lift, we started an interesting conversation.  I asked him why he chooses to ski at Jay rather than Mt. Tremblant....He looked at me...thought for a few moments and then leaned close to me in a dramatic fashion so no one could hear (we were on a chairlift...so it was purely for the drama) and said, in that typical Frenchy way something like:  "They think they're shit don't smell over at Mt. Tremblant."

So, by character and feel...I'm as much if not more concerned with the clientele that will be drawn in by all the new amenities, than the infrastructure.  

Understood and agreed Mark.  This I can tell you-our shit reeks.

Yeah...... it reeks really good on a powder day

Steve

I appreciate your candid response.  My 1st impression was when the director is away the intern(s) were playing.  I'm sure that if you intended 7 posts that day they surely were not supposed to all be withing 20 mins of each other.  Page views and impressions are a good thing.  Taking over the top of everyones FB pages is not.  Over posting gives the impression of being desperation for off season business clearly not what you intended given that you were about full this past weekend.

I must have heard wrong about the state of how your season worked out - congrats on being the big winner in a winter that truely stunk everywhere else that does not average more snow than western ski areas - its good to be the king of eastern snow isn't it.  But that is why we all like Jay Peak.

Lake Placid was also swarmed with Canadians this past weekend.  A friend of mine that owns a hospitality business said it was the best Canadian Holiday May weekend they have ever had in 20+ years but certainly he indicated perfect weather helped.

Great comment Marcski.

I'm a friend of Jay on Facebook, but missed the flurry of posts.  A bit of thread drift here, but I don't think FB has mobile figured out (vs Twitter). Lately my only time to catch up is when I'm in transit. The FB algo now makes decisions about what you see in your feed - I 'm not a fan of the way it works.  Been relying on Twitter.

I do this stuff professionally and my impression of Jay's handling of social media has been favorable. Communication, honesty, insight and smart humor.  That's what grows your audience.  

I get a kick out of following Steve on Twitter.  Makes me laugh and I could care less about the sox or the bruins.

Came across this article last night about how to use/not use facebook:

http://mashable.com/2012/06/07/facebook-marketing-mistakes/

It's an interview with someone from FB.

Tip #4 is on post frequency:

"Less is more. Facebook suggests that brands start out with one or two posts a week to feel out the platform and see what works. Many brands post once per day, and many find that posting more than once per day can actually have an adverse effect on engagement. Facebook indicates that the averages user “likes” four to six new Pages each month, so your content is constantly fighting for more attention from its fans. It’s better to post one excellent item per day instead of two decent ones."

In the past I've posted maybe 3x/week but this past week I posted something every day, and one day I posted twice.  Seems odd coming from FB. Guess we're spammers now.

Harv

Good article - thanks for sharing

I think that with a seasonal business like both this blog and a ski resort that you can post many times a day in the winter and be interesting and relevant particularly on a powder day or later in the week when skiers are making plans for the weekend.  But overdoing it off season is the danger zone becuase if you end up having people unlike you in the summer they may not remember to like you again next winter.

sooo, if jay peak bugs me one to many times during the summer i'm going to ignore their posting of the next 50 inch storm? i don't think so. please, let's talk about about more important matters. i'll take into consideration that everyone is still suffering from post worst ever winter depression. every post jay sends stokes me for next winter.