Norfolk Snowsports Club

Norfolk Snowsports Club gets its social media marketing skates on thanks to Go Digital

We might have few hills and less snow in Norfolk but you can still enjoy winter sports all year round at the Norfolk Snowsports Club in Norwich. This is a popular venue for family parties and business networking, as well as for dedicated skiers, snowboarders and people seeking tubing fun. However, too many people either don't know about it or don't know that it's open to non-members.

Club Manager Matthew Brooks, and Marketing Coordinator Emma Smith, set out to change that when they applied to Go Digital. They wanted advice on how to create a strong digital marketing campaign to raise public awareness of the venue and encourage more non-members to try it. At the same time, they wanted to strengthen their relationship to their 4,000 existing members.

Getting a Go Digital adviser

The Go Digital Project Team introduced them to Clare Millar from Whoop Marketing because her skills matched their needs.

"Clare really had a good grasp of our business and was particularly good at listening," says Matthew. "As such, she worked seamlessly with us, like one of the team."

Emma was delighted with Clare's detailed audit and action plan.

"They were packed with good advice, including useful links to digital tools such as Trello and Google Docs for collaborative working. But most importantly she got us thinking more strategically about our digital marketing plans."

Seeing success

One of the key strategies that Clare introduced was an email 'nurture sequence' to convert more enquiries into sales.

"We use Mailchimp to communicate with guests and members," says Emma, "but are now segmenting our audiences so our messages are more relevant to them. I can see this helping us encourage more people who initially come for just one session to return more often."

This all takes time but as Matthew says, they are looking to the long-term.

"We are a mainly volunteer-run organisation, so we have to work within our capabilities and constraints. However, we have already put a number of ideas in place and are adding more, such selling our vouchers online for the ideal wintery Christmas present."

Above all, Matthew and Emma valued Clare's impartial, expert advice.

"It's really helpful to step back and look at your business with someone from outside the organisation who isn't pushing a particular angle. Overall, we think Go Digital was brilliant - and would recommend it to any business."