Pulse April 2019 | Page 27

“We do e-blasts and social media, but word-of- mouth is a big one. We have a devoted local clientele who will spread the word if we’re discounting our packages.” — marci hoWard-may, director of spa and Wellness, red mountain resort – sagestone spa national Parks. The spa is busiest in the spring and fall, and summertime brings reduced traffic, save for those who are passing through on their way to Zion national Park 35 miles to the east; according to marci howard-may, Director of Spa and Wellness, most visitors to the national Parks stay elsewhere because red mountain resort doesn’t allow children onsite. To help drive revenue during a time when there are fewer people staying at the resort itself, howard-may alters her spa’s marketing strategy: rather than driving revenue through resort guests, she increases the spa’s marketing push to local customers and national Park travelers. Both clientele utilize the spa as a day spa, so the combination makes sense. “We do e-blasts and social media,” says howard-may, “but word-of-mouth is a big one. We have a devoted local clientele who will spread the word if we’re discounting our packages.” By contrast, the resort will use digital advertising during the busy seasons to help reach a national audience. Sagestone Spa does offer discounts to its customers during the summer; howard-may prefers to discount as the need arises, based on bookings, rather than setting anything in stone. Says howard-may, “we’ll offer an additional discount on our multiple-treatment packages, and that’s on top of our existing fifteen percent discount for local guests.” Sagestone’s word-of-mouth is further helped by seasonally rotating manicures, pedicures and salt scrubs, although they don’t create summer-specific treat- ments. for their retail in summer, Sagestone Spa places an emphasis on summer-centric skin care, such as sunburn APriL ■ PULSE 2019 25