Norefjell Skisenter

Norefjell Skisenter – a magical ski resort for all ages and abilities

Norefjell Skisenter is a grand ski resort just outside Oslo, surrounded by vast mountains and beautiful natural landscapes. The ski slopes attract both young and old, experienced skiers and beginners, as well as national and international guests. In short, there is something for all ages, tastes, and abilities.

The ski resort is part of the same corporate umbrella as Norefjell Ski & Spa. However, unlike the spa hotel, Norefjell Skisenter offers ski-in/ski-out apartments – called Norefjellstua – with the ski slopes right outside the front door. Doesn’t it sound magical?

The ski resort also offers a ski school, ski rentals, and restaurants. Day tourists from Norway who purchase lift tickets for a day visit, as well as Swedish, Danish, and English families with children, come to enjoy a week’s holiday. In total, Norefjell Skisenter has around 170,000 guests during a season – phenomenal! One of the people working to reach these many visitors is Vebjørn Skaseth Ørpen.

– There are two of us working in Norefjell Skisenter's marketing department. I am the department’s Marketing Manager, responsible for the website, social media, newsletters, signage at the facility, and more, says Vebjørn.

Vebjørn has an office with the ski slopes right outside the window. During the season, he can easily grab the camera or drone, then jump on his skis to capture the slopes, skiers, snowboarders, and children’s favorite mascot, Nore Rein.

Being able to deliver fresh images and videos from the ski resort and keep various channels up to date is important to Norefjell Skisenter. When the ski season is over and there are no visitors, follow-ups, content creation, and planning for the next season become the main agenda.

The customer data platform with connection to the booking system gives Norefjell a clear customer overview

Understanding who chooses to visit the business is now of the utmost importance to Norefjell Skisenter. Where are the guests from? What do they buy? How long do they stay? Do they book their trips through tour operators or directly via the website? Before, Vebjørn had no idea about the answers to questions like these. It wasn’t until January 2023 that he began to learn more about the customers and their characteristics. He explains:

– Following a recommendation from our booking system, Citybreak, we chose to connect the booking system with the customer data platform MarketHype. With this connection, all customer data from Citybreak is automatically entered into the system, where it’s then presented in an easy-to-understand format. The customer insights have grown significantly since the collaboration began!

With MarketHype, Vebjørn can, for example, filter who has booked overnight stays at Norefjell Skisenter, identify the countries visitors come from, and gather information on which customers also purchase additional activities or options. Based on the filtering, Norefjell Skisenter can create different customer segments. A segment is a group of people who share similar characteristics, interests, or behaviors, which can then be used for more targeted communication, marketing, and product development.

At the ski resort, they work with segments based on geography, types of accommodation that customers typically book, and other purchasing behaviors. Vebjørn also sends newsletters from MarketHype, where the filters and segments are in the same system as the email tool. This makes it possible to create different types of targeted emails and then – without having to retrieve recipient lists from another system – send them directly to selected segments, subscribers, or filtered customer groups. Of course, every mailing is followed by statistics.

– We are very satisfied! The connection to Citybreak is worth its weight in gold, as is the customer overview, where the data retrieved can be used for many purposes. The platform is user-friendly and not more complicated than it needs to be, says Vebjørn.

Automations with an opening frequency of 85% make work more efficient

In addition to the 10-15 newsletters that Vebjørn creates each season, Norefjell Skisenter currently has an automation running. The automation includes an email with a link to a customer survey, which is sent one day after the customer's departure. It is sent to everyone who has stayed in one of Norefjellstua's apartments. The goal is to investigate how the booking experience was, how the visitor felt during their stay, if anything was missing, and whether the guest would recommend Norefjell Skisenter as a destination.

– About 60 percent click on the link in the mailings, and the response rate to the customer survey is also very high. We always follow up on the answers and review everything at the end of the season. However, if something negative is mentioned multiple times during the season, we take care of it right away, explains Vebjørn.

The automation thus rolls on by itself and saves Vebjørn time as he doesn’t have to send out the surveys manually. All he has to do is monitor the automation, which allows him to occasionally review its outcomes. Figures such as the open rate – which at Norefjell Skisenter is a whopping 85 percent – and the click rate are readily available in MarketHype, providing valuable support for the analysis work.

Personal support and quick follow-ups with a locally based supplier

Vebjørn is the primary user of MarketHype at Norefjell Skisenter and was also involved in the onboarding process. This is what he says about the start-up phase:

– The onboarding went very smoothly. I had close communication with the Customer Success team, received training through two separate meetings, and was provided with all the help I needed – and then we were up and running! Even now that we are up and running, I get really good support.

When asked about the biggest advantage of MarketHype as a supplier, Vebjørn points to the connection with the booking system Citybreak. It plays a crucial role in how Norefjell Skisenter handles marketing today. In second place, Vebjørn specifically highlights the support.

– With MarketHype, we get personal support and quick answers. Our previous email tool provider was a large system that lacked personal responses, so it feels great to now have a provider that is locally based. We are in Norway, MarketHype is in Sweden, and various follow-ups are happening continuously, says Vebjørn.

As of now, Norefjell Skisenter has only been using the system for a few months – not even a full season – but Vebjørn is already looking forward to the next season and further development of their marketing efforts:

– So far, it has been very interesting to gain access to all the customer data, sales information, and insights that come with the connection between MarketHype and Citybreak. We now have much better control and oversight than before. Before next season, we want to create more segments for more personalized communication, and with the wealth of customer data available, we’ll be able to do that.

More information about Norefjell Skisenter

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