How Willow Creek built a stronger business with FareHarbor and Mailchimp

"Email marketing...has been successful. I wish it were more successful, but I can track it. And that's my favorite part."

Randy Parker
General Manager

From notebook to online bookings

Located near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Willow Creek Horseback Rides offers hospitality-focused experiences ranging from breakfast and signature rides to VIP experiences, engagements, and family portraits. Every ride is designed to create memorable moments against the backdrop of the Tetons.

“We try to spoil the people,” says General Manager Randy Parker. “We’re very genuine.”

Before adopting FareHarbor, however, reservations were handled entirely by hand.

“The way we did booking when I first started here was we had a notebook. We just wrote in a notebook,” Parker says.

Moving to FareHarbor modernized nearly every part of the operation. Online bookings, payment collection, guest check-in, and reservation management all became faster and more organized, freeing up valuable time for the team.

“FareHarbor’s been a huge help in saving me time. Booking, collecting money, checking people in. It’s been a huge help.”

Building a better marketing foundation

As Willow Creek improved its website, expanded its social media presence, and began collecting guest information through FareHarbor, another opportunity emerged: email marketing. 

“It took me a year before we actually started using Mailchimp, but I knew that was the direction we were going because we were now collecting emails,” Parker explains.

Rather than creating elaborate campaigns, Willow Creek keeps its marketing intentionally simple. Professional photography, authentic guest moments, and compelling scenery encourage travelers to visit the website and explore available rides.

“When we send out stuff, we use kind of the KIS method. Keep it simple,” Parker says. “We have lots of pictures, some videos…driving to the website.”

With horses, mountain scenery, and genuine guest experiences, Willow Creek relies on real photography instead of staged or AI-generated images to showcase what visitors can expect.

Putting Mailchimp and data to work

For Parker, the biggest advantage isn’t simply sending emails. It’s understanding whether those emails are actually producing results.

“Just like any kind of advertising, if you can track it and you know where your money’s going, then you know how much money you want to put into it,” he says. “It’s not just, ‘Let’s put an ad in the newspaper and cross our fingers.'”

The Mailchimp integration gives Willow Creek visibility into campaign performance, including website activity and revenue generated from email campaigns.

“Mailchimp shows us gross dollars. To me, that’s the most important,” Parker says. “I want to know who spent money.”

That same focus on measurable results extends throughout the business.

Parker has created more than 50 custom reports inside FareHarbor to better understand customer spending, marketing performance, and overall business health.

“To be able to make all those custom reports quickly and easily is very, very important,” he says. “With all the reports, you can tell pretty quickly.”

Turning first-time guests into returning customers

For a destination like Jackson Hole, repeat visitors are common. Some guests return every few years, while others make horseback riding at Willow Creek part of an annual tradition, which is why collecting guest information has become so valuable.

“Once you have a customer and if you’ve taken care of them, having that list is invaluable,” Parker says. “People come to Jackson Hole…it can be every five years, every ten years. It can be every other year.”

Every email campaign is designed with one goal in mind: bringing guests back to the website.

“I drive everything to the website because you have one hundred percent control over what people see on the website,” Parker explains. “Sometimes they don’t even talk to me. They go directly to booking, which again, saves time.”

A stronger business, one booking at a time

For Willow Creek Horseback Rides, success came from building a stronger operational foundation.

By replacing manual reservations with FareHarbor’s online booking platform and connecting guest information through the Mailchimp integration, Willow Creek has created a marketing approach that’s organized, measurable, and built around genuine guest relationships.

Today, instead of wondering which marketing efforts are working, the team can see the results, refine its strategy, and spend more time creating unforgettable horseback riding experiences.

Learn more about all of FareHarbor’s integrations that can help you save time, improve operations, and boost sales.