Page 20 - GBC English Winter 2022

NOW IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR MARKETING
The real key to retain and/or grow your market is the importance of continuing your marketing initia- tives even when you think you cannot get any busier. Many golf courses do not have the same avail- ability on their tee sheets as they had inthepast,sotheythinktheirneed to market has diminished. Nothing could be further from the truth!
It was marketing that helped fill your golf course in the past and marketing will continue to fill your golf course in the future. Let’s not forget how confident we were in the 90’s when rounds played were plentiful and Tiger Woods was at his prime. Then 2008 hit and golf was not insulated from the reces- sion and financial fallout that followed. We may be riding high on golf’s current resurgence, but now is always the right time for market- ing, especially as we navigate the financial uncertainties of a post- COVID reality.
COLLECTING USEFUL DATA
If the simplest definition of market- ing for the golf business is the ability to place new players on the course, then let’s keep our market- ing philosophy as straightforward and understand that the key to marketing is data. What do four of the biggest companies in the world; Amazon, Google, YouTube, and Facebook, rely on to make money? The answer is always data.
What is data you say? Well, it could be as simple as having the name and email of every golfer that came onto your premises so you could effectively communicate with them in the future to entice them to comeback. To expand on that, it could be a connection of that name and email to your POS system to track other key data points such as purchase history and preferenc- es, frequency of play and loyalty, spending habits etc., to be used in future marketing. For example, you
could easily establish your top 144 customers and host an annual end of season event for them that includes golf, cart, food, drinks, prizes, etc. People will try to spend more to get onto this list and become part of the event!
In addition, there is always talk about how to grow the game and mostprogramsweseefocuseither on the beginner golfer or the player who is already a member. Imagine if tomorrow you could request a report that told you, who were all the players that had played 5 to 7 rounds at your facility, and you could market to them to increase the rounds to 10 to 12 rounds. What effect would this have on your business or bottom line?
Data gathered from companies like Facebook, Google and YouTube is also crucial. We utilize experts in this field to deliver PPC (Pay Per Click) or what is now referred to as ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) programs that are designed to bring guaranteed results for your business, or you don’t pay. We recommend you continue to concentrate on the things you know best, customer service, day-to-day operations and produc- ing the best golf product possible and allow other industry experts in marketing help drive people to your business.
OFFSEASON CONSUMER GOLF SHOWS
The offseason is a great time to focus on fine-tuning your market- ing plans, initiatives, and activities. At the very least, it makes sense to take the time to plan your market- ing promotions or events that will be included for the annual holidays and special occasions (e.g. The Masters, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, holiday long weekends, etc.) If you maximize this work in the offsea- son, then the workload is much less in-season, so you have more time to concentrate on execution and customer engagement.
In the past couple of years, many operators have taken part in the virtual consumer golf show (Canadian GOLFEXPO) offered by the NGCOA Canada, as a tried- and-true method of collecting data on customers who might not have recently visited your facility. In addition to this incredible virtual experience, in-person consumer golf shows will be back in spring 2023. Depending on your facility’s location, participation in the virtual, in-person, or both, would provide you with an excellent opportunity to really kickstart your season!
Many of our clients have partic- ipated in these consumer golf shows with two objectives in mind: 1. Find a way to be different or to
stand out in either show environ- ment (virtual or in-person) so that rather than being one of many, you are one of a kind.
2. Find a unique way to entice people to give you data so that you can begin to establish a relationship with them through your current marketing plan or initiative. One of our favourite ways to do so is by using an online Long Drive Contest to make it fun to be on our website and at the same time easy to gather their data.
Regardless of the method or objective, marketing throughout the offseason is a sure way to improve your business and the relationship you have with your customers.
MARKETING FOR 2023 STARTS TODAY
As the season ends after another stellar year, one might think it is time for a rest to recharge the batteries. There is no doubt that this should be part of your regiment in the offseason, however, it is also a great time to put the pedal to the metal and get a jump on your marketing for the 2023 season.
Golf Business Canada
20 Golf Business Canada