Brandon Trimmer – Director of Intuitive Edge – offers timely advice for the upcoming golf season.
Imagine walking into a restaurant in December to see that they’re offering 50% off their Christmas lunch menu… You’d think they’ve got a screw loose. December’s the MAIN TIME OF YEAR people eat Christmas lunch. People WANT TO EAT Christmas lunch and are happy to pay full price. People are also more than happy to have MORE THAN ONE through the Christmas period…
Doesn’t this relate to the upcoming golf season and what most golf clubs WILL do throughout the next few months – the MAIN TIME OF YEAR for golf? You’d hope that over the next 6 months we’ll welcome some much-needed warmer weather, blue skies, and hotter temperatures – perfect weather for golf. Yet, we’ll still see clubs promoting slashed green fee rates at a time when their course is in the best condition it’s been in all year and golfers MOST WANT TO PLAY… It’s kind of like heading to the beach mid-July to find that they’ve removed their car parking charge.
I mention this because we’ve (Intuitive Edge Marketing) recently started work with two Top 100 Courses, both in immaculate condition. Throughout March, our objective with one of these clubs was to promote membership, and with such a good product there was simply no need to run a special promotion, discount, or giveaway. We were, instead, focused on selling the overall customer experience that golfers could expect from a superior golf facility.
As Steve Jobs famously said: “Marketing is about values. It’s a complicated and noisy world, and we’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is. So we have to be really clear about what we want them to know about us.”
By focusing on the club’s recent investment, vision for the future, and by asking golfers if they wanted to join the club on this journey, we generated 165 membership leads at a cost of less than £1 per lead. Here’s a screenshot from MailChimp of those that enquired and, judging from the open and click through rates, they’re clearly engaged with what we’re sending them:
Just because you’re going to run a marketing campaign, doesn’t mean you HAVE to give something away, discount, or change your product, ESPECIALLY in peak months. Instead, you need to have a powerful marketing message that resonates with your audience. Besides, if you’re going to discount in the summer when the sun is shining, what are you going to do in the winter when the heavens open!?
Interested In Developing Your Golf Marketing this season?
Simply visit our website by clicking here and you can speak to the team between 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri.
Or, to receive some example marketing packages that could work for your club, as well as some examples of recent results that we have achieved for our wide range of golf clients, simply email me at Brandon@IntuitiveEdgeMarketing.com and I will send these documents straight to your inbox.
Brandon Trimmer – Director.
“Intuitive Edge have been brilliant in helping our golf club grow and attract more customers. They are so friendly and easy to work with and always go the extra mile – they really are the perfect match for our business.” – Claire Jackson, Southwick Park Golf Club
“Not only have the social media and email marketing campaigns generated new customers, but our second objective of improving our email communication with members has been achieved, with nothing but praise being heard around the office! We’re attracting new customers all the time, keeping potential customers up to date with our latest promotions, and also keeping our members happy.” – Peter Ives, Director, Enfield Golf Club