5 Common Digital Marketing Mistakes Golf Courses Make
SEO, social media, email marketing, paid search campaigns, and the list goes on: You’ve done everything right when it comes to your digital marketing efforts. Or so you thought.
Maybe you’re performing pretty well overall, but could be doing even better. There’s a lot that goes into digital marketing, and it can be easy to overlook something that’s seemingly minor, but that could make a huge difference in results. The following are some of the top common digital marketing mistakes that golf courses easily make:
Not taking advantage of pull marketing
Online advertising and marketing are all about selling and growing your customer base. However, many industries, including golf courses and country clubs, often focus too much on always trying to sell. This is often referred to as push marketing.The right types of content for golf courses and country clubs, such as engaging videos on social media, tend to sell themselves. This is a great example of pull marketing, and while push marketing isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s ideal for golf courses to focus on a good balance between pull and push marketing. With pull marketing, viewers come to the conclusion on their own to become paying customers.
Not tailoring any of their marketing efforts to millennials
When creating and executing a successful internet marketing strategy, one important factor to always consider is your target audience. It can be easy to make the mistake of only considering seniors to be part of your target audience when you’re marketing a golf course or country club. While it’s true that a large number of golfers are older individuals and that seniors do play golf more frequently than younger age groups, it is also reported that younger adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are the sport’s “biggest customer age segment.” Because of this, it’s essential that golf courses and country clubs keep millennials in mind when devising an online marketing strategy. Alas, some golf courses make the mistake of not taking a more modern approach that will be more effective in engaging millennials.
Not fully utilizing the customized videos of your golf course is a huge missed opportunity. This goes beyond just posting your video on social media and your website. Think along the lines of paid campaigns that use video, partnerships with influencers and those in the tourism industry, and so on.
Overlooking current customers
Most marketing objectives tend to focus on acquiring new customers, but one mistake that marketers tend to make is that they often overlook current customers when working on their strategies. In fact, it has been said again and again that existing customers tend to be the best customers for a number of reasons.
If you’ve seen a drop in the number of regulars returning your golf course, you’ll want to figure out why. If there aren’t any structural issues with your golf course, it’s important to keep current customers in mind when it comes to your digital marketing efforts, rather than sending out messages that are simply trying to attract new ones. Perhaps showcasing new videos that highlight additions or updates, custom-tailored email marketing that goes only to current customers, promotions that are only available to current customers, and so on.
Not taking full advantage of video
Video has easily become one of the most popular forms of content on the web, and if you aren’t taking advantage of the various videos you have for your golf course, it can be a big mistake. Specifically, you should have (and market) videos that provide driving tips and ideas for golfers when it comes to your course. They should easily show the layout of your golf course, which gives golfers the chance to plan out their shots ahead of time. Intriguing and challenges course setups that are advertised via video are a terrific way to pull in new golfers.
Failing to monitor results and progress
Even if a golf course is seeing good results from their marketing efforts, it’s important to always strive to be better. There is always room for growth and improvement, and one of the best ways to measure this is through analytics. Depending on where you are focusing your efforts, this will mean looking at an array of platforms and tools when generating reports: Google Analytics, social media insights, and so on. This can give you a much clearer picture as to what’s working, what’s not, and what’s worth experimenting with when it comes to change.
For example, maybe the general video you used of your golf course performed well, but the hole flyover footage captured with a drone performed even better. Maybe your social media engagements are going up, but your search engine rankings haven’t been improving. Without regularly monitoring results and progress, you won’t know what to focus on and what to change, which is often a common digital marketing mistake.
Elevate your digital marketing efforts
If your golf course’s digital marketing efforts are lacking, or you’re ready to step up your strategy to the next level, contact FORE Golf today to learn more about our various golf course video marketing solutions. From hole flyovers to commercial shoots, we can create a customized video strategy for your golf course that will help captive and draw in more customers.
Are you looking to learn more about creating video footage of your country club or golf course? From comprehensive hole maps to high-quality video for commercials, FORE Golf can provide your organization with a wide range of video content services that will perfectly showcase your golf course. Contact us today for more information and to book a shoot!
