Market or Die!
by Martin Wellbourne
What is your marketing style? Besides avoidance!!! Most people avoid marketing because they think of it as pushy selling. Actually it’s building relationships with your golfers and potential players and members. Everyone wants to be known personally and play golf at places that treat them like they’re special. When you’re marketing, that’s what you’re doing.
What types of marketing would fit into your style? What could you most easily build into your routines? Sure, we’re all busy fighting fires, but you need to pass the routine work on to your staff so you can work on the things that only you can do. That’s what a good leader does.
Here’s a quick rundown of different types of marketing to see what resonates with you - what fits your style while still trying something new to get new results.
Major Types of Marketing Advertising. The easiest and most expensive. You write a check and the media can develop the ad for you. If you advertise in the wrong place, don’t have a great "headline" to get attention, and don’t track effectiveness, it can waste a lot of money. If you know what appeals work where and your ads generate more than you spend, advertising can be your mainstay.
Publicity. This amounts to free advertising in whatever media you use. But you have to constantly stay in touch with the media, come up with "newsworthy" angles, and build relationships with reporters. It’s hard to create a steady stream of stories and you can’t count on the stories being run at a particular time, or at all.
Personal Networking/Sales. Everyone likes to know the "boss" or have an in at their club. If you’re good at going to Rotary, Chambers, seminars, etc. every week and coming away with new friends and business cards, this can be quite productive. You also need a follow-up system - a way to remind people about you and the club the next day. Then they are likely to come out and give you a try.
Customer Service. If you’re a fanatic about quality or service and you make every golfer’s experience memorable, then this is all the marketing you may need. But it takes an emphasis ABOVE just delivering good service. You have to deliver a great EXPERIENCE. It can be done, but few do it. Think of your bank, dry cleaner, and local restaurants. Do any of them knock your socks off with their service?
Merchandising. This generally refers to displays at stores so it’s more applicable to your pro shop. But your whole club is selling itself, its atmosphere, an escape from the outside world. This is subtle but is also part of the customer experience.
Online. If you’re a whiz on the computer and do your own search engine optimization (SEO). If your web site collects new emails regularly. And if you send out a regular newsletter (zine). Add to that regularly contributing (daily) to golf, travel, wedding, and local business discussion groups and you may get all the business you need.
It’s Easier Than It Looks Sorry if this list looks intimidating. There are other ways to slice marketing and we’ve found and developed products that can help you in many other ways. The trick is to do SOMETHING regularly. It may not work, but you’ll learn something or meet someone. If you spend an hour a day on marketing and take action regularly, you’ll be in control of your destiny.
While marketing is a tool to give you more time for golf and life, you’ll find that it can be a positive aspect of your routine on its own. Think of it as getting paid to make new friends and learn about new people + golf!