With the economy crashing down around us, our initial instinct is to horde our money and not spend a dime.   Actually, that is probably one of the worst things we can do. Money (spending) is actually the oil we need right now to get the economy going and hence the lowering of interest rates. 

     So what does this have to do with my club? Everything!  Now more than ever you must continue to spend money marketing your Club; not withholding  it. This is the perfect time to gain more attention (and its resulting market share) since everyone else will be eliminating theirs. But you have to be smart about it as every penny is precious. That means that any advertising that you do must support any marketing that you have going such as your website and any direct mail efforts. It is a way to reinforce what you are doing in your target market’s mind.

     Let’s talk about print ads in particular. Let me qualify this by saying that pretty doesn’t work. I know you get a warm and fuzzy feeling when you see a attractive picture of your course, but who cares??? Beautiful pictures of golf courses are a dime a dozen. Do you really think someone is going to spend the money to put in an ugly picture?? Don’t be deluded into thinking that an ad done by a graphic artist or designer (remember these people are into ’looks’) is going to make the phone ring. THEY AREN’T MARKETING EXPERTS WHO MAKE THE PHONE RING.

     # 1 Tip – All ads must be trackable. You need to know what type of response you have gotten for the money you have spent. That is your ROI – return on investment so you can determine what worked and what you would want to do in the future. Do you want to keep throwing good, hard earned money after bad on an ad that got you no results. Of course not. So make each ad trackable. This can be done by assigning unique phone numbers or URL’s to each ad. The few extra dollars to set this up is better in the long run than assuming that your staff will ask every caller and track every answer.

     # 2 Tip – All ads must have an appealing offer. One that grabs the viewer by the collar and says make the phone call now or go to the website immediately to find out more. Your ad must get the viewer to respond   The more enticing the offer, the more the responses will be. What would happen if you offered free golf? The phone wouldn’t stop ringing. You get the idea. 

     # 3 Tip – Your picture has to be an attention grabber. Harken above. If you don’t have anything really spectacular, and I mean really spectacular, then do something different that grabs the reader’s attention. Put something in the picture that makes it stand out from the crowd. Get the reader to look twice. 

     # 4 Tip – Your headline must grab your reader. (just like the picture) Remember that 95% of readers will never get past a headline so it must confirm the reader’s interest. 

     # 5 Tip – You ad must have compelling copy. Let’s admit it. You could take 10 random ads for membership and just basically swap out the name of the club. They all talk about a great golf layout, friendly staff, superb service, terrific amenities, blah, blah, blah. You must make it personal and explain what is in it for them. Explain the benefit, not the features. Prove your points by using testimonials and quotes. 

     # 6 Tip – Make your ad easy to read. This is simple. The easier it is to read, the more folks who will read (and hopefully react to) it. This means making it large enough to read and visually easy to read (no reverse text or fancy font).

     # 7 Tip - Focus on moving the reader to the first step in the sales process. Yes, your goal is to sell a membership but getting the person to the club is really the first step in the process. That should be the point of your ad is to move the reader along to do so. Closing the sale will be much easier once they have made the initial step in the sales process.

     # 8 Tip – Ask the reader for a specific action. Tell them to call, go to your website, visit your club, or whatever but to do something. Tell the reader what you would like them to do in order to start the sales process.

     # 9 Tip – Use all known ’tricks’ of the trade. Captions under pictures, end headline where reader should start ready copy, picture subject to face text, scissors where there is a coupon to be cut out, etc.

     # 10 Tip – Run right place, right time, for right people. You wouldn’t put an ad for a golf membership in a tennis magazine, would you? Look for the media that your demographic reads and when they read it. And don’t be seduced by large circulation numbers for instance like a large city newspaper. Remember that less than 8% of its readers could care about golf. However, if they are doing a golf specific insert at a special rate then consider it. But back to number one. If you have been tracking your ads, you will know which ones worked and which ones didn’t. 

     Who said this would be easy?   Spending money is easy. Having it produce results isn’t. If you are going to spend it, take the time to create an attention grabbing picture, captivating headline, appealing offer and compelling copy that asks the reader for action towards the first step of the sales process.  If you can’t do it, find a professional advertising or marketing person or firm (not an artist) who can. Properly place the ad, track your results and enroll new members.