There are, of course, significant differences between the US business model and that of the UK when it comes to golf clubs.
In the States the majority of clubs are run as businesses to make profit. Ours are not. US clubs are structured to enable effective decision making, with either a GM or Golf Director who ultimately has the final say. Only the proprietary-run clubs over here are based on this model as the owner wants to see a return on his investment. But these are very much in the minority to the semi private clubs that are run by the members, for the members. This usually consists of a 12-man committee which all but stifles any forward thinking or change that could ultimately benefit the club.
Unfortunately, this means that many British clubs are missing opportunities in a number of key areas. The majority are very poor at collecting any form of data. Therefore they are not communicating effectively with potential customers. Those that do set aside a marketing budget to advertise their golf club are so focused on trying to find new business - be that membership, society golf, corporate golf or non-golf related activities such as conferences - they forget the key to low cost effective marketing is to market themselves to those on their database who are already interested in their club through past association with it.
The main way we look to help golf clubs is through better use of their online presence. The internet enables golf clubs to reach a much bigger audience and all at no cost. Once the website is designed, everybody can access it.
A club's website is the single most important marketing tool a club can have. It should be first and foremost a data collection machine, but above all, something that showcases what the club can offer. Flash shows, testimonials, free downloads, interesting and most importantly, updated content.
But most clubs do not do this. Many golf clubs have very poor websites that actually do nothing for them from a marketing perspective. Where we can help is by designing a website that will enable them to capture data in up to five different ways. By doing this they will very quickly build a database of highly qualified, targeted prospects that can be emailed on a regular basis with different offers or communication. The software allows the club to segment this database so that only the people that will be interested in a specific promotion will actually receive the email.
Once designed, this form of marketing costs the club nothing. An entire year's worth of promotional campaigns can be loaded into the back end of their GMC website, forming the basis of their marketing efforts. We strongly believe that the club's website and the internet should form the main hub of their marketing, working in conjunction with their offline campaigns to provide them with accurate feedback on which campaigns are working, which are producing the most phone calls and ultimately, which are bringing the greatest ROI. Without knowing this it becomes guesswork. Why spend £1k on an advert that actually brings no phone calls? Because we've always done it? Because our competitors do it? Unfortunately this is the reasoning that prevails at many clubs.
By using our technology, clubs can now allocate their marketing funds to the areas that are actually going to produce them the greatest return. All clubs have a full marketing consultation prior to working with us so we know as much as possible before any work agreement is signed. We view it very much as a two-way working relationship where the golf club has a major input into the design of their site. We do not simply provide a set template that is applied to all clubs as no two clubs are the same.
We are in an era now of declining club memberships, with many clubs struggling to hit the right balance of catering to their members while making best use of their facility financially. Yet few clubs are really setting about reversing those trend. We firmly believe we can.
Golf Marketing Commander has more than 250 partners worldwide, including Loch Ness GC, St Andrews Golf Tours, Stonelees Golf Centre and The Kendleshire in the UK. For more information visit http://www.golfmarketingcommander.co.uk/
