Grow Engagement

Helping Golf Courses Grow Business

Golf 4 Millions offers original and effective solutions for golf clubs and professionals. The industry is evolving, and we want to help clubs and their members embrace change while upholding the traditions that make golf great.

Driving Engagement - Build a ‘Content Brand’

More and more golf course owner operators and marketing leaders are pursuing content marketing and realizing that there's far more to it than a simple tactical change. Effective content marketing requires a different mindset — one that treats content as an invitation to a longer relationship, driven by value exchange and tracked through ongoing engagement, your clubs "content brand."
!Golf Course Marketing Leaders today recognize that effective content marketing treats content as an invitation to a longer relationship, driven by value exchange and tracked through ongoing engagement - your clubs “content brand.”

At Golf 4 Millions, we believe there are four components of a content brand:

i. Content Creation

i. This includes member and guest experiences on the golf course: sharing stories of a high handicapper friend who was Closest to the Pin.

ii. Audience Building

i. Asking friends to compete or to see their name on the pro shop leaderboard.

iii. Managed Engagement

i. Visiting with members and guests after their round, asking if they enjoyed themselves, when they are coming back, if they will tell their friends, and what their shot attempt distances were.

iv. Value Optimization

i. Offering incentives to members or guests who are determined to be good referral source ambassador.

Driving Engagement - 10 Tips for Golf Course Marketers

Golf 4 Millions shares our insights into how you can build the foundations for your clubs own content brand, and correctly track the metrics that power it. We address everything from organizational design to ways to leverage intelligence in order to make product and marketing experiences more compelling.
!Here are a series of recommendations to help your golf course marketing leaders get started with the right strategy to drive greater engagement.

1. Focusing on “right data.”

A lack of focus is a major barrier to taking action, and with the reams of customer data that most brands have, it’s often difficult to identify and leverage the data that matters. Pinpoint the “right data” by including the Golf Course Ambassadors who are delivering referrals in early discussions with Customer Information, As you talk through the data available, the light should turn on when you uncover insights that could be really powerful in increasing engagement.

2. Deliver on your promises.

!In many cases, customers are more than willing to provide information to brands that will make their present or future brand experiences better. It’s why people willingly opt-in to emails, loyalty programs, etc. Once a consumer has done so, the worst thing a brand can do is not leverage that customer knowledge to deliver a personalized experience. So, if you ask for information about customers, make sure you actually use it to enhance their experience.

3. Make “customer-centricity” a business mandate.

!The vast majority of golf course businesses would, of course, believe they are customer- centric. Who wouldn’t want to be? The problem is, a desire to be customer-centric is often diluted by organizational complexities. Evolving customer-centricity from a desire to a business mandate requires doing things like tying compensation to customer satisfaction or organizing your business departments around customer segments.

4. Aggregate and share customer intelligence.

Disparate teams and course/club departments need to be aware of and aligned around the needs of their member/guest segments. Getting a clear view often requires having a team or individual who works across groups to collect data, then share customer intelligence across the organization. This role could be a “Member Guest Strategist,” or something similar. Start your brand experience framework with understanding where the greatest opportunities to improve exist. These areas are identified by aggregating data from the web, Promoter Scores, social, focus groups, and more to create overarching satisfaction scores, which are then mapped to each brand touch point. The data can be shared with each group that manages the product or marketing experience and ways for improvement could be discussed.

5. Build technical systems that enable cross-channel and real-time deployment. (Golf 4 Millions does this for you!)

Context is incredibly important in an era when consumers have access to the web at all times (via smartphones, etc.). Technologies that measure activities happening across channels and devices, then enable golf clubs to deploy relevant, real-time messages, are critical to engaging customers how, when and where they want to engage with us.

6. Golf 4 Millions combines the capabilities needed to design and deploy engaging experiences.

Golf 4 Millions is a new breed of partner, we evolve to meet the demands of today’s golf course marketers. We combine business consulting, customer intelligence, data management, technical expertise, journey mapping, experience design, analytics and a focus on innovation. Having all these capabilities allows us to deliver member / guest intelligence, then you leverage those insights to deploy programs across channels.

7. Get the intelligence right first, then focus on deployment.

Figuring out the channels and messages that will be most effective in achieving a business outcome shouldn’t be a guessing game. Don’t attempt to build a customer journey or execute an integrated program before you have a solid understanding of customers, or even quick-hit research methods. Develop a scorecard and use the available data to prioritize focus areas that will drive the greatest improvement in your experience.

8. Tackle innovation and engagement from multiple levels in your golf course using Golf 4 Millions Competition, software and APP’s.

Customer-obsessed organizations are often driven from the top down. That being said, every individual in every role should be on the lookout for ways to improve programs or interactions with customers. All of your staff can celebrate your members and guests shot attempts and performance and encourage them back to participate again with another round of golf and a lesson!

9. Reward customer advocates to create a culture of “customer-obsession.”

A great way to create employees, as well as a culture, that will constantly look for ways to enhance the customer experience is by formally rewarding those that go above and beyond in support of customer goals. Start looking for those employees that don’t just take the easy way out and are instead constantly considering “how will this decision impact our customers?”

10. Always be thinking about retention.

Engagement isn’t a one-time thing. Golf 4 Millions engage golfers of all skill levels so that they will continue to interact and visit you more over time. Golf Club / Course brands that retain customers do so by constantly leveraging the details they know (including transaction data) and using them to uncover ways to improve future experiences. Always be thinking about “what’s next?” that will excite and engage members/guests in new and different ways, to keep them continually engaged.

Now it’s your turn. How is your golf course discovering unique insights about your customers? How are you thinking about engagement at every touch point? We’d love to hear from you and add to our collective knowledge. Also we love referrals and you know we reward you for them.

Build and enhance your Golf 4 Millions Club Course Page today, it is free, get your members participating in our Closest to Pin Competition, it is fun and will grow your business and your revenue.

The Golf 4 Millions Competition is the most innovative event in the golf industry. It starts with the individual club, all clubs can participate. The specifics of Club Competitions (dates, length, shot sales, finals) are all decided by the individual club, allowing each club the flexibility to incorporate the level of competition that works best for them.