Generating ideas (Marketing column)

Many course owners/operators are entering the winter shoulder season, and for many Southern owners/operators, peak season is right around the corner. So, considering the time of year, do you have plenty of marketing arrows left in your quiver to attract new business to the course right now? Hopefully, you haven’t run out of marketing ideas because running out would jeopardize the future success of your golf facility and might even be a sign of losing passion for the business. Anyway, here are some ideas to keep the marketing wheels turning.

A good example
I entered the golf course marketing business because of the passion of Bobby Stricklin, a Tampa Bay-area course operator/owner who I met within months of arriving in Florida fresh out of college from Connecticut in 1979. I didn’t know it then, but Stricklin and his head golf professional, John Reger, influenced my life and helped lead me into golf course marketing consulting because they were exceptional operators and good marketers.

In 1986, Stricklin asked me to visit him at his three-year-old Bloomingdale Golfers Club in Valrico, Fla., for an annual review of his advertising and promotions with Golfweek, the publication I used to work for. By the time Bloomingdale opened, it was a good, but not great, golf course. However, Stricklin wanted to create an exceptional golf club, golf experience and semiprivate golf membership.

It seemed that every time I met with Stricklin or Reger they were bouncing new marketing ideas around and devising ways to introduce them to their audience of golfers and members. First and foremost, their ideas were intended to enhance the players experience at the club. They clearly recognized that successfully enhancing players’ experiences translated into generating more revenue quickly.

They were tireless in their devotion to marketing their golf course even before it opened. You could tell they were enjoying themselves. From its inception, it was different, including the name: Bloomingdale Golfers Club. No pool, no tennis. The club for golfers only.

Stricklin recruited the best players in the area to use the practice facilities. They were players from the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Senior PGA Tour, European Tour and various minitours. You could show up to play a round and be warming up next to Beth Daniel, Lee Janzen, Rocco Mediate or Meg Mallon, just to name a few pro golfers from the mid-1980s.

The culture Stricklin and Reger created led Bloomingdale to include more than 200 single-digit handicap members. Their target was golfers who were really into the game. That was to be their brand.

Some of the marketing ideas that set the club apart from others included:

• A “Wall of Fame” for pictures of members and others who had accomplished something extraordinary on the course such as a hole-in-one or a double eagle, or celebrities who played at the club;
• Golf was shown on their TVs at all times;
• A VCR library of golf videos that could be rented out;
• A golf events/activities calendar that was second to none. There was always something going on. There were 17 or 18 events, programs or seminars scheduled every month;
• A Stimpmeter sign by the practice green showing green speed each day;
• Golf-swing-specific exercise equipment between the practice green and the driving range; and
• An adapted frequent flyer program called “The Tee It Up Club.”

All of this was progressive marketing that was geared to enhancing Bloomingdale’s target audience experience. Stricklin and Reger defined their target golfer and did everything to enhance that group’s experience at their club. Adaptive marketing was their strategy. As a result, the facility was ranked as one of Florida’s top 10 for nine years in a row before someone made them an offer to buy the club they couldn’t refuse. Their marketing acumen created value for the club that exceeded their expectations.

What makes “exceptional”
At that stage of my career, Golfweek was expanding nationally, and there were new markets and courses to reach out to for advertising. My focus was traveling to new regions to develop relationships with exceptional golf courses.

I began to learn what made certain courses throughout America exceptional and what kept others wallowing in mediocrity. It wasn’t just the magnificent physical structures of some courses and resorts. It was often the exceptional staff and their service to patrons. It was who they targeted and how they marketed or appealed to their key audience on and off the course. It was the passion the operators had for the industry and how they applied marketing to their everyday endeavors. They never ran out of new marketing ideas or shied away from adapting familiar marketing ideas to their club and patrons.

In a past column, I wrote marketing is all around you. Notice it. Understand it. Marketing is consumer appeal and how you might apply it to your facility.

Some examples I used were McDonalds (“Can I get you an apple pie with that order?”), happy hour policy (“Buy one, get one free the next time you visit.”) or frequent flyer programs (rewards for frequent patronage). Some of these companies have huge market research divisions and spend tens of millions of dollars on consumer research. Apply the same ideas and promotions to your golf course and your desire to attract patrons. It’s almost impossible to run out of ideas if you have the passion to succeed.

Use the Internet
Have you used the Internet to generate more marketing ideas? If not, you should. I searched for “golf promotion,” “golf course marketing plans” and “market your golf course” and found 60 million links to different sites. On the first page alone, a Hilton Garden Inn had a press release explaining how it generated 13,000 rounds and roomnights last summer; the Minnesota Golf Association revealed its plans for a fall golf promotion; and the Bermuda Department of Tourism revealed its strategies and tactics for a winter golf promotion. I also found a sample golf course business plan that included a promotions section and a National Golf Course Owners Association’s sample marketing plan for review.

There were informative marketing ideas on every page. Although most of it was someone trying to sell his services, you still can garner ideas for your course in your market on many of the sites.

New marketing ideas are everywhere. You simply need to recognize them and apply them to your unique golf course, audience and market. GCN