Digital marketing beyond the green
Golf business is driven by 15 million core golfers who account for more than 90% of all rounds played and golf dollars spent, according to the National Golf Foundation (January 2011). Whether selling golf clubs, shoes, apparel, rounds or even vacation packages, market reach is key. While golfers can be reached at trade shows and in retail outlets, it’s important to establish yourself online. Not only do you want to have presence in the digital landscape, but you need to make sure the consumer is engaged. People want to feel close to the brand/experience and trust the information they find online.
Enhance your Web presence
Golfers on the Web are first and foremost information seekers. Your brand presence should cater to their needs. A sample checklist includes:
- User-friendly navigation; clean design
- Compelling photos with product or course close-ups
- Video clips that give information but aren’t so long that they exceed attention span
- Sign-up option for newsletters
- Accompanying blog
- Links to social media
Pebble Beach Resort, www.pebblebeach.com, is a good example of how to make use of space on your website. Users are greeted with a photo slideshow that features prominent links to the Pebble Beach events page, Facebook profile and online store. The clean, easy-to-navigate site provides exactly what the user seeks—convenience and all the information they need to plan their next golf outing.
On the product side, TaylorMade, www.taylormadegolf.com, does a great job of engaging the user. The site is clean and easy to follow, with a menu bar at the top as well as on the bottom left. Users can immediately find a retailer or demo events, sign up for email or access the store. Less prominent on the main page are links to Twitter and Facebook. This encourages the user to spend a little bit of time on the site before heading to the accompanying social media pages.
Social media must-haves
It’s not as simple as creating a Facebook or Twitter page. Sure, you can just create them, but, in order to engage the user, there are several things to keep in mind.
- Branding. You can brand your social media page to some extent. YouTube offers branded channels, Facebook gives the option of customizing your landing page and branding your tabs, and on Twitter your background can match your brand. Also, make sure that your tone of voice carries over to your social media site.
Callaway’s brand extends to its Twitter, YouTube, blog and Facebook, as seen here: www.facebook.com/Callaway. The brand consistency ensures that each page is a trusted source and the user can easily recognize what’s being marketed. - Voice. Remember that this is the Internet, and not a product catalog or a sales pitch. Users are interested in absorbing information but you should try to get your point across without coming off as too much of a salesmen and without being too wordy. Still, the voice needs to match your overall brand tone and that of your website.
- Two-way conversation. Don’t talk at the user. Instead, talk with the user. It’s okay to initiate a post, but try to make it spark conversation. And don’t be afraid to let users answer other user questions. If they are specific to your brand/product, and you feel the need to respond, do so.
- Post frequency. You will want to post enough to make yourself seen, but not so much that users get turned off. This can be somewhat of a grey area, but a good rule of thumb is not to post more than once per day. A recent study by social media research expert Dan Zarrella stated that “the number of likes was highest for pages that posted around once every other day.”
- Necessary content. For YouTube, you’ll want to post videos relevant to what you’re trying to sell. If it’s a product, then maybe you want to feature footage of pros or other golfers using the product. You could do a video on how your custom clubs are made. Or you could do a video of your golf course.
On Facebook you can create tabs for videos, photos, contests, products, news, a store, etc. And you can even customize your landing page tab. Somewhere on your welcome tab, it’s wise to put a call-to-action for users to Like your page. Nike Golf does a good job of directing the user to Like the page and also of branding their Facebook page.
From Facebook to iPhone apps, there are plenty of ways to reach digital-savvy golfers. Explore the type that’s best for what you’re trying to sell.
Ways to enhance the social media experience
Your competitors probably have a website. And they probably have some social media pages. To stand out among them, and to engage users, you should be creative.
Offering a sweepstakes of some sort via social media is just one way to do this. Cleveland Golf, recently launched a contest where they’re choosing 10,000 golfers to test and help spread the word on their new CG16 iron. The grand prize trip to Sea Island, Georgia is a small investment, considering the 10,000 chosen golfers who are acting as brand ambassadors for the company.
Cleveland Golf’s other digital trendsetting ability includes CGTV, the company’s custom video channel that can be viewed on their website.
You can also ask users to submit photos. The Titleist Facebook page features a Titleist Player of the Week contest to give users their 15 minutes of fame and encourage them to revisit the site.
Ping’s iPhone or iPod Touch app, seen here, features a GPS-enabled Retail Locator, news, videos and product browsing abilities so users can be engaged wherever they happen to be, even if they are away from the computer.
Digital is critical
There are countless tips for creating a solid digital campaign, but the main thing to keep in mind is to do what works for your brand. If you are getting followers/Likes/consumer interaction, then you are on the right track. Keep up with the trends and always keep an eye on your competition. Digital marketing is a full-time job. You should have a skilled person or team of people who can help you get the job done.
With extensive experience working with developing, growing and mature brands on the Web, Push can be that help.
Created by Push in 2009, the video below explores the relationship between golf, the community and one of golf's greatest players.
If you would like to see examples of our work done for a variety of our clients, visit our case studies.
To talk to Push directly, please contact John Ludwig, CEO, at 407-841-2299 or at jludwig@pushhere.com.