I know many of you are finalizing or in the middle of the planning of your marketing strategy and activities right now for 2021.
That’s why I was thinking about summarizing what golf club marketing trends I expect in 2021.
Digitalization of golf club operations can’t stop
The coronavirus crisis is giving another push to digitalize our golf club operations by utilizing the latest, relevant technologies. As a result of the current crisis, consumer behavior has already changed.
This is not just about touchless technology, but also about how we utilize digital assistant technologies (e.g. Google Assistant, Samsung Bixby, Siri) and A.I.-based chatbots.
In 2021, the native digital assistant base globally is set to exceed 7.5 billion active devices (Source: Ovum).
The reasons why chatbots are so popular are
- It makes your golf club more interactive and responsive online;
- You can catch much more customer information and insights;
- Convenience – we like to chat!
- Can replace hundreds of customer service resources by handling thousands of customers at the same time;
- Customer satisfaction as we are answering questions specific to the context of the moment and the outcome.
- One-on-one communication can provide a feeling of being appreciated.
We also have to accept and understand that we cannot afford to offer mass experiences to our golf club/resort guests and members. Our customers are looking for unique and memorable experiences.
Therefore, we have to look for technology solutions that enable us to provide highly personalized services.
It is time to redesign and rethink the driving range experience we offer. This is not just for the sake of customer experience development, but to increase the revenue from this source.
In short, this is the new norm!
Customer Experience & Employee Experience
The more advanced golf clubs around the world are already measuring customer experience. How can golf clubs afford not to invest in customer experience development?
How can you achieve your customer experience goals if you don’t invest in your employees? Your most valuable employees will not be engaged and stay in your golf club if you don’t invest in them.
I am expecting that the COVID-19 will not vanish soon. To develop a deep trust in your golf club you must show how you will protect your guests, members, and employees.
Are you ‘Scrooge McDuck’ or a socially conscious and engaged golf club/resort?
E-commerce is not a 4-letter word
In 2020, we learned how golf club management softwares, digital platforms (e.g. Zest.Golf, Greenfee365), and mobile apps with e-commerce features can improve the revenues of our golf clubs.
This will not be any different next year, and the demand for e-commerce solutions will even increase. Dare to use your golf club website as a sales channel!
Mobile services and solutions
The golf industry wasted too much time not to offer to its customers mobile shopping opportunities via their mobile app. E.g.
- ordering drink & food during the game,
- booking table in the clubhouse during the game or from home;
- booking training with the preferred PGA Pro of the club,
- application for golf club membership, etc.
I go even further. Let’s help our employees with mobile applications (e.g. shift planning; setting and adjusting watering and mowing schedules) and partner with such companies that can offer mobile apps for our employees.
This is why worth considering it because:
- The average US adult spent 3 hours and 43 minutes a day on mobile devices in 2019.
- The average screen time in the UK is 3 hours and 23 minutes per day.
What is even more important is not to separate offline and online experiences. For our customers, it is all about convergence. You can call it also omnichannel experience.
They want convenience, efficiency and relevance in our services.
Content Marketing
Believe it or not, but your content has got a great impact on customer experience.
Hence we have to create meaningful content and provide necessary information to every moment of truth (=moments that have a great influence/impact on the customer).
It is fair to say that our content shapes the customer journeys.
Brian Solis says
“Content experiences, when thoughtful, culturally relevant, and extraordinary, are an incredible platform for our voice, personality, story, and reason for being to come to life.”
Cisco’s report predicted that by 2021, video will account for 80% of all internet traffic.
Don’t underestimate the usage of video on a landing page (e.g. about experiences in the club, reviews, user-generated content) where prospects can submit the membership request. It can increase conversions by 80%!
Video personalization is another trend to look out for. A Motioncue survey found:
“78% of marketers attribute video as the tool responsible
for bringing in new customers. The content has also proven to be effective for SEO.”
If you need more explanation then feel free to drop me an email: mikibreitner@gmail.com or call me +36 30 279 0054. If you wish to invite me to your event as a keynote speaker: https://golfbusinessmonitor.com/speaking