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How do we get the next generation playing golf?

Millennials have different expectations of leisure activities than previous generations. After all, they have grown up in a time when digital pioneers like Amazon, Airbnb, Netflix and Uber have reshaped their everyday lives with killer convenience and exceptional, personalised service.

May 23, 2019 3 min read

On a lot of occasions the golf industry gets nowhere near this level of convenience or personalisation (from a ‘digital’ not a ‘service’ standpoint). At this point, it is important to remember that we are not just competing within the golf industry, but vying for the attention of the person over all other leisure activities. It is very important for golf courses to focus on a customers’ experience when using their websites and apps. Tapping into a golfers needs and desires is crucial when marketing a golf course through these channels, which all comes down to image/video assets, then how well your website app/performs and how you get the golfer to interact with your website in the first place i.e. digital marketing strategy. Grabbing a golfers attention can be the first step to loyalty and turning a visiting golfer into a member. However many golf clubs have no overall digital strategy, never mind one focused on each type of customer. The messaging has to differ from member, to visitor, to group golf bookings.

The industry has a way to go as golfers of any age can attest, the experience of booking a game of golf online can be clunky, frustrating and time consuming, as it can be over the telephone with a large amount of calls going unanswered (I am speaking from personal experience here).

With all that in mind, here is what we think the golf industry should be looking to achieve over the next few years, which will hopefully encourage the younger generation to get into golf (we are not forgetting all the other important activities which helps golfers get into golf, like a welcoming atmosphere, beginners programmes from the PGA Pro etc, but we see the first step on that journey as digital marketing:

Get our mobile act together:

We now work with over 100 golf clubs across the UK, and when you consolidate the data from Google Analytics mobile web sessions account for 62% of all sessions to a ‘visitor booking engine’ and tablet accounts for 9%. Mobile sessions are steadily increasing, eating into the share of desktop. The obvious conclusion; a strong, appealing mobile presence is crucial to attract visiting golfers!

We as an industry still flag behind other industries when it comes to up selling. Some technology providers do not offer buggy booking on their tee booking platform. There is so much opportunity to up sell and increase revenue with automated emails and simply the option to purchase, but the technology prevents us from doing this easily! That said, we don’t want to annoy customers in a similar fashion to when you book a flight and have to navigate your way through checking in with out paying for it (my recent experience of Ryan-Air!)

Reduce cumbersome screens and processes:

Booking a tee time simply should not be as time consuming or difficult as it often is. This is a problem for people any age – an oft-quoted Microsoft study said humans now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, one second less than a goldfish – and Millennials seem especially selective about the content they consume.

Look how successful Amazon’s 1 click purchase has been, there is no reason we couldn’t have something similar in the golf industry. Sign in to the booking platform with your Google/Facebook account, pay with Amazon Pay/PayPal/Apple Pay or pay on arrival as very few online bookings cancel due to their last minute nature), and boom, it’s a seamless easy experience!

If we don’t make these changes people lose their motivation to book, think they will do it later and either book another activity, another golf course or nothing at all.

Embrace technology that can help:

Only last week did I speak with a golf club who was not interested in online booking, even though they took tee time bookings over the telephone, had a website and social media presence. We as an industry must make golf easy to book and take part in. A golf course who refuses to take bookings online is without doubt losing business to their competitors but also to other sports. (Rant over!)

Although swathes of this blog point to what the golf industry is lacking from a digital booking standpoint, there is lots of great stuff happening with the various ‘Get Into Golf’ programmes, the new craze of Adventure Golf and how can you not mention TopTracer and what seems like a golf range digital revolution! It really feels like the golf industry is catching up and in parts overtaking other sports. Here at The Revenue Club we are on a mission to make the visitor golf booking journey digitally friendly!

Smash your SEO this Summer for more green fee bookings

Jul 31, 2019 4 min read

The golfing season is upon us, and with more and more golfers booking their tee times online SEO should be part of your summer marketing strategy. With this in mind we have gathered some top tips to help you out:

1. Use Plain Language

Keywords are a major topic in SEO, make sure your website explains things in the clearest possible format. For example you can use various terms for booking golf, visitor bookings, tee time bookings etc… make your website copy features these subtle differences and other meaningful key words.

2. Write descriptive title tags

Title tags are descriptive text that should tell people what to expect on a page. They are an important part of SEO and help with ranking. Whether visitors see it in their search engine results page (SERP), or while hovering over a tab before navigating to it, this copy should inform them about what’s on the page.\

3. Put the right stuff on your homepage

Although the aesthetics of your homepage is crucial, make sure that it works for your website visitors. The home page should contain some basic information about the club, and provide the user with the options to explore the website further.

The text should help to signpost the user where to go, so make sure you think carefully about why a golfer would visit your webpage. For golf clubs it can be fairly straight forward, memberships, visitor tee times, society/group bookings and functions/weddings. Although simple it is important to keep your CTA seasonal, for example in the summer, green fees should be a priority, where as in the off season it might be societies and in Spring the focal CTA could be membership.

4. SEO is an ongoing project which is about the end user

Although optimising your website for search is the aim of SEO, it is also important to make your website usable for real people i.e. golfers. Make sure to check your Google Analytics/Google Search Console to see which pages are visited most, figure out why that is and improve them first. SEO is an ongoing project and will change with the seasons and technology. We know how busy golf managers can be, but remember a website works around the clock to help get more members, visitors, societies and functions for the golf club! Keep looking at your data. And, when you can find the time, do a little analysis on your competitor’s content. There’s never any harm!

5. Mobile is your friend!

We harp on about it all the time, but it’s so important that your site is optimised for mobile in every sense, and a site that’s well optimised for search engines only has a few more considerations to think about for mobile. Things like page speed, site design and optimising for local search all need to be taken into account!

6. Keyword research

A quick keyword research can often net thousands of of keywords, some relevant to you, some not. The first thing to do is take a look at your websites data on Google Search Console and analyse what you’re ranking for. Then you can start to box a little smarter with your use of keywords!

7. Conversion Optimisation

Whether it is more green fees or membership enquiries you are looking for, optimising the conversion of a website visitor into an enquiry or booking is key. There is no point doing all the work on SEO if a website visitor is not going to convert into a customer. When ever The Revenue Club works with a golf club, converting web traffic into a tee time booking or enquiry is at the forefront of our minds!

How can a golf club use dynamic pricing to increase green fee sales…

Apr 6, 2019. 4 min read

Check out our latest article which featured in the PGA Professional Magazine…

Using variable pricing to move tee time inventory based on a simple demand curve seems the obvious choice when adjusting tee time rates. After all a golf course has a fixed capacity, perishable product, high fixed costs and low variable costs, the green fees can be priced differently, demand evolves, the green fees can be sold in advance and the market can be segmented. These factors make a golf course ideal for applying revenue management.

However, when you factor in the human element and the limitations of technology you can see a number of reasons to be wary. For example, you may ask… Am I jeopardising my core customer base of members or regular visitors? Does frequent discounting encourage people to wait until the last minute and only buy at the lowest price? Am I damaging the brand perception of my golf course? I could go on…

In our experience all those factors are relevant, but with the right strategy they can be overcome by using dynamic pricing to increase revenue and profit. A few things really matter when looking at your green fee pricing strategy, namely:

Your headline green fee rate
How & when you adjust your prices
The time of play
Booking lead time
How the customer will respond to price changes
Perception of value for money
Existing business mix and tee time utilisation

In today’s world of mobile bookings and price comparison websites, consumers (including golfers) understand why a business/golf course would alter its prices based on, demand, time of booking, time of experience, booking channel etc.

Once you have considered all of the above factors you can make a decision on whether dynamic pricing will suit your golf course, and then consider a strategy to implement it. The great thing is, if you are not sure you can try it and measure the results against historic sales.

One thing to consider is that dynamic pricing, channel management, revenue management and digital marketing are intrinsically linked. For example, if you change a price of a green fee on Friday for the following Monday, how do you get that green fee to market in the most cost-effective way, third party or direct etc? It is therefore important to have all of the processes in place to make it work.

This process is at the core of what we do at The Revenue Club. With that in mind we have added our top tips on how to create a successful dynamic green fee management strategy at your golf course (as an alternate to using our services!), don’t just set and forget your green fee pricing:

Get your distribution channels right: A number of factors are important to consider which include ease of channel management, their potential, the cost involved and the marketing opportunity the channel provides. Third parties are necessary in today’s market, they are a useful tool for a golf course, but as with any tool they need to be used correctly.
Offer book direct incentives: Booking through external partners such as market place websites is important, especially if the commercial is right, these range from barter tee times through to 12% commission with GoPlayGolf. But direct bookings are the most desirable method of reservation. A golf course can encourage direct bookings by offering value-added incentives. These can include anything, from buggies in the price to add value, price reductions, better lead times and so forth. The goal is to divert golfers away from using third parties, where they are more likely to choose a competitor.
Maintain organised records of key data: Good data is key to a successful revenue management strategy, and knowing your sales numbers for the same month last year will help you make smarter decisions about tee time pricing.
Always keep up with consumer trends: It is important to be aware of what is happening in the wider market. For example, of late, booking lead times through third parties have been reducing and shifting to Friday – Sunday playing days.
Prioritise website and mobile experience: Quite simply, too many golf course websites are out of date or neglected. Considering the number of golfers booking online is increasing, it is paramount to have an updated, optimised website for computer, mobile and tablet – especially your visitor booking engine. A professional website also requires periodic updates, taking into account technology updates, changing customer behaviour, design trends and security. An optimised website assists your search results. But you can also use it as a foundation for online marketing tactics including advertising via Google and social media as well as organic growth.
Technology: Does your tee sheet allow you to select a different lead time for each online channel? Does it allow you to easily add multi-ball pricing? Does it provide you with the reports you need to analyse the data for revenue management? Does it have a mobile responsive booking engine? All of these factors are important to consider when implementing dynamic pricing.
Internal communication: It’s important that all team members at the golf course understand the Revenue Strategy and what the club is looking to achieve this month and this year. It is especially important for your golf operations staff to understand why the price of a green fee might change, and how to handle this if a customer queries it. For example, if you are looking to drive volume it is particularly important to push up sells such as buggies, F&B etc.
Online reviews: Put simply the better your online reviews, the easier it is to increase rate
Workload & a quiet office: analysing data and editing rates accordingly requires a quiet uninterrupted space. From personal experience this is very difficult to achieve in a golf course environment, with constant interruptions from members, staff or the telephone! If you are looking to analyse data perhaps work from home for the morning or similar!

How Technology and Digital Platforms Can Benefit Golf

Mar 19, 2019 4 min read

This article was first published on 13th March 2019 by our friends over at Golfshake.com. We thought it was that good we would share it with you, with their permission of course!

Pay particular attention to the ‘Attracting Visiting Golfers’ paragraph.

Digital technology is a powerful marketing tool for all golf clubs and businesses in the modern era, something we have previously covered. Following our 2018 Survey, we delve into the feedback and replies from our audience of avid regular golfers to find out the key things that golf clubs and business should be ensuring they do to maximise income and engagement in 2019.

From the Golfshake Survey it wasn’t unsurprising to see that 94% of golfers now have a smartphone, a rise from 81% in 2014, with almost 100% of golfers under 60 stating that they had a smartphone device. 89% of golfers over 60 stated they have a smartphone which is up from only 62% back in 2014. Increased use of mobile technology makes it easier than ever for golf businesses to communicate and engage with golfers and the survey data also highlighted the increase in digital and social media platforms.

How Golfers Consume News & Content

The primary digital platforms identified were online websites, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram. This clearly provides a great opportunity for any golf business; are you engaging with other websites to cover your product in articles? Are you regularly publishing content to your own social channels? Have you thought about content on YouTube or even YouTube based advertising? And with the increased use in WhatsApp, could the broadcast group technology provide another way for you to communicate direct with your loyal customers? These are potentially exciting questions that provide a great opportunity. It was also noted, unsurprisingly, that younger golfers were more likely to be using online platforms.

Websites were highlighted as being one of the primary sources for golf news and tour content, with 48% of respondents stating that they accessed websites for news and tour content on a regular basis, with 35% using specific mainstream media such as the BBC, Sky Sports, and newspapers for similar content. TV coverage was still identified as the main source with only 15% stating they never accessed and 75% accessing on an occasional to frequent basis. Golfers under 40 were far less likely to read print based sources for news and tour content.

The Importance of Online Reviews

For golf clubs, online websites and review services can be an effective route for marketing and customer acquisition. 83% of golfers stated that they had read reviews online – on platforms such as the Golfshake Course Section – and 80% stated that online reviews had helped with their decision making when playing a new courses. This was even more of a factor with non-senior golfers, 87% and 83% for those under the age of 60. Additionally 43% of golfers regularly read online reviews and 38% used the online reviews as part of the decision making, particularly non-club members who are more likely to use the online content which highlights an area of importance for any golf club looking to attract transient golfers to visit their venue.

Building on the feedback in relation to reviews, it is becoming even more important to present a good impression online for golf clubs and selling the ‘product’ to an online audience. Only 16% of golfers said that they had never relied on feature reviews when planning to play a new course and only 13% said they never looked at independent reviews on sites like Golfshake, underlining how key having a strong presence online can be for venues. It is also worth noting that independent reviews from regular golfers are slightly more influential in the planning process than longer form feature reviews. Additionally, golf clubs shouldn’t simply just focus on their online reputation – feedback related to word of mouth/peer feedback still ranked highest with only 4% of golfers stating that they never relied on word of mouth and 11% noting word of mouth was extremely important and 55% saying it was very important.

Attracting Visiting Golfers

Golf clubs looking to attract visiting golfers should also ensure that their presence online is always updated and relevant, and not just for the digital platforms already mentioned. Only 23% of golfers stated that access to online course videos wasn’t important at all when planning a new course to play. 13.3% said the club’s own website or images weren’t important, and surprisingly 13.8% stated score cards weren’t important. How many golf clubs ensure that they have their fully updated score card on their own website, access to a course map or course video? 49.4% stated that access to course video was somewhat, very or extremely important when planning to visit a new course. This figure jumped up to 66.1% for use of the clubs website and images, and 67.5% for access to the score card information.

With an ongoing shift towards use of technology and with access to the Internet at our finger tips with the rise of smartphones booking golf is becoming easier. Although club members were more likely to call the pro shop to book a round with 50% doing this often, closely followed by the golf club’s own online software. However, non-club golfers were more likely to use online tee time services – including the Golfshake Tee Time Search – with calling closely followed. Unsurprisingly, the younger the golfer, they are more likely to use technology based solutions compared to older golfers who were more likely to use the telephone and traditional methods.

How Digital Media Influences the Equipment Market

Finally, relying on technology based solutions for help with new equipment purchases continues to increase. When looking at age based categories, starting with under 40s, 67% rely on social content and recommendations to some degree when purchasing new equipment, 74% on YouTube videos and reviews and 86% relied on online features and reviews in their purchasing process. The 40-60 age group dropped slightly to 50% for social, 65% for YouTube and 85% for online. This dropped further for the over 60s with 36% for social, 49% for YouTube and 75% for online features.

Ultimately, across each demographic, the use of digital technology and platforms is increasing annually, and it will soon become universal, as more or less already has done for younger golfers. It requires an industry-wide adjustment – something that many clubs are leading – but it will be a challenge with reward as the game looks to accomodate the changing and continually progressing consumption behaviour of contemporary society.

Are you paying attention to your tee time landing page?

Mar 6, 2019. 2 min read

The simple reason for having a tee time landing page is that your homepage is designed with a more general purpose in mind including membership, societies, functions etc. It is likely to be an overview of your whole venue and is typically loaded with links and navigation to other areas of your website. A landing page helps convert paid and organic traffic into profitable direct bookings, and is a great tool to use when marketing tee times at your venue as it can allow you to highlight special offers etc

I cannot stress enough the importance of having a mobile responsive homepage. The average person will experience some serious stress when a mobile loading delay hits, and even more if they have to pinch and pull on a mobile device to book a tee time. Some say it is even more stressful than a shank off the first tee (we’ve all been there, some of us more than once!).

So why is this mobile responsive stuff so important? Well our lives are now always on, everything is on demand and that means we want everything instantly. Hungry and don’t fancy cooking, there’s an app for that. In fact there are multiple apps for that! This leads to the consumer expecting the perfect user experience for what ever they are doing online, and if they don’t get it, golfer or not, this can lead to them not buying what they were looking for i.e. a tee time.

How does this affect a landing page for tee times?

Firstly, the page should be simple, the less the golfer needs to do the better. i.e. a button saying ‘book a tee time’ with an image of your signature golf hole on is perfect. It is worth noting at this point that most of our decisions are based on emotion, so make sure you use great creative images and wording that will make a golfer want to hit the fairways (and in the process purchase a tee time from you).

When designing a landing page for booking tee times make sure you ask yourself what your customers needs are. For me its the thought of hitting it 300 yards down the middle of a striped fairway with the sun on my back, with the promise of a cool beer in the clubhouse. The solution is a picture of a golf course with the sun out and a welcoming 19th hole in the distance.

It is also important to remember that golfers are social creatures, so use some social proof. Use Golfshake or Google reviews. The stats say that nearly 70% of customers who purchase something online will look at a review beforehand… make it easy for them, and choose the reviews the potential customer sees by adding them to your landing page.

Your ‘call to action’ (CTA) is also really important. Book a tee time is great, but perhaps add that the ‘best prices are available direct’ or ‘book a tee time now’ to create some urgency. Also, is the CTA big and vibrant enough? You should never have to search where to book!

Can tee time pricing affect golfer playing habits?

Feb 27, 2019 2 min read

We’ve been reading up on how dynamic pricing can affect customer behaviour and wanted to share our findings…

It has been fairly standard practice in the UK golf industry to reduce the price of a tee time as you get nearer to it. At one point a few years ago this practice made perfect sense to me, once the tee time has gone then its gone forever. That said, I always appreciated the need to manage the average green fee price based around different customer types such as societies or members.

In the short term, this practice of reducing tee times on a last

minute basis (generally 48 hours or less) generally worked,

golf courses who did it saw their online green fee sales increase.

However, what the golf industry had failed to realise is that we were inadvertently training consumers to book on a last minute basis.

This was especially the case as electronic tee sheets became

more popular as they gave the ability to automatically reduce

rate based on lead time (generally days/24 hours at time)

The lead time for online bookings has got shorter and shorter over the past 10 years and is now on average close to 24 hours. This consumer behaviour has been encouraged by clubs who set their rate structure for the entire season with a 1 or 2 day override price, then do not look at it until the season changes. The golfer who books online is savvy and learns to be more strategic with his tee time purchases.

We face a similar problem with twilight pricing, most golf clubs now have a morning, afternoon and twilight price. Twilight pricing is generally the lowest, even though the ‘afternoon’ times are usually in least demand and are the have the lowest utilisation. However, to truly affect consumer behaviour the majority of golf courses would be required to decrease their afternoon rate and increase their twilight rate, which would likely lead to better utilisation of the course and an increased yield. If just one course in a ‘market’ does this, then this will lead to them losing market share in the larger revenue generating twilight time as golfers will likely make the choice to play elsewhere. Also, there is unlikely to be enough demand in the afternoon to make up the shortfall.

So how do we tackle this as an industry? Here at The Revenue Club, we believe that making better decisions based on the data contained within your tee sheet and Google Analytics, which when you combine them is the key to unlocking a better utilised golf course with a higher yield per golfer. For example, if your conversion percentage (website visitors who go on to book) is high, then figure out why and look to increase prices at your most in demand and utilised times. This in turn will lead to better utilisation of the course pushing the price sensitive golfer into the more off peak times and in turn lead to faster rounds of golf.

Unfortunately, this is not a once a season task, to do this well it should be at online booking data at least once per week!

Nick Eden & James Lanigan join The Revenue Club

Feb 21, 2019 2 min read

Tee time revenue management and digital marketing agency, The Revenue Club, is projecting further growth in 2019 and has made two new appointments to help deliver their service across the UK. Nick Eden (left) will join the company as an Account Director, and James Lanigan (below right) has taken on the position of Marketing Manager to assist with their growing portfolio of clubs.

‘We are very pleased to welcome two new members to the team – Nick has a wealth of professional experience in the golf industry that stems from working with Crown Golf and Teeofftimes.co.uk/BRS/GolfNow’ says Rob Corcoran, Director at The Revenue Club. ‘He has an excellent understanding of the constantly evolving world of online tee time sales which is vital in the service we provide our clubs.’

‘The same is true of James’s appointment as we were looking for someone with experience in both digital marketing and the golf industry. As well as setting up his own social media enterprise, he is a graduate of the Lee Westwood Golf School and the Applied Golf Management Studies degree at the University of Birmingham.’

Helping more clubs to develop a profitable online operation is the primary objective as demand for the service continues to increase. ‘We are seeing significant gains in green fee sales clubs across the country as a direct result of the work we are doing, so having Nick and James join will help us work with a broader range of clubs and deliver the service effectively in new areas.’

Nick will be based remotely in Wiltshire to work closely with his regional clubs. ‘I am excited about the prospect of joining a progressive and rapidly growing company which has already proven the strength of their service with a broad range of golf courses,’ said Nick. ‘Selling effectively online provides an excellent way for clubs to grow their revenue and market themselves in a highly targeted way, and I am looking forward to helping our customers make the most of the online opportunity and build direct sales.’

James has already been with The Revenue Club for a few months, developing the marketing services and helping to gain their status as a Google Partner. ‘Despite the internet being the first point of call for the majority of golfers when they are booking a round, many clubs don’t consider the importance of their online presence. The speed with which we are able to increase sales through the online activity we carry out is impressive and I am enjoying the challenge as the company grows.’

Formed in 2017 by Duncan Rougvie and Chris Knight, The Revenue Club is a subscription service offering revenue management of green fees, digital marketing and comprehensive reporting to help golf clubs grow online revenue. A preferred partner of England Golf, they work with 90 clubs across the UK including a number of national chains, proprietary owned venues and private members clubs.

Paid, Owned and Earned Marketing

Jan 19, 2019 2 min read

When it comes to digital marketing, content is king, however it is not just a case of creating and sending out great content.

Marketing has evolved beyond print ads and radio to include social media, influencer marketing, articles and so much more. Video content used to be extremely expensive to produce and now it takes an iphone, some 4G to share on social media and a steady hand to create a basic video of your golf course, plus there are loads of apps which can help make your video more exciting.

There are essentially three types of marketing available to your golf club…

Paid Marketing: Includes pay per click, display ads, retargeting, paid influencers, paid content promotion via publications (Golf Empire, The Golf Guide), social media ads and more.
Earned Marketing: Includes shares, mentions, reposts, unpaid coverage, social media posts and reviews.
Owned Marketing: Includes websites, Google My Business listings, apps, booking engines, and social media platforms.

It is important to be aware that paid, earned and owned marketing all have relevance in your overall marketing strategy. How much relevance will depend on a number of factors including your location and business model. It is important to emphasise that maximising exposure with the help of paid advertising is undeniably essential, golfers are consumers in other industries and they are used to being influenced by the brands they like, after all thats why they like them. ‘Their’ golf club should be no different.

Each type of marketing is a necessary piece of the puzzle to creating a cohesive content strategy that effectively tells your golf clubs story. We must remind ourselves that in the golf industry we are not only competing against other golf courses but for the consumer/golfers time and therefore other activities. Maximising exposure with the help of paid media is undeniably essential even if you don’t think your competitors are, other activity providers will be! It is also important to be aware of the control your golf club has over each type of marketing. For example int he case of paid and owned media, the golf club is in the driver’s seat. Earned marketing on the other hand exists outside of your control, such as reviews, which you can of course respond to.

If you want to discuss your marketing strategy and online green fee business then feel free to get in touch with us.

Marketing and Revenue Management should align…

Jan 11, 2019 2 min read

Golf club’s are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of revenue management and marketing strategies. However, what is less known is that to really see a boost in your revenue the two areas must align. The task of the marketing arm is to generate demand through connection with potential golfers. On the other hand, the revenue management task is to control this demand through profitable pricing strategies. One could not survive without the other. However, merging the two tasks will reap better rewards…

We’ve pulled together some top tips on aligning the marketing and revenue management parts of a golf operation.

Taking Advantage of Organic Search

You can obtain important statistics from sites such as Google Analytics. With these statistics, the revenue management and marketing tasks can be worked together to identify upcoming opportunities. Data regarding the most used sources or mediums when visiting your website is vital information. For example, do the majority of your site’s visitors come from organic or direct search or is it all paid activity? Once this knowledge has been acquired, you will know when to deliver paid activity and offers to maximise revenue.

Optimising

Google Analytics also provides the visitor’s location, age demographic and sex. This is crucial information to to create packages specific to your market i.e. value adds such as buggies/food or even accommodation if your golf club has that luxury. Another key statistic is conversion, here at The Revenue Club we measure sessions to bookings to make sure the pricing is optimised. Factors such as weather, availability and competitors can all have an impact on conversion.

Making Comparisons

One of the tasks of revenue management is to ensure that the golf course ranks highly against its competitors. To do this a competitor analysis is required. This is where benchmarking comes into play which can be a combination of reviews from sites such as Golfshake.com or Google and what the pricing is at similar local golf clubs. If you feel demand is waining it could be the reviews, or an aggressive rate from a competition!

Effective Communication

The importance of looking at both marketing and pricing together cannot be stressed enough. It’s key that if there is a low demand period and a special offer during this time, that this offer gets to market as soon as possible, which in turn can help with better management of your average green fee price!

Conclusion

The correct marketing strategy will drive web traffic and generate green fees. Separately, the correct revenue management will optimise availability and speed of play whilst maximising revenue growth. Both are key processes for a golf course to have and develop. However, when combined, the two processes are enhanced to form one of the best ways to make your golf course thrive.

WOW! Where did 2018 go…

Dec 27, 2018 1 min read

With 2019 fast approaching, we decided to reflect on the year and collate some of the data we have built up through the year into a neat infographic!

The statistics shown are comprised from a cross section of our 80 courses which include a mixture of multi-course operators, private members clubs and proprietary owned golf courses.

As a general trend we saw the amount of green fees being booked online increase year over year. We also saw some other interesting trends through 2018:

– Quarter 1 we had the Beast from the East, and wet weather to battle.

– We had snow in April and then the heatwave hit in May.

– In June & July we experienced the World Cup effect.

– August was the biggest month of the year, with members being on holiday and the nomad looking for golf. The perfect storm for online green fees!

– September we saw a drop off with the kids going back to school, and the resort golf courses’ being availability being taken by residential golfers.

– Will we see a December spike for the Christmas period if the weather stays good.

Who knows what 2019 will hold, but one thing is for sure, more people than ever will be using the internet! Did you know virtually all adults aged 16 to 34 years were recent internet users (99%) in 2018, compared with 44% of adults aged 75 years and over.