Groups are a key to successful local marketing

One of the most important things you can do for your golf center is to develop strong and profitable local marketing strategies.  There are countless ways to do this and I've reviewed a couple in previous posts about fun budgets and college partnerships.  

Another way to develop traffic locally is to work with groups in your area. Quite often, many groups will need a place to meet or things to do with their members.

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​Research your area to determine which groups are the most active and have membership that is likely to be interested in golf.   Once you find these groups, craft an offer that suits their needs. For instance, a business networking group might need space and a screen for projection and want to meet early.  You can use these offers to tap into new customer groups and drive traffic at your store during a time when you are slow.   

Here are a few ideas with thought starters on unique offers you could make to some of these groups:

Networking Groups – I mentioned these above.  These are typically business people looking to meet others in their industry.  They often need venues where they can meet before work to socialize and connect. 

Senior Groups – This is often a group who has flexibility in the time of their outings, so you can focus here to drive traffic when you are slow,  You may target very active senior groups with offers that either give free tips and pointers, or with ones that provide a meal.  If you think about senior centers, you may want to offer transportation.

Kids Groups – I'm talking about groups such as the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and YMCA “Guides” groups.  As a dad of several of these, I was often looking for new activities to entertain and educate the kids.  

Civic Groups - By civic groups, I am referring to membership organizations that are active in the community.  Offering your facility for a fundraiser will help get you free PR as these organizations publicize their event at your location.

Church Groups - This is often a very large group and can be a diverse bunch.  Creating awareness with these groups is key.

Sales people offering a free seminar. . .you get the point.  There are lots of potential groups to go after.  Find those that work best for you.

Now it is just a matter of finding groups, seeing how many members, thinking about their needs and creating targeted offers for them.  But where do you to find groups?  You can use the list below as a starter – go to the various sites and add your geography to searches and see what your find:

·         LinkedIn
·         Google+
·         Facebook
·         Reddit
·         YMCA
·         Yahoo groups
·         Meetups
·         Alumni associations
·         Sports leagues


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