We can all agree that 2020 was an interesting year all around, and it was especially interesting for golf. As a result of the pandemic, golf has experienced its greatest gain in decades. We’re seeing a huge number of golfers resurrected and new golfers entering the game in search of safe and fun recreation. Many courses are at capacity and unable to accommodate the surge in demand. Golf instructors are similarly in demand, with hours of instruction and number of lessons way up. We can all agree it’s been a good year for golf, and it’s been a pleasure to provide service to the renewed interest in the game we love.
The pandemic has also shifted how customers interact with you and your facility, some more than others. Across the board, digital engagement with courses is way up. Year over year website visits for golf courses have increased 102%. Google My Business engagement for courses is up 64%. CampaignPilot engagement and pageviews are up 612%. Booking engine conversions for online tee times on the course website are up 98% year over year.
Additionally, with all the new eyes using the various digital channels in search for golf, the cost of advertising your course has dropped significantly. Since Google and Facebook use auction and competitive based pricing for their advertising, and the supply of users is way up, the cost to serve ads to those users has gone way down. The average cost of acquisition in the form of a new golfer is down 43%. The average cost of a membership lead is down 66%.
With demand being so high, the effectiveness of marketing being so high, and the cost for access to new business being so low, this is an optimal moment. You now have access to free tools like CampaignPilot, which make creating and distributing your marketing messaging easier and more efficient than ever (you really should be using it if you’re not already). You have access to services we provide, such as IGNITE, which are tailored to your facility and manage all of your digital marketing and advertising for you (drop us an email if you’re interested in learning more at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). You also have access to tools to build a killer website to best leverage and convert the increase in traffic.
The private, semi-private and loyalty programs have also seen similar increases in demand. We see it daily with the surge in interest for memberships. In one of our recent webinars, https://121marketing.webinarninja.com/live-webinars/534800/register, we published the specific strategies employed and results achieved for membership campaigns we ran in the fall 2020. Here you’ll find the details of 3 different clubs, a private, semi-private, and loyalty type card, all which saw record results with relatively little ad investment. We even had a private club add 300+ new associate members in 2020 alone.
In mentioning CampaignPilot, we’ve seen big improvements. This is not just pandemic driven, but also simply the access to a tool that makes your day-to-day marketing and communication incredibly simple and effective. CampaignPilot had over 500,000 unique page views and saw 309,528 people engage with the marketing efforts courses produced with it. It additionally generated millions of dollars in revenue for the e-commerce related promos. You can sign up for CampaignPilot here. It’s completely free and free support is included as well.
Overall, the current environment for golf has been great. We anticipate 2021 to be more of the same. Be sure to leverage the opportunities available to you now and further solidify your business into the future. We’ll continue to provide various insights, information and tips to better help you as we move forward. Be sure to check back often.
