7 Marketing Tactics for Golf Resorts and Destinations to Drive Business in 2020
What’s your marketing strategy for 2020?
Does your destination have a plan for marketing and communications? Or perhaps your plan is actually just a budget?
At Landmark Golf Marketing and Communications, we always start with a destination’s situation, analyzing relevant insights and market intelligence and from this create a strategy and detailed tactical plan.
This way, we always maintain a clear focus on objectives and how we are going to achieve them, together.
Creative content that tells brand stories, sells the experience as well as human interest storytelling, is frequently at the heart of what we do.
Ultimately, it’s about reaching and engaging the right target audience – and then converting them into customers.
Every resort or destination is different, but here are some of the strategic and tactical activities you may wish to consider activating in 2020:
1. Video
Stories to Create an Emotional Response
Customers today are looking for experiences and video is the perfect digital medium to enable them to find and experience your resort or destination.
But don’t fall into the trap of producing the same video every other destination does.
Drone flyovers and slow-moving shots of empty golf courses may look great, but what’s the experience and what’s the story?
Humans instinctively engage with stories, which is why Landmark focuses on producing videos that are both a memorable brand experience and a story.
The objective is to engage and generate an emotional response, the magic ingredient to customer conversion.
Whether it's a simple, low-cost production like the above video of journalist and presenter, Chris Hollins, which we produced for PGA Catalunya Resort, or a high production value film like the one below for Castiglion del Bosco, the principle is the same: find the human story that will connect with your audience.
Insight:
72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service by way of video* and 92% of users watching video on mobile will share it with others. **
*Hubspot **Wordstream
2. Social Media
Engaging Target Customers
Every resort and destination is on social media, right?
Yes, but few plan and deliver creative content that successfully engages audiences and converts followers to customers.
Simply putting up photos of your course won’t differentiate you from your competitors.
Landmark takes a strategic, measurable approach to social media, integrating it into your marketing plan, creating content and messaging designed to engage target audiences and, ultimately, influence them to take action.
Insight:
Consumers now spend 2.34 hours per day on social media, compared to 1.57 hours on traditional TV – and the gap is predicted to increase significantly.
(Thinkbox, Global Web Index 2019)
3. PR & Media Relations
Create a Global Reputation
As the old saying goes, “Advertising is what you pay for, PR is what you pray for.”
PR remains a potent force in marketing – being featured on trusted TV channels, websites, in newspaper or magazines really does matter.
The recommendation of select social media influencers also counts but beware, few of them really have the power to persuade.
Importantly, third party endorsement via PR shapes a destination’s reputation and gives reasons for customers to choose your venue over others.
That’s why top global golf destinations still invest significantly in PR and reap the rewards.
Below is an example of coverage from Landmark's successful PR campaign for Le Touquet Golf Resort, which saw its La Mer Course make a meteoric 46-place rise in Golf World's Top 100 Courses of Continental Europe, to #20.
Insight:
PR is 88% more effective than advertising in consumer decision making.
(Nielsen / inPowered)
4. Media Fam Trips
Raising Awareness of Your Destination
Golf influencer Peter Finch's fam trip to Gleneagles resulted in two videos, which together received a staggering 730,000 views on YouTube.
Golf influencer Peter Finch's fam trip to Gleneagles resulted in two videos, which together received a staggering 730,000 views on YouTube.
Golf influencer Peter Finch's fam trip to Gleneagles resulted in two videos, which together received a staggering 730,000 views on YouTube.
Golf influencer Peter Finch's fam trip to Gleneagles resulted in two videos, which together received a staggering 730,000 views on YouTube.
Golf influencer Peter Finch's fam trip to Gleneagles resulted in two videos, which together received a staggering 730,000 views on YouTube.
Golf influencer Peter Finch's fam trip to Gleneagles resulted in two videos, which together received a staggering 730,000 views on YouTube.
While sending targeted media press releases will yield coverage, there is nothing more valuable and influential than an experiential feature in high-quality media.
To achieve this, hosting carefully selected media on professionally organized and manged familiarization trips is essential.
However, golf is awash with self-proclaimed ‘writers’ and ‘influencers’ who, in return for a complimentary stay, will produce content which, in reality, has no impact.
At Landmark, we maintain trusted relations with select, high-value golf media, golf-relevant consumer media and proven influencers, personally inviting them to experience our clients’ resorts and destinations.
The result: powerful features that increase global awareness and build reputation.
Insight:
Nearly 70% of media value created for Landmark clients is generated from media fam trips.
5. Advertising
Increasing Return
on Investment
The challenge for the majority of golf resorts and destinations is knowing when, where and how to place advertisements.
Even with limited budgets, not enough questions are asked of what audiences the adverts are going to and how their effectiveness will be evaluated.
Landmark, with both creative and media buying expertise, focuses on targeting the right audience with the right offer and response mechanism.
In a rapidly changing world, this is achieved increasingly via digital and social media advertising, enabling even greater targeting and evaluation.
Insight:
Travel marketers allocated 47% of their advertising budgets to digital advertising in 2018 and two-thirds planned to spend more in 2019.
(Sojern, State of the Industry: Travel Advertising)
6. Newsletters
Build Customer
Trust and Loyalty
You’ve made it through the GDPR washing machine and your mailing list is now whiter than white. So what to do now?
The common mistake Landmark sees time and again in the golf travel industry is customers being bombarded with promotions and offers.
Why not reward your customers with relevant content that increases their trust in you? Lifestyle features, practical articles, travel guides, human interest stories to engage and provoke an emotional response.
It’s called loyalty content – and Landmark’s team of content marketing professionals produces editorial-standard content that engages customers and moves them to act.
By the way, newsletters aren’t just for consumers (B2C). Business-to-business (B2B) newsletters distributed to Tour Operators and travel partners are also highly effective.
7. Events
Maximizing Awareness and Engagement
Events come in different shapes and sizes, from professional tournaments, business-to-business conferences to customer discovery experiences.
Hosting professional tournaments offers awareness and engagement opportunities, but don’t rely on the tournament organiser or media alone – put your own activation strategy in place.
Landmark has been involved in the activation of numerous events, including The Ryder Cup, Open de Espana and British Masters.
We’ve created and managed special events to promote destinations, including ‘Ryder Cup Rendez-Vous’, a public exhibition and Tour Operator conference at St Pancras Station, London for Atout France, the French tourism agency.
And we’ve managed activation of corporate and celebrity events, including The Gary Player Invitational (London) and Weiskopf Invitational (Italy).
– MEET WITH LANDMARK AT IGTM –
John and Manuela will be attending IGTM 2019, and would love to meet with you to discuss how we can help to grow your business.
