Attracting new players remains a significant challenge for golf resorts, destinations and clubs worldwide. Online Tour Operators (OTOs) dominate the golf travel industry, with an estimated 87% of golf holiday packages booked directly through this channel. This means many of the leading global golf destinations are left undiscovered when not featured by OTOs.
So, how can these global golf resorts, destinations and clubs take back control, and attract new golfers via their own digital marketing channels and build their own sales funnel, supplementing any business already driven by third-party OTOs?
Now is the time to take control of your digital footprint, fix-the-basics, and begin to capture more higher-yielding, direct leads via your digital marketing channels.
#1 Website UX (User Experience)
Your website is one of, if not the first customer touchpoint experienced by prospective visitors. An inefficient, outdated website can say a lot about the destination, resort or club, and will more than likely result in abandonment of the search.
Ensure your website is easy-to-navigate, displays an accurate representation of brand and customer experience, and provides appropriate booking capabilities to lock-in new and existing direct customers.
#2 Digital Content Creation
High quality content marketing, in the form of images, video and reviews, is what attracts users to your website. This content needs to be well researched, planned and strategically created for it to be most effective. High quality content that is relevant to your audience motivates them to stay on your webpage longer, engage with your brand and increases the likelihood of securing direct bookings and repeat business.
#3 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
For your content to be effective and deliver the required traffic to your website, your prospective audience need to be able to find it. Your content simply won’t be found without effective SEO, as SEO dictates search positioning, user experience and site usability.
The digital space is only getting more competitive. Understanding and assigning budget to SEO can help you rank higher in search whilst targeting high volume keywords that will attract users to your website.
#4 Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Investing in Customer Relationship Management, such as E-Newsletters, enables destinations, resorts and clubs to build, and communicate to, an organic customer base. A strong relationship with your customers drives brand loyalty, increases trust and will ensure retention of existing customers.
The more engaged you are with your existing and prospective customers, the greater the opportunity of building a lucrative direct sales funnel via new and retained leads.
#5 Social Media Marketing
Social Media provides golf destinations, resorts and clubs with an opportunity to directly communicate with new and loyal customers. Building an engaged following on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok enables venues to show off their services.
But how do you build an engaged following? Content is key when it comes to building trust and an engaged audience. Inject personality and provide a true reflection of amenities and services you have to offer through compelling, user-generated content.
Let’s discuss how you can activate your own direct sales funnel by taking control of your own digital marketing strategy today – Josh@thevenandigroup.com