Harry's Blog - Marketing Tools for Millenials and Beyond - September 2011
Posted in Harry's Blog - Archives
An interesting article on cnbc.com caught my eye this summer about consumer spending on golf. According to Golf Spending Gets a Boost From Gen Y, spending is coming from a new demographic that golf course operators should start paying attention to if you haven’t already done so. “Generation Y” or “Millennials” (ages 18 to 29) increased their spending on golf by 27% in the last four years. Although Baby Boomers (ages 46 to 66) currently account for the majority in overall golf spending, and likely the demographic you’ve focused on for years, their spending fell 19% during the same time frame.
What does this tell us? Eventually, the golf industry will need to replace Baby Boomer revenue as they grow in age and reduce their spending. If the spending trend of Millennials continues, which I expect it will, operators should be marketing to this customer base now in order to make them lifelong customers loyal to your golf course. Growing the game has always been an important initiative, but growing the game through Millennials by tapping into their wallets is critical for our industry to thrive in the years to come. I found this interesting because I think there are Fore! Reservations features that can help you reach this tech-savvy group.
- Mobile Booking (Incl. with Fore! Internet 2011) – Millennials are doing everything on-the-go in the palm of their hand. They want to read your course e-mails and book a time right from their phone with as little hassle as possible. Utilize Mobile Booking to offer Millennials this fast and convenient way to book tee times.
- Social Media Integrations (Incl. with Fore! Internet 2011) – Who Millennials “Like” and “Follow” says a lot about their interests and buying tendencies. Join the conversation and give your course added relevance with this age group. Utilize our Social Media Integrations to promote your Facebook and Twitter pages, grow your followings and leverage this group of loyal golfers into rounds and revenue.
- Find-A-Game (Incl. with Fore! Internet 2011) – Millennials are very social in nature, preferring group activity over doing things on their own. You can provide a great service by pairing up Millennials looking for someone to play with. Utilize Find-A-Game to offer an easy way for singles and twosomes to pair up online, and who knows, you could help create a weekly foursome just by activating this one feature!
- Fore! Internet Website Tools (Incl. with Fore! Internet 2011) – Millennials grew up online so websites tell them everything they need to know about a business. Their decision to play your course is likely to be based on the quality of your website. Utilize our package of integrated webpage tools to get your site up-to-date and increase your online business.
- Fore! Marketing ($500 product that can generate 10 times that amount in revenue) – Millennials aren’t reading newspapers, yellow pages, direct mail flyers or sifting through coupon books. They want to hear from you over e-mail on their smart phone. Utilize Fore! Marketing to reach this younger demographic with e-mail marketing campaigns that make an impact.
My goal is to help you maximize your software investment by doing more with the products you are currently using. Contact our Marketing Team to give these a try, so you can tap into this generation that is spending more money on this great game!
Harry Ipema
CEO, Fore! Reservations
