How would you like to fill your tee sheet in less than an hour?

I'm always looking for creative marketing ideas across all sorts of products and industries.  I look for them in print, mailers, coupons, contests, radio - you name it.  

After doing this for several years, I still come back to one of my favorite ways to promote golf play, outings, and lodging - Holidays.  You can't beat it.  Holidays are a known commodity.  They're marked in everyone's calendar; all the media channels (radio, print, tv) are promoting everything from cars to furniture.  And most people either have the day off or plan something special.

You're probably thinking we're already past the holiday season (Thanksgiving and Christmas). But in fact, we're coming into a string of great holidays to promote golf.  Let's look at a few.

q       January - Just had MLK Day

q       February - Chinese New Year (9), Lincoln's Birthday (12), Valentine's Day (14), President's Day (21), Wahsington's Birthday (22), Flag Day (24)

q       March - St. Patrick's Day (17), Spring Begins (20), Easter (27)

So, what does this have to do with Golf Marketing?  Everything.  Golf is entertainment, holidays generally involve entertainment, so let's get people to spend their allocated entertainment time and dollars at the golf course.  

Case in point.  ColoVista Golf Club was looking for a way to fill their Golf Cottages last year.  So, they created a Valentine's Promotion, which included lodging, golf, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries. The perfect weekend gateway, right?  

By using the CourseTrends Golf Marketing Solution they scheduled an eSpecial to come on and off their website on the appropriate dates, and sent a quick email campaign to their customer database.  The phones went crazy, and an hour later they filled half of their cottages! 

Is this a fluke?  Dubsdread Golf Club scored big with their Valentine's Couples Golf Tournament with champagne.  And their St. Patrick's Day Tournament was huge success last year; possibly causing a Guinness shortage!

Holiday promotions allow you to keep your margin high, which is another reason why they're my perennial favorite promotional technique.  Everyone has entertainment dollars allocated for the holiday and they're looking for a place to spend them.  

Why not quickly and easily communicate your Holiday promotion through email marketing.  For ColoVista, it was the most profitable 10 minutes they ever spent!  


Until Next Time.