Our primary product we produce for all of our clients is a marketing calendar. Just as you wouldn't run a business without a budget, the marketing calendar is your "budget" for marketing resources. Also like a budget, the marketing calendar should be a "living" document, ready to be adjusted to meet changing needs. There are many benefits to having a marketing calendar in place.
Planning
You should have at least a yearly marketing planning meeting. This meeting should be used to review last years marketing efforts, upcoming events, participation results, and past and future marketing budget.
We always start with a review of the past years events and marketing surrounding them. We look at what was done for pre-season marketing, course opening, tournaments, significant dates, sales, weddings and catering opportunities, etc.
We then review participation numbers and how we can improve these. What are goals for the upcoming season and how can we boost these numbers in the most cost effective way possible.
Campaigns
Once we know what events we are going to promote, we can look at the opportunities surrounding them to create effective marketing campaigns. We highly recommend cross marketing across multiple platforms. For example, you might promote your member/guest through a campaign of 7 emails delivered on certain dates with Facebook posts on alternating dates and a couple fun Instagram posts as well. Then support this with flyers around the facility and post cards to past participants.
Follow Through
The main reason to have your marketing calendar is to complete the follow-through. It is fairly easy to sit around on a winter day and make great plans surrounding every event on your calendar. BUT when it's June and someone just crashed a cart on the course, your pro shop staff is late to work and you just ran out of range balls, it becomes very hard to remember to click send on that email you were meaning to prep. By having everything set up preseason with dates already scheduled you won't miss sending a promotion again.
4t Creative is here to help you develop your strategic marketing plan. Contact us to find out more about our consulting services.