Crushing Club Marketing

When did you last update your club website? If it's been more than three years, you're likely not realizing the full potential of your online presence. Your website is more than a digital brochure. It should be your greatest sales asset. But creating a website that accomplishes all of your various initiatives takes careful planning and thoughtful design. In this episode, Joe Jerome from Brand Builder Solutions joins us to tell you where your website might be falling short and what you can do to get it to drive more leads. By leveraging data, designing for the buyer's journey, and articulating the site's true purpose, you can create the perfect website for your club's needs.

Do you still expect people to find your club by typing "golf club near me" into their favorite search engine? That might have worked in the past, but now people expect geotargeting to handle the "near me" portion, and voice search is replacing all of it. So, what does your club need to know about search marketing to keep getting found? Mike McAnally is a co-founder and partner of NordicClick Interactive, a digital agency that specializes in helping businesses get found online by expanding their digital footprint through paid, owned, and earned media. And he understands the challenges of private clubs. In fact, he even belonged to one that shut down when its land became more valuable for housing development. He has some easy to understand answers, and some smart places to start.

Robert Sereci has a unique background and a unique approach to leadership as the general manager at Medinah Country Club, just outside of Chicago. Medinah has hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA championships, and the 2012 Ryder Cup matches, yet some of the outside-the-box things he's done to build the brand have caught the attention of people inside and outside of the club industry. Who else would add a chicken coop and a food truck to one of the nation's great private clubs? Robert is a results-driven service provider who believes the success of Medinah has to go deeper than its golf pedigree.

When things go wrong, we like to point the finger at people or policies, putting the blame on individual personalities or misguided plans. But more often than not, problems arise simply because of a breakdown in communication. Within a private club, effective communication is critical for achieving shared goals and developing a productive and respectful culture amongst members and leadership. By taking simple steps, leaders can enhance their communication skills and improve operations for the entire club. In this episode, we're joined by Kevin MacDonald. Kevin is a coach and facilitator, a communicator, a storyteller, and a teacher. He partners with people who are passionate about performing at a high level and achieving great clarity about who they are and what they want. He spent over 20 years as a manager in the hospitality industry, including management roles at two prestigious clubs, before turning to coaching.

Storytelling has become popular vernacular in the marketing world, and why not? We love stories! Especially stories that inspire us or make us feel something. Best of all, for marketers, people remember stories and share them (more on that in a moment).

Breathtaking aerial videography used to cost thousands of dollars to capture, but with drone technology that has changed. Thanks to drone videography, it's never been easier or more cost-effective to shoot breathtaking video from high above your property. Finding a reliable and capable partner is the challenge. Sure, you could hire an amateur to handle this job, but what should you look for if you're looking for a pro to really nail the shots you need? Jack Knudsen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Flight Creative Media. He's also a licensed Drone pilot and has been flying since 2013. In this podcast, Jack shares with us his suggestions for finding the best drone crew for your needs and offers helpful tips for amateur, and hopeful, drone pilots. If you've thought about having a video with drone footage produced for your club, you'll want to tune into this episode.

What's your email strategy for your members and for prospective members and club clients? Is it spray and pray? Do You have a routine schedule for communication that goes to all members regardless of their interest? How much more effective would your efforts be if your strategy was targeted, segmented and even automated based on recipient's preferences and opening habits. In this episode, we visit with Mike Donnelly co-founder of Seventh Sense, an email optimization platform. Mike'sinsight and expertise will have you thinking about your email communication in a new way.

It's been proven for years that businesses that blog receive more leads than those that do not. Even businesses like private clubs are benefitting from blogs that are built-in to their existing websites. Not only are blogs an ideal platform for you club stories, they're also an excellent medium for communicating club news. In this episode, Ed Heil and Evan Dean, a channel consultant for HubSpot, talk about the benefits of blogging and how clubs can create content that helps them increase membership and drive member engagement. If you're not familiar with blogs, no sweat. It's a high-level conversation intended to help you better understand how blogs can help drive revenue to your club.

How does a club with more than 130-years of history transform its member communication and drive engagement? With tremendous vision, team buy-in and persistent commitment to execution and member benefit. That's what Jackie Singleton and the team at The Country Club in Brookline, MA learned when shifting their member communications. In this episode, we talk to Jackie about what prompted the change, how The Country Club made it possible and what they've done to get staff buy-in.

Derek Sussner, President of Sussner Design Company shares his insights on how clubs can leverage their best stories through branding. Branding is about so much more than your logo or brand colors — it's about the impression you leave with every interaction you have with a visitor, prospect or member.