With an unrivalled set of features, innovative technology, and outstanding support, Golf Genius helps organisers offer outstanding branded tournaments, while delivering the back-end functionality to dramatically reduce set-up time and laborious tasks.

Golfing Days and NGL Golf, two of the leading specialist event providers in the market, have utilised Golf Genius’ software to organise and manage their corporate events, pro-am’s and society golf events for their portfolio of clients.

Mark Hatton, Founder & CEO of Golfing Days, commented: “We offer all types of events to avid golfers, from holidays, to pro-am’s, open events, corporate golf and more. We’ve built our reputation on delivering exceptional, tailor-made golf events, here in the UK and overseas, and for us, the Golf Genius system is a game-changer.”

“In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, we were cautious about how events would work, but with the support and innovation of Golf Genius, we were able to keep our roundage high and deliver some of our most notable events like The National Golf Club Team Championship.”

Director of NGL Golf, Rob Cooper added: “As one of the earliest adopters of technology within corporate golf events, Golf Genius has been the perfect fit for us. We were amongst the first to bring in Golf Genius and have developed a very strong relationship in the years since.

“We are passionate about creating industry-leading events for our corporate golf clients and Golf Genius supports us with our event management, registration portals, branding, scoring and our unique Electronic Scoreboard Tournament Office, which also integrates seamlessly with the software.

“There is still some hesitation in the market about returning to corporate golf, but with Golf Genius we have the offering to make it easy and deliver great experiences that keep our clients coming back.

Craig Higgs, Managing Director of Golf Genius International commented: “Running great golf events is all about delivering over and above on client expectations.

“With continual product development, we’ve been able to bring in new technology on our roadmap to digitisation and offer a product offering that can support event providers in running any type of event.”

If you are interested in finding out more about Golf Genius, contact the international team at intlsales@golfgenius.com.

Faergemann, a Danish native, brings a wealth of golfing experience to his new role with Golf Genius including 17 years at GolfBox. With his background in golf management software, he will bring expert knowledge and new ideas to the company.

“We are thrilled to welcome Christian on board our international team. Christian will bring his proven experience of the industry to Golf Genius, specifically as we look to expand our operations in EMEA and internationally,” said Craig Higgs, Managing Director for Golf Genius International.

“Our opportunity is to expand our customer base in the core products of Tournament Management System and World Handicap, as well as open new product markets internationally. We will be looking to Christian to help us do this in all of our growing international markets,” continued Higgs.

Golf Genius currently operates across 62 countries, serving private clubs, public courses, national associations, and tours worldwide. With recent product launches, such as integrated event marketing tool, Golf Hub, Golf Genius continues to push digital boundaries and leads the way in providing the most efficient solution to help run golf events.

Commenting on his new Senior Advisor role, Christian Faergemann said: “I am looking forward to joining the Golf Genius team. I have always seen software and data as one of the critical factors for growing this great game and Golf Genius has this as its core. I am excited to be a part of their continued growth.”

If you are interested in finding out more about Golf Genius, contact the international team at intlsales@golfgenius.com.

Private clubs, public courses, and resorts are now able to seamlessly create a promotional Golf Hub landing page for any competition, open event, league, or clinic, with optional online registration and payment as required.

Golf professionals and administrators can then embed these professional-looking pages into their club website, email campaigns, and social media posts to amplify promotional efforts and drive increased participation.

Golf Hub pages are customisable, allowing clubs and resorts to showcase their sponsors by embedding their logo and linking directly to their website. After an event is complete, the Golf Hub Page automatically shifts to display the tournament results and leaderboard.

“We are excited to launch Golf Hub, which can be used as a tool to support and promote any type of event,” commented Craig Higgs, Managing Director for Golf Genius International.

“While sophisticated player registration and online payments have been important features of our offering for several years, Golf Hub combines this concept with automated marketing to provide powerful promotion to our customers.”

Another feature of Golf Hub is the ability to automatically aggregate your event pages into your Club Hub, a single page that showcases the playing and learning opportunities at your facility.

Easily embedding into an existing website, Club Hub allows golfers to see all upcoming events. They can click on any individual event to visit the Golf Hub Page to see more information, register, and view tournament results.

If you are interested in finding out more about Golf Genius, contact the international team at intlsales@golfgenius.com.

Within their familiar Golf Genius TM experience, golf professionals at private clubs, public courses, and resorts will be able to instantly create a promotional landing page (a “Golf Hub Page”) for any event, league, or clinic, optionally enable online registration and payments as needed on each Golf Hub Page, and automatically create aggregated pages (“Hubs”) to showcase the playing and learning opportunities at their facility. Golf professionals can then embed these Hubs into their club website, email campaigns, and social media posts to amplify promotional efforts and drive increased participation.

“Last year, over 750,000 events such as golf leagues, outings, and tournaments were managed by the Golf Genius TM user community,” stated Chris Kallmeyer, Co-CEO of Golf Genius. “We realized that in the vast majority of cases Golf Genius TM users were spending additional time to create promotional marketing materials and collect registrations by paper or phone. We’re always looking for ways to save time for golf professionals while helping them deliver a superior golfer experience. Golf Hub achieves this by automating the creation of highly professional digital marketing materials and streamlining the promotion, registration, and payment process.”

While sophisticated player registration and online payments have been important features of Golf Genius TM Club Premium and Golf Genius TM Association for several years, Golf Hub combines the concept of registration and payments with automated marketing pages and hubs to provide powerful marketing services to the entire Golf Genius TM community, which includes over 10,500 private clubs, public courses, and resorts in more than 60 countries. Golf Hub will be especially useful in promoting leagues, clinics, and outings.

“We are particularly excited about helping public golf facilities market leagues and clinics to their current and potential customers. Leagues are a key source of revenue for public facilities, and clinics are a perfect way to introduce new golfers to the game and convert them to golfers for life,” added Golf Genius Co-CEO Mike Zisman. “Today, Golf Genius services over 12,000 golf leagues around the globe, and Golf Hub will be a tool of great value to every one of these league managers by saving time and automatically generating high quality digital marketing materials.”

When you think about golf and professional golf in Germany, names such as Bernhard Langer, Sophia Popov, Sandra Gal, Martin Kaymer and Marcel Siem usually spring to mind…

Having produced a long list of players to have reached the upper echelons of the game, Germany can certainly boast a history of consistently shaping the very nature of European golf at the elite level. But as we see in each and every successful golfing nation, producing great players requires solid structures and foundations to have been constructed and managed by the organisations responsible for the game’s governance. Germany is no different. What interconnects the above-mentioned players is that a PGA of Germany Professional has in some way, shape and form, influenced every stage of their games.

So, if German golf is thriving, the PGA of Germany must remain as strong and as influential as possible. To find out more about the ways in which it is doing this and about the wider German market, we spoke to PGA of Germany Professional, Stefan Quirmbach, who has played a central role within the PGA of Germany as its President for over 20 years. Throughout his sit-down conversation with CPG Chief Executive, Ian Randell, he shared his insight into the German golf industry and some of the most significant contributions he and the PGA of Germany have made to its growth.

Here are just three.

The organisation was not always the ‘PGA of Germany’

“When I started my apprenticeship in 1984, the organisation was actually called the ‘German Golf Teachers Federation’. This placed the members at a disadvantage because to a certain extent it limited them to experts in coaching and nothing else. At the end of the day, PGA of Germany Professionals are just that, Professionals” Stefan recalled.

“At the time, it was an association of good, collegial friends, and you had the feeling: ‘yes, they all understand each other very well’. But what I felt was that colleagues did not really talk honestly and openly about their profession. When they talked, everyone said at first that their shop was running well and that the hour book was full – but when you talked to the individual a bit more intensively, that was not always the case. The Professionals in the clubs at that time perceived themselves as golf instructors, and the situation was simple: the PGA Professional was there on the driving range giving lessons and usually he ran the shop. At that time, I had the feeling that the actual situation of golf Professionals in the clubs did not match the role we were supposed to have been playing. I did not feel comfortable with that.”

So In 1997, the organisation reorganised and became the PGA of Germany, enabling a new internal structure to be brought in, driven by Stefan himself, whilst also enabling them to utilise the PGA brand – something that Stefan places an incredible amount of value on: “We reformed the organisation into the PGA of Germany. Everybody in golf knows the three biggest letters are PGA. It is a highly marketable asset and attachment to have. It was clear back then that we needed to have this label.” This has meant the standards of the PGA of Germany Professional have increased and the German golf industry is becoming more and more reliant on their skills and expertise: “I feel now we have one of the best PGAs in the world. We have a reliable structure and the organisation has the respect it deserves in Germany. It is highly reputable and influential across the industry. It is enabling us to represent our members wholeheartedly. There is now a sense of pride amongst our PGA of Germany Professionals to wear the badge on their shirt.”

PGA of Germany members are more crucial than ever to the game’s commercial growth, and perceptions have changed

Throughout Stefan’s early career, industry attitudes to PGA Professionals were very different to present day. There were only 17,000 golfers playing the game in 1966 and the sport was, like most countries in the mid-twentieth century, considered very elitist. For Professionals, their reputations were not fully recognised by clubs: “When I started my training with Henning Strüver at the Frankfurt Golf Club in 1984, he told me that two years before he was only allowed on the terrace of the clubhouse – but not in the clubhouse. And when I chose this profession, my mother said to me: ‘You are going down to the lowest social level I know!’.

Not one to sit on his laurels, Stefan was spearheading change within the industry, through careful planning and a radical change in structure and educational delivery. PGA of Germany Professionals began to receive internationally recognised standards of education and training, meaning they could better meet the demands of the industry. “We really believe in education here in Germany. If you work on the education of your members, you improve their skills and in turn, professionalise the profession. This increases respect, trust and reliance on each of our members. We do continuously review and adapt our education to ensure we stay relevant and the workforce maintains its suitably for the demands of the market.

“The role of the golf Professional has changed radically in the last 40 years, thank God: we are all commercially minded and educated now. The profession of golf Professionals is now recognised as a business, and therefore the Professional himself is valued much more. That is also one reason why I do not want to be called a golf teacher. We are the basis of the game, but beyond that, we are also the ones who are highly competent in many other areas of the golf market. That is why I was also very happy when we changed our name from the German Golf Teachers Association to the Professional Golfers Association of Germany in 1995, because this reflects what we do much better.”

This rise in standards has also meant that the quantity of highly-trained professionals is increasing too: “When I first started, we had roughly 30 apprentices each year on the apprenticeship. Now, this number is more like 65-80 apprentices. This means we are able to satisfy the market with more highly skilled and knowledgeable PGA Professionals.”

So how does this reflect for the commercials in German golf? Well, the maths is quite simple: a highly-skilled workforce that is, as Stefan puts it: “incredibly engaged and wants to drive the game forward” means that golf clubs are far more commercially driven as they are now managed by PGA members and the connectivity between organisation and professional is as strong as it has ever been. “I wanted the association to be recognised in the golf world as a highly attractive business partner and that a partnership with us professionals is desirable for companies. Ultimately, this helps the association to be in a better financial position. There is definitely still room for improvement. I envisaged an association whose members proudly show their students and customers that they are PGA golf professionals. Because such a self-image then also radiates to the association’s partners. This is significantly better but we must continue to engage across our membership.”

The PGA owns and manages the Pro Golf Tour

The PGA of Germany owns and manages a number of different assets, which has enabled the organisation to grow and deliver a successful commercial programme consisting of revered brands such as Allianz, BMW, T-Mobile and Titleist all choosing to collaborate and partner with the association: “We first published our own golf magazine – pro!golf – which highlighted the association and our activities and was very important for our perception in the market.”

Another of these key assets if the German Pro Golf Tour: “At the time, the Pro Golf Tour was actually called the EPD Tour. Taking ownership of the tour was important for the organisation. With the purchase of the then EPD Tour, now the Pro Golf Tour, in 2005, we clearly committed ourselves to the promotion of professional tournaments.” But the work did not stop at the acquisition phase. Stefan and his board changed the way the tour was managed, primarily to ensure it enhanced the reputation of its players: “Whilst we wanted to increase playing opportunities for our members, reducing the bureaucracy that surrounded it and placing ownership into the hands of the Professionals was important too. For example, we stopped having referees on the tournaments. It meant that the players had to self-police their rounds, become more open and honest and really, this helped to increased and drive the reputation and credibility of all our members playing on the Pro Golf Tour.

“Every time we have stood for election in the past 21 years, we have brought new projects forward, sometimes internally and sometimes externally oriented, which were close to our hearts and which we ultimately successfully implemented together with the managing directors.”

Final Thoughts…

Through Stefan Quirmbach’s leadership and contributions, the PGA of Germany has shaped and developed its business significantly to ensure its PGA Members receive the highest possible standards of education and support services, whilst also enabling the organisation to further its role as a leading and influential voice for German golf. This has meant both organisation and member has increased its influence and reach to the amateur golfer and ensured that the game grows in both relative and absolute ways. German golf is thriving and with the structures and foundations that have been set by the PGA of Germany, the future looks bright for golf in the country.

RECEIVE FUTURE CPG NEWS

VISIT THE PGA OF GERMANY

59club’s ‘We are in this together’ Campaign, has seen the interactive Golftell Member Communication app and newly released survey templates that reflect the current situation facing the hospitality and tourism industry, added to their existing complementary offering, all free of charge through May 31, 2020.

“These are extraordinary times. Many managers are trying to figure what, if any, services should still be available, and what people will want when you re-open” said Simon Wordsworth, founder of 59club.

“Customers will remember those who took the time to touch base with them, to ascertain their needs and wants during the unprecedented time when they knew you were simply hoping to remain open, and latterly during the challenge of being forcibly closed.

“Navigating unchartered waters and relying only on substandard communication tools like social media and non-reply emails does a disservice to the manager, staff, their members and guests. We want our friends and colleagues in the tourism and hospitality industries to have everything they need to weather this storm.”

Please visit www.59club.com and follow the COVID-19 actions to instigate your FREE license, any additional support can be directed to your local 59club division who are waiting to help!

1. My59 Metrics

My59 Metrics is an analytical platform that provides comparable data around the industry’s operating rates, such as gross profit, turnover, membership revenue & attrition, purchasing rates, stock levels, average monthly sales, payroll, staffing levels – and many other variables.

All data entries remain anonymous to anyone other than the club’s sole key account holder. It is able to generate comparable data against venues of a similar nature, allowing you and PGA Professionals to make decisions around your financial operations. Venues can filter the results by business style (private, resort, etc), by county/region, by venue size (number of holes) and by course style (parkland, heathland etc). Additional functionality is available within a premium licence.

2. Golftell Communication App

The interactive Golftell Member Communication app creates a new channel for members to privately communicate directly with golf businesses’ management, with the ability to provide as much or as little feedback as the member wishes to supply. During times of closure, the app can be used to reflect on previous experiences and communicate on any matter relating to the organisation for when normality resumes.

The app channels member feedback within the following areas: course condition, food quality, general facilities and customer service levels, applying an average rating of great, good, average or poor which contributes towards the clubs own satisfaction rating as well as adding into the industry-wide data pool.

3. Survey Tools

The survey tools assist PGA Members to glean feedback from its customers, members and staff amid the current crisis at specific times when the facility continues its limited offerings, at times when the offering/operation is forcibly closed, during the clubs renewal process, when dealing with membership cancellations and in the run-up to the club/facilities reopening.

The templates contain a bank of pre-set questions already available within the platform, enabling adaptation of the survey to create tailored questions. Built in demographic filters, allow further analysis based on member age, gender, membership category and status, playing frequency and location, making feedback easy to manage and segment.

VISIT WWW.59CLUB.COM

Despite the obvious and well-documented challenges this has posed to industries, in particular golf, PGA Professionals have adapted to an incredibly difficult situation admirably. You only have to spend a few minutes on social media to see their drive and determination across the world to maintain both their golf games and enthusiasm, conducted under a cloud of doubt and uncertainty as to when they will return to work and the course.

Your clients and customers will no doubt also be itching to get back onto the course, back to playing in weekly club competitions, back to hitting balls on the range and back to having lessons with you. So how, despite having limited ability to interact directly with them, can you continue to build and maintain a rapport? How can you use this time to increase your relevance and prepare your business for when the play button on society is hit?

Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool and something you or your employers will have been possibly engaging with or utilising in some form already. Established mainstream channels such as Facebook and Twitter provide solid bases to create exposure and generate valuable conversations with your existing clients and potential customers, providing it is done in the right way for you and your business.

Don’t stick to just Facebook and Twitter however. LinkedIn provides a professional platform to collaborate with other businesses. Instagram is a fantastic channel for golf clubs to visually present their business – clubs are utilising closed courses to generate fantastic on-the-ground and aerial drone footage, undisturbed, that can be uploaded across instagram, websites and for future content purposes.

There is no doubt other channels such as TikTok [a video streaming site that’s use has surged very recently] will continue to be popularised as tastes and trends change. Keeping an eye on these, learning how to use them and applying them correctly might help you to digitally converse with new audiences and develop your social reach.

Vlogging

At face value, vlogging [creating video content around topics and instructional areas] seems complex. This previous article helps to simplify and break down first of all what video blogging is, how to actually create a great vlog, and then how to effectively deliver it to your audience.

In essence, it requires a small space to be able to explain and demonstrate a shot [if it is a coaching vlog], a camera or smartphone to record yourself and ultimately, oodles of energy and enthusiasm. For sure, it can be daunting to even the most confident of people to film themselves talking but remember that it is you and your knowledge that customers come for week-in, week-out. The only difference is that you are creating that conversation with them through a screen now instead.

Email Marketing and Weekly Check-ups

Remaining relevant is a constant battle we as PGA Professionals face in even more certain trading conditions. Ever-growing competition from clubs, teaching academies and driving ranges keep each and every one of us on our toes to ensure we innovate and improve, so that our clients continue to demand the products and services we offer.

Therefore, in the absence of clubs, teaching academies and facilities, and in fact any form of consumer demand during this crisis, relevancy is ironically, almost irrelevant to a degree.

Front page headlines, news articles and press conferences around the world thoroughly document the challenges and threats of COVID-19, and are obsessively occupying the front of everybody’s minds right now – for good and obvious reasons. So how do you replace, or at the very least, remind people that there is light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to their golf games, their golf club and their favourite past time?

First, you need a client database to be able to activate and engage with.

Second, you need an hour or two each week to set aside and create some engaging forms of online communication. This can be as basic as a generic text message such as the one below, or a multispread newsletter that covers what you, a PGA Professional who is eager to maintain their own golf games has been up to, simple step-by-step coaching tips or generic thoughts on the game’s current trends, and why you are looking forward to making this summer the best yet for everyone. You will find people have more time on their hands right now, so engaging them with longer pieces of content should be really useful and effective!

…”Hi [first name]!

How are you? Have you managed to get any form of golf practice in on the garden? 

If you are limited for space and time, try setting up some simple putting drills in your front living room, or a chipping net with some foam balls to keep the your game ticking over. It won’t be long before we are through these current difficulties and back out onto the golf course and I am really looking forward to seeing you back!

If you would like some more tips and drills to practice at home, or anything else, I am here to help.

[Your name]”…

Thirdly, you need to deliver the content. If you have a large database of text messages to send, you could generalise the message to apply to a large group. You could then create a themed WhatsApp group that includes various sections of your client base, such as parents of respective golf classes to send info through and maintain their engagement.

However you do it and whatever you write, if you maintain the thought of ‘I am here and available for when we return to normal life’ at the front of your mind, your message will remain relevant, be well received and at the very least, replace a negative with a positive for your clients.

Final Thoughts

We are all involved in a current national and international effort to defeat this virus, and I first and foremost wish you all and your loved ones good health throughout this challenging period.

Right now we have a duty to follow and enact upon the strict social measures delivered by our respective governing authorities. The quicker we do this, the quicker we get through it and the quicker we can walk back out onto the golf course.

However, I urge you to use this enforced downtime to engage and re-engage with your customers and clients as much as possible. The optimist in me believes a booming feel-good factor of festivities and consumer spending is an inevitability once our lives and liberties are re-instilled. By using this time effectively, you can position yourselves effectively to take advantage of expected surges in demand and make up for any bump your business is currently experiencing.

When we meet new clients, we usually go in with one opinion formed from what we know at that point, which is usually based on touchpoints such as their website or some marketing collateral we’ve seen. But once we meet the people behind that business, that opinion always changes – and usually for the better. This makes us want to work with them and we end up building up wonderful relationships with people. Through our Brand thinking™ process we get to know more of the people behind the organisation, from the top to the bottom. We learn about what they love about the company, what frustrates them and how they live the brand on a day-to-day basis.

The more we do this the more we see the real value in making sure the people in your company live, breathe and are the brand. From the moment your customers speak to one of your staff members on the phone they are forming an opinion of the brand and building an emotional feeling towards your business. Making sure your staff are on the same page as the brand will make this process a lot smoother.

However, it can be dangerous to impose a brand ethos on your team, especially if it’s not who they are or not what they believe in. The comments from them to your clients excusing the colour palette or strapline will soon creep in and undermine everything you’ve worked so hard to build.

That’s why it’s essential to build your brand around the kind of people who work for it and the kind of customers you want to attract. It’s easier for smaller businesses that have a small team, which is why we see so many of them winning when it comes to genuine brand and social content. But all businesses can follow some simple guidelines to ensure their brand works from within:

Listen

First you really need to listen to your team and find out what makes them tick. Finding out what they’re proud of in the company and what they’re not so proud of is really important to finding a brand that will work for them. Maybe there are some brands that they really admire or aspire to.

Build a story

Your brand needs a story. This doesn’t have to be like a kids’ book, it’s important to have a clear message and ethos that everyone can believe in and get behind. It needs to be genuine so that people will believe in it.

Champion heroes

Use the wealth of knowledge and personality from within the team to create brand heroes. All of your content doesn’t have to be authored by the CEO, it can be from other members of staff throughout the workplace hierarchy. Using your internal experts to show your expertise will not only empower your team, but it will make you look like a clever bunch. A website blog is a great place to do this.

The power of attraction

Showing what kind of people and company you are helps the business to grow in the right direction, with the right people. Communicating the kind of internal culture you have can show prospective employees and clients what it would be like to work with you. This may be a turn-off to some people, but they’re not your target market. You need be genuine though, otherwise people may be disappointed.

The big reveal

A big brand reveal is a great way to excite and enthuse your team. Communicating the outcomes of everyone’s efforts to the team you can give a big injection of inspiration. Showing how it will help them and how it represents them will win them over. Using fun visual aspects of the brand internally can keep the inspiration going.

Know the limits

You need to know when to push back. It’s great to get the whole team involved in the process, but you must not lose focus of what the business is and who its target market is. Some decisions need to be decisive and not by committee.

With a career in golf commentary, presenting and journalistic reporting that spans over 60 years, Laidlaw has provided the narration for most of golf’s greatest moments across 15 Ryder Cups and 150+ Major Championships, including over 40 Masters Tournaments, seeing first-hand the development of European golf and its players on the world stage.

“I’m particularly happy about this award as I’ve spent so much time in Europe covering the European Tour,” said Laidlaw during his acceptance speech shown during at the 2018 Annual Congress Gala Awards Dinner Supported By Rolex at Costa Navarino in Greece.

“I’ve always enjoyed Europe from the point of view of the different cultures, food, etc., but more importantly, the people we’ve met in Europe over the years. There are so many who were so helpful and I think that was one of the great things about being in Europe – we were all different but we were all alike. It was, as Seve used to say, a real family.”

Laidlaw’s journalism career began at the tender age of 14 when he took a job as a copy-taker in a local newsroom in his home city of Edinburgh. Following in the footsteps of his father, he then moved into reporting positions for the Edinburgh Evening News, and into golf after an editor asked him to cover multiple sports.

These reporting roles were the springboard for his access to some of the world’s largest golf tournaments in which he had the freedom to pick and choose which events to attend, including his first Major in 1959 at Muirfield where Gary Player claimed his first Major Championship as well.

A decade on, having worked in a freelance capacity for Reuters covering golf worldwide, he was then able to change medium having seen the opportunities that lay ahead in television. Initially working for Scottish Television, and later with Grampian TV where he became an evening news anchor, he was recruited by the BBC as a news anchor.

By the mid-seventies he was golf reporter for London’s Evening Standard newspaper whilst also taking television and BBC radio assignments on weekends, spending the next 15 years as BBC Radio’s golf correspondent.

In the early 90s he was working full-time with British Satellite Broadcasting, which was later taken over by SKY, and by the middle of the decade he broadcast his first European Tour event for The Golf Channel from the Dubai Desert Classic, where he became the mouthpiece for European golf in the United States and brought a European viewpoint to an ever-increasingly global sport.

“I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve been able to work in newspapers, write books, in television, and in radio,” added Laidlaw. “To be able to work in all these media is quite something…but I’ve been able to somehow scratch my way through and do them all which makes me, I suppose, a wee-bit unusual.

“I was always delighted with my work with the Golf Channel in America, because what we were doing on there was bringing to the Americans knowledge of the European players who they really didn’t know all that well and spreading the European golf message to that market.”

Laidlaw has also played a significant role in golf journalism around the welfare and support of journalists covering the sport through his various roles with the Association of Golf Writers (AGW).

He was Secretary of the organisation from 1978 – 1995 after which he held the positions of Chairman (1995–98) and President (2004–15) in which he was able to influence the working conditions and support of golf journalists working in the field. His influence has undoubtedly played a key part in helping to foster the successful relationships that exist between the professional and amateur organisations and the men and women of the golfing press.

Up until its last publication in 2014, he also edited what is known by many as the ‘golfing bible’ – The R&A Golfer’s Handbook – whilst also authoring many of his own books about the game.

After retiring in 2014, he was awarded the 2015 Masters Major Achievement Award in recognition of his coverage of over 40 Masters Tournaments, becoming the first non-American journalist to win the award.

This joined a significant list of awards received throughout his incredible career, including the title as first European winner of the PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism in 2003, and the 2012 PGA in Scotland Lifetime Achievement Award.

For More Information On All of 2018’s Award Winners Visit http://eur.pe/2018AnnualCongress

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For more information on the 2018 Annual Award Winners visit Annual Congress Hub Page (http://eur.pe/2018AnnualCongress),follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the hashtag ‘#AnnualCongress’ or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

The Annual Congress Gala Awards are partnered by Rolex, Costa Navarino, the Ryder Cup European Development Trust, and Aegean Airlines.

At present, there is a significant focus on the financial penalties that a business could incur should they have a data protection breach.

GDPR, what is it?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on 25th May 2018. The legislation will impact on any golf and leisure business that is either based in, or do business in, the EU. Citizens will have great individual rights and controls, including rights to access, correction and deletion of personal data.

Do You Know What Personal Data your Golf Business collects?

One very early myth to bust is the belief that the GDPR does not apply to your golf club. If you collect, store and move personal information on members (including children), employees, patrons or suppliers in membership database(s), booking management systems, HR database(s) and paper; finance and accounting systems; health records (on employees and members), marketing systems (Customer Relationship Management system) and CCTV or other digital imagery, the regulation applies to you.

Who Should be Involved?

As you will have gathered already, implementing GDPR compliance cannot simply be the responsibility of IT or HR, it needs to be an organisational approach, one that has the full support of the management team, golf club committee and all levels of Directorship.

Where should I start?

A good first step is to complete the Information Commissioner’s Office online GDPR self-assessment (https://eur.pe/2r5wNXU). This will provide you a clear overview of what tasks you need to complete before 25th May 2018.

What other steps should I consider?

• Conduct a Data Protection audit to determine what personal data is held by your organisation and identify where it is located, justify your reason for holding it, how long you hold it for and how you would permanently delete the record.
• Raising awareness across the business and training your staff should be high up on your list of priorities. Consider engaging expert help and then start to develop processes and procedures which will ensure that your business is managing and protecting personal data according to the requirements of the regulation.

But should I quickly get my current customers to “opt-in” again so I’m compliant?

Stop!

There certainly is a lot of ‘hype’ surrounding GDPR and lots of advice coming from many different sources. What this appears to have created is almost a panic amongst some golf club’s – mostly surrounding their current database of customers and prospects. Group emails are flying out in an attempt to gain “consent” to communicate using this medium by asking customers to “opt-in”.

One club recently went through this very process and reduced their database by 99% – yes, only 1% of customers re-confirmed their consent to be sent emails from the club. However, it’s highly unlikely that 99% of customers were simply not interested in the club any more. It’s more likely that a high percentage just didn’t respond and that could be for any number of reasons, nothing to do with their desire to cease communications with the club via email.

Hopefully, seeking “Consent” in this way doesn’t amount to commercial suicide for some clubs – because in many cases it may not be necessary. The new legislation offers potential alternatives, including a legal basis for continuing to email customers called “Legitimate Interests”. The legislation goes further to even highlight some examples of what this may be, and Direct Marketing is listed.

If you would like to learn more about GDPR or want to train your staff on their responsibilities to the new legislation, Promote Training, in partnership with data-specialists Databasix, has launched two new courses that will help achieve this.

• GDPR in Golf
• GDPR for Staff

Promote Training are also offering ‘Confederation of Professional Golf’ readers a limited-time-only offer of 20% off these two GDPR courses. Use the coupon code “CPG1” during the online checkout. (Offer expires 31st May 2018)

Find out more www.promotetraining.co.uk/fundamental-principles-data-protection.

And we have been doing so throughout history. Stories have allowed us to pass on information from one generation to the next in the form of books, visuals and the spoken word. Some cultures rely heavily – or solely in some cases – on oral storytelling to pass on traditions, values and beliefs. Members of the Native American Abenaki tribe, for example, have traditionally told their children stories as a way to teach them right from wrong and so instil core values in them. Fairy tales have done the same for many cultures for hundreds of years.

So why stories? What makes them so valuable?

First and foremost, stories allow us to make sense of the world around us. The way this works is quite simple: our brains are hardwired to look for patterns, i.e. finding links between cause and effect. This is how we learn from a young age. For example, if we touch something very hot and it hurts our hand we make the causal connection between the two and learn not to touch that thing again. The end result of this thought process is a story, which we can then share with others to spread our knowledge.

Stories can touch us in any number of ways. They can open our minds to new perspectives, inspire and persuade us, help build our confidence, grow a sense of inclusion and incite change. Ultimately, they can be used to shape our values and beliefs. Think, for example, of how stories are used within religion and politics to influence how people think and what they believe.

A story’s power comes from its narrative form, which draws us in much more than dry facts ever could. Evidence from neuroscience suggests that when we listen to a story our brain patterns start to mirror those of the speaker, allowing us to connect on a deeper level. The way a story is structured – with a clear beginning, middle and end – also helps to maintain our engagement as we long to hear the outcome.

Being a great storyteller is an incredibly useful skill for any professional to have, and a relatively easy one to master: after all, it’s something that we practise almost every day. However, to perfect the art there are some ground rules to keep in mind:

1. Make sure you understand your audience and how best to best to engage them.
2. Your story needs to be easy to follow with a clear structure.
3. Don’t forget the power of delivery: your tone of voice and body language can influence engagement levels.

Evaluate your own storytelling skills: how comfortable do you feel telling a story? How good do you think you are at engaging others when you speak? Then start practising those skills. Whether it’s at your next networking event, during a presentation, or a meeting with your boss or a hiring manager: tell a story about you, your career or the project you are working on. Chances are whoever’s listening will remember that story over anything else.

This content appears courtesy of Abintegro, experts in career management, transition technology & e-learning for today’s modern, mobile and technology-savvy workforce – Find out more at www.abintegro.com

Credit: Abintegro; The Guardian; The Health Foundation

There’re often times beyond this, once a brand is established, where time is still scarce and efficiency is the name of the game.

The team at Smart Pension has felt both sides of this in the past couple years and has experienced the time crunch particularly on the social media side (sound familiar at all with your experience?). One of the UK’s leading pension companies, the Smart Pension team pulled through in an incredibly inspiring way.

Here’s their story of how they’ve come up with their social media strategy, saved time, and found the best tools to use.

Social media and an early-stage startup

Jack Saville, a marketing executive at Smart Pension, built his startup to be the go-to source for UK pension and auto enrolment. And one of the key marketing strategies he chose for traction was content.

One of the first jobs was to put as much great information and helpful content on the website as possible. However when we finished creating content, we also wanted to shout about it on social media.

We were churning out so much content in the beginning that logging and posting each article on each social media channel was becoming a real time consuming exercise. If we had had Buffer in the beginning we would have saved a great deal of time (and money) in the crucial start-up, make-or-break phase of our business.

Smart Pension made it through this early critical stage and is grateful to now be a more established entity. They’ve kept right on working.

The content team crushed it early on and put together the majority of the foundational, main topics needed to be a thought leader on pensions and enrolment. The next phase was tackling current news and changes, being more of a real-time resource for Smart Pension’s growing audience.

This shift to timely content also needed timely distribution, which is where social media marketing has really paid dividends for the team.

The news section is where we direct most of our efforts now. This is important, as investing a lot of time in your news section shows your customers that you are well aware of the changes in the industry, and that we know that the services we provide need to be altered and suited to the current market and the current pension laws. Social media is the channel in which we communicate our knowledge of industry changes to our customers.

Not a content creation problem … a content distribution one

In building out this news hub, Smart Pension ran into a slight problem:

We work so hard on making sure our news section addresses the current topics in the pension industry, that sometimes we finish a number of articles at the same time.

It’s a similar problem that might crop up for publishers, news organizations, online magazines, and others. It’s not that there’s any trouble coming up with content to share, it’s more a matter of knowing what to share and when to share it.

Jack and his team found the solution here with social media scheduling from Buffer.

Smart Pension spaces out new posts every few hours so that there’s room between each update.

The articles don’t all go up as a wall of similar-looking tweets and posts.

The buffered schedule makes it so that content hits the timeline at all times, helping to reach people who may be online at different times throughout the day.

And the beauty of it all: All this scheduling can be automated.

The scheduling function is also helpful to the work flow of the team. The team member who wrote the article can schedule the post for times of the day that we are posting less and then proceed to the next task. The team members do not have to try and remind themselves of when to post their articles.

Additionally, with the scheduling function we can then post articles at night and at weekends when team members would not necessarily be working. This means that we can have a round the clock presence on social media, without having one of our team members staying up all night!

Scheduling + Analytics

Lots of content to share and a set number of times to share it all: When do you get the most bang for your buck with social media sharing?

The Smart Pension team came up with a few experiments to test the best time to post for engagement.

Here’s an example:

To find out if it’s better to post extra content at night or over the weekends, set up a schedule for both and check the results.

After a few days, log into the Analytics section of Buffer and check to see which time slots have tended to perform the best. You can see this from the Analytics view with a quick glance and intuition…

… or you can export data from your past period of experiments, and filter the results for each different time.

Here’s a sample spreadsheet using data from my own sharing:

(Couple this with the takeaways from Buffer’s optimal timing tool to get even more confirmation for which way you’re leaning.)

Great content goes great with images

As we are a start-up, we cannot afford to have a graphic designer to create the imagery for our social media posts every time we need to post something. Pablo give us the ability to make our social media posts look interesting and exciting, whilst not having to pay for a graphic designer to design them and create them.

According to our most recent data here at Buffer, we’ve found that tweets with images get 150% more engagement than tweets without.

The takeaway: Test content with images!

We believe in this so strongly that we built our own tool for making this as easy as can be. The free image creator at Pablo makes it simple to create images for Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and more, all at the ideal image size, all looking beautiful—no matter your design skills.

Here are some that the Smart Pension team has used on their latest social media updates:

Click to read The Employer’s Guide To Auto Enrolment Contributions. https://t.co/9bUmJBNxA9 pic.twitter.com/El3z1lFPjU

— Smart Pension (@smartpensionuk) December 14, 2015

Click to read our guide on lost pensions. https://t.co/JwLXr8PQlg pic.twitter.com/BLJ0v3e7ar

— Smart Pension (@smartpensionuk) December 14, 2015

Click to read our guide on spotting the tell-tale signs of a pension scam. https://t.co/ZVRzn4DCwT pic.twitter.com/PAl8FdoV3s

— Smart Pension (@smartpensionuk) December 14, 2015

Working with a team on a social media calendar

And another key piece to the team’s workflow and system is keeping all this distribution organized. One of Buffer’s newest features works great in this case: the social media calendar.

Our content calendar is designed to make sure that we are regularly completing and posting content through buffer. We can all log into buffer and see what other people are planning, and then we can plan our content around the existing scheduled posts.

Image sources: Iconfinder, Pablo

Audiences have become more sophisticated over time and as a result it is important to have some sort of social media strategy. In order to start implementing that strategy, a schedule is a must for a lot of businesses.

A sharing schedule can help you double your traffic and provide your audience with consistent and valuable information that will make them more likely to follow and engage with you.

It can be a little daunting getting started, though. As you try to figure out

• Where to share?
• What to share?
• When to share?

In this post I’ll help you answer these essential questions and share some ways that you can develop and perfect your sharing schedule (with a sneak peek at how we do things here at Buffer too).

Let’s dig in!

Where to Share?

So you want to share, but where should you share? There are so many different platforms all with their own advantages, however it’s almost impossible to share on each network well unless you have a large team helping. If that isn’t the case, focusing on specific platforms might be the best solution here.

When thinking about which platforms you should prioritize in your schedule, a good question to ask yourself is:

Where is your audience?

Do they spend most of their time on Twitter? Facebook? Knowing this will allow you to focus your energy on the place where you have the potential to reap the most benefits.

Pew Research Center put together a list of the demographics of all the key social networking platforms. This might help you get a little more insight into each platform.

Once you have narrowed down the platform(s) you would like to focus on, you can now come up with you sharing plan.

Different plans for different platforms

I would definitely recommend coming up with different plans for each platform you select. Facebook is very different than Twitter for instance, so it makes sense to have a different approach when sharing to your audience on Facebook versus your audience on Twitter.

CoSchedule has a really neat graphic sharing some of the different topics to share for each platform. They also go into depth for each platform over at their articles if you would like more information.

What To Share?

Now that you have figured out where you want to share your awesome content. It’s time to figure out what to share.

Sharing More Than One Type of Content

A good way to share is to have a mix of content to provide your audience. I would recommend not solely focusing on your own content, but giving them variety to look forward to. Providing a service or entertainment to your audience is more likely to lead them to follow you and engage with all of your content, rather than bombarding them with only promotional updates.

Here is an example of the type of content you can share.

According to CoSchedule, a report from The New York Times Customer Insight Group found five major reasons why people share content with their networks:

1. 49% share for entertainment or to provide valuable content to others.
2. 68% share to define themselves.
3. 78% share to stay connected with those they know.
4. 69% share to feel involved in the world.
5. 84% share to support a cause.

So give them something they can share! 

Is Your Content Evergreen or Time Sensitive?

When it comes to your content, it can be good to think about whether what you are sharing is evergreen (can be shared multiple times at any point in time) or time sensitive.

A schedule for time sensitive material will most likely be different than one for evergreen content. For instance, time sensitive material will only be able to be shared within a specific timeframe before it is retired, while evergreen content could potentially be shared again a year from now.

If you have both types of content, coming up with separate sharing schedule for each type might be something to consider.

How Do You Want to Share?

You have your content ready to be shared, but how do you want to share it? How do you want to relay it to your audience? Do you have a specific tone you would like to use?

Here are a few things you can think about.

Voice

Creating a consistent voice is a really important component of your social media strategy. We have written an extensive guide on how you can find yours here.

Type

Links, images, videos, quotes, GIFs. There are so many different ways you can share your content. Finding what works best for you whether it’s only images or a mix of everything will be a great asset for creating your schedule.

Update

While I do recommend sharing the same content multiple times, I do not recommend you share the same update twice. Find different ways to share the content. Pick an image to share for the first time, then find a quote the second time and maybe a GIF the third, so that your audience doesn’t feel like they are always seeing the same thing in your feed.

As for the update itself, we have a handy guide and infographic to help you with sharing the optimal length every time.

When To Share?

You have now figured out where and what to share. The next step is figuring out when to share and importany when to re-share! Kissmetrics found that re-sharing content could double your traffic:

Frequency

Let’s first think about frequency. How often do you want to share?

• On publish
• Later that same day
• Next day, Daily
• A Week later
• A month later?
• Even later than that?

It really depends on your needs and your audience’s response to that frequency. Some of the best practices for each platform are highlighted in the infographic from SumAll below.  This is only a guideline, I would highly encourage you to test things for yourself as well.

Here is our sharing schedule at Buffer. You can see that we tend to share more often on Twitter and less on other platforms, leaving more time between each share.

When starting out, I would recommend looking at the content you have already shared and taking a look at what you feel might be the best times to share your content. If you haven’t shared anything yet, this is the perfect time to start experimenting and learning about your audience.

A key part to figuring out your frequency will be finding the point at which sharing more would yield diminishing returns. CoSchedule has a fantastic graphic illustrating diminishing returns.

And that’s when testing comes into play, which I discuss further below.

Create a calendar

In order to keep you on track, creating a calendar might be a huge help. It can also help you outline one time events. For example if you plan special coverage around the Holidays, a calendar could help you plan ahead and make sure you won’t forget to share.

Hootsuite has a great template available for a social media content calendar.

Here at Buffer, we have our own Social Media Calendar which you might find helpful in planning your sharing. The calendar is available for those on Awesome and Business plans (if you’re not yet part of our paid plans, I’m hoping you this might convince you to give it a try!) and allows you to take a look at your week of sharing at a glance.

It could be helpful in planning and putting into action your sharing plan, by letting you schedule updates in the future, shifting things around if needed by dragging and dropping and giving you a visual of what you are sharing when.

Here is an example of our current social media calendar on Buffer:

Testing

Now that you have a base to work with, I would also recommend implementing some testing into your sharing in order to come up with your perfect schedule.

Some of the things you can test include:

• Different times
• Different days
• Different topics
• Different types of updates (pictures versus no pictures, videos, quotes etc.)

I would recommend being quite intentional with the way you test things. Make sure you are able to measure the correct variable and that what you are seeing is due to the variable you are trying to measure.

For instance, if you would like to figure out the best time to share your blog posts, trying different days and times is a great way to start. However, it is important to continue the experiment for some time before drawing conclusions. An update performing really well on a Tuesday at 9am, might be due to it being an optimal time or it could be the result of the blog post itself being more popular amongst your audience. That is why I would recommend, testing that specific time multiples times in order to confirm that posts shared then do in fact always outperform posts shared at other times.

Analyze

Once you’ve spent some time testing, you can focus on analyzing your data. A few questions you can ask yourself when looking at the results include:

• When is your audience online?
• When do you get the most reach/engagement?
• What types of updates tend to get the most engagement?

Take a look at the performances for all your posts in the previous 30 (or 60) days and figure out what seemed to resonate with your audience.

Buffer provides great analytics for you to use if you are using the application to share your updates.

Adjust

You’ve tested, analyzed and now you can adjust. Taking into account everything you have learned, you might want to adjust your sharing schedule by implementing some of the discoveries from your data analysis.

For example, if you noticed an increase in engagement for blog posts updates on Tuesdays at 9am (after you have confirmed it through multiple testing), you can start sharing your blog posts at that time from now on.

I would also encourage you to continue to test, analyze and adjust, in order to make sure your schedule remains adapted to the changes in your audience’s wants and needs.

Bonus: How We Share at Buffer

At Buffer we’re constantly changing and testing new approaches when it comes to social media, especially after losing almost half our social referral traffic. I wanted to share our sharing schedule for both Twitter and Facebook and some of the things we’ve been trying lately.

How We Share on Twitter

Our current Twitter schedule involves sharing 11 times a day during weekdays and 8 times a day during weekends. Here are the current times we share (our timezone is set to Denver, CO).

I would say that 99% of our posts include some sort of media. We tend to use mostly images, since they tend to be they help boost our engagement, we have also enjoyed sharing GIFs and videos once in a while.

Here are some of our most engaging posts in the past 30 days taken from Buffer’s Analytics. A few standout findings:

• You will noticed that these all contain an image (we tend to create our images using Pablo)
• 3 out of 7 are about Twitter
• Two of the updates link to the same article, highlighting the importance of re-sharing your content
• One is a competition we ran to celebrate reaching 400k followers. (We’d love to experiment a little more with competitions)

In general, we tend to reshare posts that seemed to resonate. We sometimes change the update and sometimes reshare as is.

How We Share on Facebook

Our current Facebook schedule has us sharing 3 times a day on weekdays and once on weekends. Here are the current times we share (our timezone is set to Nashville, TN).

On Facebook, we focus on sharing posts from Buffer’s Social and Open blogs and use the status copy to provide context or a story around the post being shared.

We have also recently started sharing quotes that inspire us on a regular basis (those quotes are also being shared on Twitter and seem to be appreciated there as well).

Here are some of our most engaging posts in the past 30 days taken from Buffer’s Analytics. Some of the things that seem to resonate here are announcements, images, insider story about Buffer and life hacking type articles.

One of the things we’re also thinking of experimenting with is the timing of our shares. One of the tools that we will be using to find new optimal times to share is the Buffer Optimal Timing tool, which finds the best time for you to share on a specific social network and updates your Buffer schedule accordingly.

Over to You!

What are some of the steps you’ve taken to develop and perfect your social sharing schedule? Have I missed any steps? Do you have additional tips? I would love to hear them all in the comments section.

Myself, Jan and Chandra are returning home from a four day trip to the French capital to work with a long-standing global client who is based there. We are working with them to deliver a very complex rebrand with multiple stakeholders and teams across Europe, the US and Australasia.

Over the past few years we have delivered rebrands across Europe, the US and Africa. Being based in the UK, I wanted to share how we create brands that resonate with people in those countries, that grow and evolve with their culture, and ultimately achieve success for the companies we represent. Here are my top 5 guidelines for a successful outcome.

1. Immerse yourself in the culture.

It seems like an obvious thing to say, but we know it doesn’t always get done. Companies look to the UK for design skill and creative thinking, but to deliver a project successfully you (as a company) need to look wider than your personal experiences and that can be difficult. All good creative people are like sponges, soaking up information, ideas and bringing influences like trends, styles and messaging from the world around us into our work. But, what if those influences don’t mean anything to the people you are designing for? What if those ‘eureka’ moments don’t resonate with an audience of the outside the UK?

That’s where immersing yourself in the culture or cultures of the client is vital. As an example, when we are working in France, we go to France and visit the client, we ask them to show us what makes France French in their eyes. We visit locations of historical importance, we watch their films, listen to their music, try and learn some of the language, and most importantly we look – we look at what they design, how they design, what influences their design culture. Only by doing this can you start to consider what design and branding will work in that chosen culture.

2. Don’t trust cultural stereotypes.

We would all like to believe that we are ‘worldly’ and knowledgeable people – who look outwardly at global information, understanding cultures and people. But really we still view the world and the different cultures as stereotypes. We think of the French as chic, the Americans as loud, the Germans as serious and the British as stiff upper-lipped. Clearly that isn’t the case, but you would be amazed at how many brands are created with a stereotype at its heart, e.g. Delice De France!

By visiting, learning and living a culture you can start to see past stereotypes and begin to see similarities – parts of our cultures that merge and overlap. Once you are able to do this you can start to see where a brand resonates across multiple cultures, across languages and trends. When you reach this point you can create a brand thread which ties branding, emotion and design to cultures across entire continents or further afield.

3. Be in the room.

It’s as simple as that – be in the room. Be in the room for client meetings in their offices, be in the room when they discuss the answers to your brand questions, be in the room when they are chatting about their weekends, or plans for the evening, be in the room when that room is a pub, a bar, a restaurant – be a part of the team. By becoming a member of the client’s team, you become a part of their culture. You can learn what really makes them tick, what drives them forward, why they come to work everyday, what is in their heart that differentiates them from others, and what really should be in the heart of the brand.

4. Learn the subtleties.

Great brands are not created through billboards or advertising campaigns alone, they are delivered through subtly – beautiful touches of quality, finesse and intelligence; the beautifully produced bag, the expertly finished brochure or the refined smooth wording of a letter.
Subtleties differ from culture to culture and learning what different people see as the differentiator of quality can be vital to the overall success of a rebrand.

For example, in Africa, colour is a vital part of visual language. Colours represent different events in life, from celebration and weddings, through to morning and funerals. The colours symbolise emotion, and that emotion is imparted into the brand. Those emotional ties to colours will run deep into the subconscious of the viewer and therefore as brand thinkers we have to be mindful of this and utilise the power of colour to enhance a message or brand position – brandthinking in colour.

5. Ask the hard questions.

If you want to know if your brand works, ask the people who live it. We are specialists in creating brands that deliver growth, brands that have emotion and brands that resonate with target audiences, but when working in different cultures how do we know we have got it right, before we launch? Simply – we ask.

We spend time presenting the concept and brand developments to a wide range of the client’s team, from directors to admin staff. The directors will look at the brand from a strategic point of view and will trust our opinion and advice, but a receptionist will look at the brand with their heart – they will tell you what they feel and that is vital. When the strategic mind and emotive soul of the brand align, we know we have the right outcome for the organisation. It is easy to be afraid to show the brand and to ask “what do you think?”, as they are four words which can turn your project on it’s head. But they are the four most important words in any brand project.

——————————

So there you have it, 5 top tips for branding in different countries and across cultures. As part of our Brandthinking™ process we deliver exciting, emotive brands through a wide range of countries and cultures. There are many more things which need to be considered when doing these complex projects, but I hope these 5 tips will give you an insight into they way we think, and help you in any future planning for projects.

If you have a brand that you wish to launch in the UK or further afield, and think our Brandthinking™ process and creativity can help, then we would love to hear from you.

Our bonus episodes offer a fun change of pace from our traditional “interview-style” episodes on The Science of Social Media. Get to know the hosts Hailley, Kevan, & Brian a bit better as they share thoughts on the future of social media – complete with actionable takeaways and useful insights.

This week we’re chatting all about our brand new State of Social Media 2016 Report! 3 major trends emerge from the study, including the peak of video marketing, Facebook remaining atop the pack, and the importance of customer service on social media.

A huge thank you to all of you for joining us every week for brand new episodes. We appreciate you taking the time to listen and for your amazing support over the last few weeks. We’d love to hear from you on iTunes or using the hashtag #bufferpodcast on Twitter.

“That’s what I see social media in 2017 being – Understanding why you’re there and then creating something awesome for the people that you’re hoping to reach on that channel.”

3 Themes That Stood Out to Us From the Survey

Theme #1

The first takeaway is that video is on the rise and about to hit the peak. If you ever wanted to get into video marketing, now is the time to do so! We found that there are some inherent challenges that people are experiencing that are keeping them from fully joining.

Theme #2

No one has really left Facebook like everyone was saying might happen once organic reach dipped. From our study, about 9 out of every 10 marketers use Facebook and 9 out of 10 use Facebook Ads. I think some of the response to the dip in organic reach is people moving to Facebook Ads. So, marketers finding a way to make the most of that giant network.

Theme #3

Only 1 in 5 survey respondents – so 1 in 5 brands, 1 in 5 marketers – use social media for customer support. And that was shockingly low for me. At Buffer customer support has been very key to us and it has been key for a lot of the brands that we admire. That feels like a really neat opportunity for brands to stand out.

For PGA Professionals involved in any area of the game, knowledge of marketing and some of the key concepts that come with it can be very useful to themselves as individuals but also as marketers, sales people, and value-adders for a business.

Here IGPN looks at just some of the main things in marketing that could help you be better prepared to market yourself and the business you are a key part of, whilst also giving you more knowledge of the marketing that takes place around you.

1. STRATEGY

You can’t move in any direction without a plan of where you want to go and how you’re going to get there.  Too many people are too concerned with just ‘doing some marketing’ and don’t look at things with enough depth and focus.  Marketing is an incredibly broad term and you need to ensure what you are doing is relevant, achievable, and has an end goal.

The first step is to think about what you want to achieve out of any marketing activity.  Why are you doing it, and what would be the ideal things to achieve?  Make them as realistic, relevant and specific as you can.

There are so many platforms, media, methods and ‘hot topics’ within marketing that you need to ensure that what you are planning to do is worthwhile and has the potential to make a difference.  Don’t take on something just because a lot of other people are doing it – if it’s not right then you could be wasting valuable resources that might work a lot better elsewhere.

Research is key here – what platforms/media fit your goals, your target audience, their usage/behaviour best?  What pushes them to take action and change their behaviour to what you want?  There are plenty of ways to do this through market research and statistics, but the easiest way is to just ask for yourself – if your market is accessible then get out there and ask the questions needed to work out what makes them tick.

A good way to think of engaging in marketing activity is to compare it to giving a lesson – a good coach will assess a player’s strengths and weaknesses, look at their goals and targets, and then work out a route to get them to that position, taking into account all of the internal and external factors that could come into play.

2. WEBSITES

Your website is truly your online hub – they can be so versatile and useful in a digital and connected world that optimising them should be a number 1 priority.

What do you want your website to do and say?  Working these things out enables you to direct your attention to the things that are most important for the end-user.  If you are a coach and you have a website to promote your services, then are what clubs someone uses the most important thing, or should things like your skills, experience, knowledge, and then booking/contact information be up the front?

If you use other platforms, for example, Social Media sites, or perhaps there are certain sponsors or facilities you are linked to, then you should be signposting these appropriately.

Once you know what your audience is after you can begin to tailor the site and its content to them.  Stats software such as Google Analytics can provide incredibly useful and actionable information that can help you look at who is viewing the site and where from.

Enterprising Professional coaches are even getting custom-designed websites built that allow their clients to login to an area that is just for them where they can see their lesson videos and key tips that are specific to them – the ultimate in specificity.

A website can also act as a great platform to host your content – you could write your blog in one section and then keep your photos in another gallery section, all whilst allowing you to share that information and have a living, breathing calling card for yourself or company.  Static websites no longer cut the mustard – the more you can keep the site fresh and new the more reasons people have to keep on returning.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA

Any platform on which a community or network of some kind is hosted can be considered Social Media.  There are a lot of platforms out there so it is important you know which ones [if any] are going to be useful for you and your audience.  There’s no point having an account on everything if no-one interacts with you there, plus it can be hard enough sometimes to stay on top of a few platforms, let alone lots of different ones!

Again you can use research to work out where your audience are and what platforms they use, and then you can begin to create and share content on there.  Share what you post on a blog or website and then look for like-minded brands/people/etc. and share what they come up with.  You can even look to share what your community/followers say and share – engaging in two-way conversation provides real value to someone using a platform.  It gives a brand or business an identity and personality that a person can build an affinity with.

As a brand your place on these platforms is often going to be met with caution.  Generally speaking, people are wary of mixing their communities with brands and marketing messages, however, it is something that is done.  Twitter for example is known for its users following their friends and their favourite brands, but the difference here is that brands have to work hard to gain the trust and interest of a user.  They are often speaking to consumers on the same level, using the same reference points and interests to communicate with them rather than blasting out automated marketing messages.

4. CONTENT

This is pretty much anything that you output that is consumable by an end user.  Nowadays this is mainly content that is produced online and shared in some way be it a blog post, and article, news item, video interview, or gallery of images (but it can also be more ‘traditional’ things like leaflets, newspaper articles, guides, etc.).

The creation and curation of content can be a very simple and very easy way of marketing something.  Creating your own content involves composing your own information, perhaps researching a subject, providing an opinion piece on something, or generating something brand new.  Curating is gathering content that already exists and then sharing it amongst others that could also find it interesting.

For example, you might want to generate some content for your website that details your opinion on a well-known player’s swing technique.  You could create a short blog post that explains your thoughts, which is then shared across your Social Media platforms.

But you might also want to show what research/articles you have read to inform your decision so you could bring together a series of links that would be useful for those wishing to find out more from elsewhere [like we have done with this article].  It shows your own content is well informed, it shows you want to help the reader even more, and it also alerts others to the fact that you are sharing their information (and they may even do the same thing for you!).

The key thing is to ensure you create and curate content that is relevant to those that are consuming it.

5. EMAIL

Marketing emails are something that is so commonplace in our digital lives that they are often overlooked as being achievable on a small scale, but that’s not really true especially considering how many different platforms there are [some of which are free!], and how easy they are to use with a variety of templates that can be matched to your tastes.

Successful email marketing comes from having a decent email database (remember it’s quality not quantity) and knowing what sort of information they want to receive.

The database is the easy bit – most Pros will have, or at least have access to, a database of their clients with email addresses and then some information about them.  Facilities with advanced systems may even have a database that includes much more about individuals, such as date of birth, brand preferences, sales records and more.  All of this information can be used to ‘tag’ and categorise contacts so you can create not just one overall database, but multiple sub-databases within it.  You can then leverage this information to your advantage.

For example, you might have a sale on in your facility’s shop – you could send one email showcasing male-orientated products to the males in the database, and female-orientated products to the females.  Or you could even go by brand preference and send everyone who likes ‘Brand X’ one email with the latest Brand X offers and those who prefer ‘Brand Y’ with the latest Brand Y offers.

This is something that seems time-consuming but really doesn’t have to be – again with the ease with which you can create emails in these modern systems you can create one email, copy it, and then just update the wording and imagery for another target audience.

Once you have the database down then the next step is to ensure what you put out there is useful for them – if they don’t like a certain brand (or at least haven’t said they have an affinity to it) then it’s probably not worth sending them offers when something else might work a lot better.

Or perhaps you want to send them a newsletter with a digest of information – tap into their interests and what they like to read about – and if you don’t know, then send the database an email asking for their preferences so what they receive is relevant to them!

Again the thing to get right here is relevancy – if something is not relevant, interesting or of use to the end user they will not give it any time.  Your email will either be deleted or added to the junk mail folder, and that’s assuming they don’t just go and unsubscribe in general.

@webmarketing007

Research suggests mobiles and millennials are changing the way we travel

For many hotel and attraction owners, capitalizing on summer activities is essential for remaining in the black for the rest of the year. The internet and mobile technology have dramatically changed the way people search for and make travel arrangements. This article will discuss recent research that gives business owners clues to reaching traveling customers in the digital age.

According to research from Hotels.com, millennials comprise 32 percent of US travelers, and are the fastest-growing age segment in travel. This techno-savvy group is changing the way hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues. For example, about one in four (25%) millennials who book hotels does so via a mobile device. The data cited also suggests that mobile marketing can be effective at getting last minute travellers. The study found that 70 percent of hotel bookings by millennials via a mobile device are made for same or next-day check-in.

Millennials are a good target audience because they spend more money when the travel. According to data cited by the MMGY Global, nearly 60 percent of millennials would rather spend money on experiences than on material goods. When put into numbers, the average millennial traveller intends to spend about $5,300 while travelling, whereas Gen Xers, say they’ll spend about $5,000.

A 2014 comScore study reported that 40 percent of the US travel audience only accessed digital travel content via mobile. An eMarketer report estimates that in 2015, total mobile travel research will rise nearly 20 percent to hit 72.8 million, or 54.6 percent of those who research travel digitally. That percentage is estimated to reach about 71 percent by 2018.

Hotels should strive to make their mobile and app experience as easy to use and functional as their desktop sites. Recently, eDigital Research ranked the apps and mobile sites of the most popular traveling sites. According to their research, Holiday Inn’s recently revamped app is a good example of what consumers want. The app got a top score of 81.6 percent on the rankings, which means the app will help in generating multichannel sales. Other notable sites for good multi-channel sales were Bookings.com and Hotels.com.

“As mobile continues to grow in popularity, there will soon come a time when the mobile customer experience will overtake traditional desktop sites,” said Steve Brockway, the Director of Research at eDigital Research. “However, when that day does come (and it could come as soon as this year) digital customer experiences across varying brands will differ only very slightly – we’re already seeing minimal differences between top performing brands. Instead, to make experiences really stand out from the competition, brands need to be investing in their service and customer support. With more consumers heading online to book and browse, on and offline support will become the foundation for a fantastic customer experience”.

A final thing to keep in mind is that social media is extremely important to travellers and business owners can use that to their advantage. One way to do this is by handling customer service issues on social media platforms. People share their experiences from travel with their friends and family via social media. If a business notices that a guest has mentioned them in a negative post, they should proactively try to solve the problem, even if the guest didn’t tell the business directly. For more advice on using social media to address customer service issues, read this article on the subject.

Now is the time for businesses to improve their mobile sites and apps so they put their best foot forward. The days of travel agents and people driving to random hotels to find a vacancy are coming to a close. Using technology to help travelers will help businesses increase their revenue during the vacation season.

To learn more on how mobile marketing and the internet are changing travel, read this article with more stats on hotel marketing.

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The first and arguably most important green fee promotion to implement are the promotions that encourage loyalty and repeat-play at your course.

There are broadly three themes to increasing any green fee revenue:

1. Attracting new golfers
2. Encouraging repeat golfers
3. Increasing average value

If you plough straight into a promotional campaign that aims to attract first-time golfers to your club, you won’t have the benefit of the incentive mechanism to encourage their repeat custom after they’ve played the course.

Let’s take a look at one great promotion that encourages repeat-play and customer loyalty – the green fee Loyalty Card.

Loyalty Card Concept

Loyalty cards are not a new concept in either the golf industry or wider retail and hospitality sectors. I’m sure many people have a loyalty card or two tucked away in their wallets or purses!

The concept is simple – buy a product or service multiple times and after x number of purchases, receive one for free.

A well implemented, on going loyalty card scheme can work extremely well for any golf course – either pay and play or semi-private.

An effective loyalty card can be the backbone of your green fee marketing strategy.

There are, however, key issues to consider very carefully prior to creating your card. These issues almost exclusively revolve around the terms and conditions.

Expiry Dates

The biggest realistic target audience for our visitor green fee product is the nomadic golfer. The make-up of this profile of golfer suggests they play on average up to 2 times per month. By offering them a loyalty card what are we trying to achieve?

• We want them to play more than twice a month
• We want them to play at our golf club more often

A loyalty card without an expiry date doesn’t encourage the customer to play at your golf course more often. It doesn’t even give a reason to play golf more often. That’s because it has no timescale attached that breaks their habit of playing twice a month.

In most cases where a loyalty card doesn’t have an expiry date, the golfer plays as many times as they ever did. They also play your course as often as they ever did. Except this time, after x number of rounds, they get a free one. 

No expiry date = no urgency to play your course = no change in their normal pattern of play

When to expire a loyalty card will depend very much on how generous the loyalty is in the first instance and what time of year it’s being offered.

Our nomadic golfer plays, on average, twice a month – but that won’t necessarily be a consistent twice a month, every month. Golf is a seasonal game and we know that the weather has a huge impact on the number of rounds on our golf course.

We could make an assumption therefore, that our target nomadic golfer may play:

• Once a month between November and March
• Twice a month in April and October
• Three times a month between May and September

A card that offers the 6th round free and starts in November with a 3-month expiry date is a little optimistic. Our golfer may only normally play once a month during the winter – so the free round would be perceived as unachievable.

On the opposite end of the scale, a loyalty card that offers the 4th round free and is released in May, with an expiry date of the 30th September, is extremely generous. It could be that it’s giving too much away.

Exclude Discounted or Free Rounds

“Stamps not issued for free rounds of golf” – this is an important condition to remember when creating your loyalty card.

“Offer excludes Twilight rates, pre-paid or free green fee vouchers” – this option is very much down to the club to decide. Clearly, a loyalty card offering stamps for discounted twilight rounds may be giving away free rounds during peak times in return.

In Conjunction with Other Offers

Ensuring the loyalty card cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers is probably a condition worth mentioning on all green fee promotions. In fact, it’s one to mention on all promotions throughout the club.

Golf Society Days

“Not to be used in conjunction with any group booking above four players”

Again, it’s down to the individual clubs to decide whether they want to allow stamps, or redemption of the free round, to golf society day participants or not. There are arguments both for and against it and these need to be considered before making a decision.

Remove Peak Tee Times

You may want to consider limiting stamps, or certainly the free round redemption, based on the tee time.

Many clubs would want to limit the number of free rounds redeemed at the weekend. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they would want to limit the number of stamps given at the weekend. A full loyalty card of stamps received for weekend play logically deserves a free midweek round as much as any other (more so in fact).

There are also peak times of the year to consider – the week between Christmas and New Year for instance. Often, this period can be quite busy for golf courses and it’s something to consider if you’re intending to run a loyalty card over the December month.

Promote Training’s “Driving Green Fee Revenues” eLearning course is packed with ideas and strategies to encourage repeat-play and also attract new visitors to your club. Visit www.promotetraining.co.uk to learn more about this innovative eLearning course.

“Tell people – and they may forget….show them – they may remember…involve them and they will understand”

In the last couple of years, I have seen many initiatives that tried to foster women’s participation in golf:

• Golf For Her: This is dedicated to women and girls, but a very simple program. It needs some pushing.
• Get Golf Ready: by the PGA of America: probably the most advanced golf program. 107,485 men and women participated in this program in 2015. But it is not dedicated to women.

I think all of us went through that tiresome learning process (in my case it was very technical) on the driving range before we got our HCP what we call the basics of golf. We could hardly see what will be like playing on a normal golf course, except those few instances when we were taken by our PGA Pro on his golf cart around the golf course or when we looked out from the balcony of the clubhouse.

If this is not annoying enough for you as a golfer then let’s add to this what Syngenta found about women‘s expectations from golf.

They want a fun social golf experience. Yes, golf coaches and PGA Pros equally have to understand that they have to provide lessons not just based on the golfer’s knowledge and skills, but they also have to consider the other needs (e.g. to socialize with other people; cheerful conversations instead of preaching) of the female “want-to-be golfer”.

PGA Pros have to make the female golfer the heroines of the game to succeed and keep up these women’s engagement with the game. This will not happen on the driving range that is for sure.

To activate 36.9 million latent female golfers and “want-to-be” female golfers, I think the golf industry needs a much more focused approach than the above-mentioned initiatives. Any future initiative should not only be a program of a couple of lessons, but rather a series of lessons that are building on each other. So the female golfer will not stop and get lost after the “intro lessons”.

What comes close to my ideal solution is the love.golf program (supported by Syngenta) in the UK. It is a fun social golf experience designed specifically for women. The lessons are happening in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. This could be implemented also for men. What is more interesting that the participants are learning the game in real life environment, on the golf course and not on the driving range. What a difference!

It is also promising in this program that the female golfer can get follow-on programs.

I cannot agree more with Syngenta Golf Ambassador Carin Koch, who said last year:

“While love.golf has been designed specifically with women in mind, it’s actually a great way for anyone to learn the game and it was nice to see male and female work colleagues getting out on a course and enjoying their first taste of golf…”

It seems like the knowledge and insights of love.golf is valuable for other players in the golf industry. Love.golf is cooperating now with the TGI Golf Partnership and its network of more than 450 PGA Professionals. These PGA Professionals will learn how to sell golf equipment more effectively to women.

@BarryFarber1

Sales strategies come and go, but serving the customer should always be your top priority.

If you’re like most business owners, you probably re-evaluate your sales strategy on a regular basis. There are many factors to consider when switching up your sales approach, including your customers’ changing needs and your latest product offerings. But one thing should never change: You should always focus on serving first and selling second. Here are a few tips that will help you do just that:

1. Stay True to Yourself

Focus on what makes you unique and differentiates you from the competition. When you’re clear about your core values and the strengths you bring to the table, you’ll have an easier time figuring out how you can address the needs of your prospective clients.

2. Ask the Right Questions

We all have a tendency to talk about our offerings during sales meetings. But don’t let your enthusiasm get in the way of learning about your prospects’ needs. Ask open-ended questions (what, when, where, why, and how) that encourage them to elaborate on the issues they are facing and how you can support them.

One question that has worked well for me over the years is, “What are the top three criteria you consider when investing in a new vendor?” Most prospects end up talking about a lot more than price, including flexibility, response time, and other criteria.

Follow-up questions are also key. For instance, if a prospect says that one criteria is “great customer service,” ask them to define great customer service and give you an example. You can then position your company appropriately.

3. Arm Yourself with Information

Of course, you should research any sales prospect before meeting with them. In addition to the obvious sources of information–the company website, news stories, and industry information – I also scour my contacts for people who might be connected to the business. Then, I reach out to them for insights. You might be afraid to ask your contacts for help, but I’m always amazed by what people are willing to do when I ask them for their expert advice.

4. Go Above and Beyond

What are you doing in the sales process to stand out? I know a salesperson who recently spent weekends and late nights working one-on-one with a prospective client–a sports stadium–during trials of the product he was pitching. He worked with the stadium’s employees to make sure they were comfortable with the equipment and even helped them clean up after a big event. The facilities manager noticed the extra effort, which built a huge amount of trust. That’s one reason why the salesperson eventually landed the account. At the end of the day, how much you serve determines how much you sell.

Whether it is promoting a tournament, curating content from contributors, adding posts to our social media presences, or creating content around our education and golf development work, it is undoubtedly marketing.

We see, hear and touch (and often taste smell) marketing all the time, and the world of golf is no exception to this.  Ever walked into a pro shop and been hit with offers on the latest gear?  Ever been playing and at the halfway house you wonder why there is a fan directing the smell of bacon out across the ninth green?  How about winning a prize in a tournament that’s been donated by an equipment manufacturer?

What I really like about marketing (to talk about it in very general terms) is that it can really be simple, clean and effective.

PR stunts and activities are often some of the simplest (and most fun) ways of generating interest in something and getting people talking – and that’s what PR is really all about.  Here are some examples:

The ALS ‘Ice Bucket Challenge’

Simple concept – you film yourself being doused in ice cold water, you donate to the cause, and you nominate three others to do the same and so on.   [You can view our Chief Executive, Ian’s challenge below:]

Here the marketing focus was on generating funds and encouraging people to share that message through social media.  The ALS Association went from a previous year of $1.7 million in donations to $13.3 million.

Tiger Woods Hits a Ball From Europe to Asia

To promote the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final in 2013, Tiger took to Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and after closing one side from traffic he launched a ball across the bridge.

It might have caused chaos at rush hour in Istanbul but the stunt went all over the world generating a huge amount of PR for the event and for Turkish Airlines who are renowned for working with the biggest stars.

Bubba Watson and Oakley Make a Hovercraft…

Bubba has form in this area – barely a week goes by where his sponsors have made use of his personality and liveliness to promote products and services.  Two years ago Bubba teamed up with Oakley to create Bubba’s very own fully operational hovercraft golf cart.

In the video he wears Oakley product but, as with many things like this, it’s not about the product.  It’s about creating something that is fun, shareable and gets people talking.

It was released ahead of the 2013 Masters where Bubba would hope to defend his 2012 title and to date has had almost 9 million views.

Creating your own hovercraft might be a step too far but it is always worth looking out for examples and see how you could apply the principles to your business, club or brand.

You might not reach millions but it can be a cost effective way of showing a fun and innovative side to a business and activating PR (stunts or otherwise) could well generate excellent quality interest in what you do.

Seen any good examples of golf PR?  Feel free to send then to aw@CPG.com.

My Reading List

• ‘How Topgolf Flipped The Traditional Driving Range Model And Created A New Category Of Entertainment’ [Forbes.com] – http://eur.pe/1wUdQI6
• ‘Donald Trump: I’m Huge!’ [GolfDigest.com] – http://eur.pe/1MlTxoy
• ‘Public Relations Tips and Tricks for Your Business’ [Inc.com] – http://eur.pe/184KH13
• ‘My top tip for a great speech – Richard Branson’ [Virgin.com] – http://eur.pe/1x8Y2f7
• ‘The psychology of Web design: How colours, typefaces and spacing affect your mood’ [TheNextWeb.com] – http://eur.pe/1ELQs06
• ‘7 Goal-Setting Tips and Strategies for Social Media Marketers’ [Blog.Bufferapp.com] – http://eur.pe/1GyBrkH

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

According to J.D. Power, 67% of consumers have used a company’s social media channel for customer service.

And when they do, they expect a fast response. Research cited by Jay Baer tells us that 42% of consumers expect a response with 60 minutes.

So, how’s your social media customer service?

For this post I was excited to research a set of 14 amazing examples of customer service using social media.

Let’s get started!

1. Samsung: A Unicycling Kangaroo and a Dragon Phone

As a loyal Samsung customer, Canadian Shane Bennett asked for a free unit of their latest, soon-to-launch phone. To sweeten his offer, he included a drawing of a roaring dragon.

Not surprisingly, Samsung said “no”. But to say thanks, they sent him their drawing of a unicycle-riding kangaroo.

Shane then shared both messages (and drawings) to Reddit where it went viral. In response, Samsung Canada sent him the phone he asked for – and customized it with his fire-breathing dragon artwork.

Takeaway: Have fun with customer interactions. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

2. Morton’s Steakhouse: Airport Delivery

While waiting for takeoff in Tampa, Florida, Peter Shankman jokingly asked Morton’s Steakhouse to deliver a porterhouse steak when he landed at Newark airport.

While departing the Newark airport to meet his driver, he was greeted by a Morton’s server with a 24 oz. Porterhouse steak, shrimp, potatoes, bread – the works. A full meal and no bill.

When you think of the logistics of pulling this off, it becomes even more impressive. The Community Manager needed to get approval and place the order. It needed to be prepared and then driven by the server to the airport, to the correct location and at the right time. All in less than three hours.

Some of the comments on Peter’s post suggest that this isn’t an anomaly. Another reader shares his experience of ordering a baked potato and getting a full steak meal – delivered and for free.

Takeaway: Do something unexpected for a loyal customer – when they want it most.

3. Gaylord Opryland: Sleep-Inducing Clock Radio

After numerous stays at Nashville’s Opryland Resort, Christina McMenemy wanted her own spa-sound clock radio that comes standard in each room. The sound helped her sleep better than ever, and she couldn’t find that model anywhere. So she asked the hotel for help finding it.

Turns out, that model was exclusive to the Gaylord hotels. She thought that was the end of it, and went to her conference.

Upon returning to her room that evening, she found a gift waiting: the spa clock and a handwritten card. The staff had given her the product she was unable to find. Not only did they make a long term customer very happy, they also received significant media coverage for their act of kindness.

Takeaway: Make customers happy one at a time.

A quick note on these first three examples

While it’s great to give away phones, steak dinners, and clock radios, this might not be sustainable customer service.

Why not? When other, loyal customers hear what these companies did, they might expect the same treatment. Can Morton’s deliver a free steak dinner to the airport for every customer who asks? Can Gaylord hotels give every loyal guest a free clock radio?

A more sustainable approach is to provide outstanding customer service on a daily basis. These next examples have lessons that can be implemented right away and on a consistent basis.

4. JetBlue: Feeling the Customer’s Pain

During a four-hour flight, Esaí Vélez’s seatback TV gave him nothing but static – while the rest of the passengers had normally functioning screens. How did he respond? He tweeted a complaint to JetBlue. Nothing inflammatory, but he was clearly disappointed.

How did JetBlue respond? While they could have made an excuse or even ignored his tweet, they didn’t. They took his side and empathized with him.

“Oh no! That’s not what we like to hear! Are all the TVs out on the plane or is it just yours?”

After he confirms that it was just his TV that was out, they respond:

“We always hate it when that happens. Send us a DM with your confirmation code to get you a credit for the non-working TV.”

Not only do they imagine his frustration, but they also offer him a credit for his trouble.

What was the result? Just 23 minutes after his complaint, he tweets: “One of the fastest and better Customer Service: @JetBlue! Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving”

Takeaway: Put yourself in your customer’s shoes when responding to complaints.

5. Delta Hotels: Room With an Ugly View

While attending the #PSEWEB conference in Vancouver, Mike McCready tweeted that, while he liked his room at the Delta, the view wasn’t so nice. He didn’t tag the hotel, and he wasn’t asking for anything.

Within an hour, Delta responded – offering a room with a better view. And when Mike returned to his room after the conference, he found a dish of sweets and a handwritten card from the staff at his hotel. It made such an impact that he wrote a post about it – the very same day.

Takeaway: Set up a social listening strategy to listen to all customer conversations.

6. Waterstones: Man Locked in London Bookstore

While every customer comment is important, some are going to be a little more urgent than others. Like locking a customer in your store.

This happened to David Willis last year at Waterstones Trafalgar Square store. He tweeted:

Not surprisingly, this tweet went viral, with 16,000+ retweets and 12,000+ likes. Because someone was monitoring Waterstones Twitter account, they were able to tweet 80 minutes later that they had freed their previously captive customer. Imagine how this could have turned out, if Waterstones customer service had stopped listening for the day.

Takeaway: Always listen to customer conversations.

7. Contextly: Customer Onboarding

Before I do business with a new company, I like to see if anyone is listening. It gives me confidence that they’ll be there if I have a problem or question.

When I was looking for a premium related-content service, I signed up for a free trial account with Contextly. The process was smooth, and I was excited about the app, so I tweeted about it. They responded with a positive, helpful tweet.

As a result, I’m confident that they are interested in me and will help me if I have a question with the app.

Takeaway: Use social media to streamline customer onboarding.

8. Xbox Support: Elite Tweet Fleet

Back in 2010, Xbox added a dedicated Twitter account. Since then, their Elite Tweet Fleet has posted more than two million support tweets. In fact, when I visited their account page, they were averaging two tweets per minute! And they have a team of 27 support experts.

Any company that assigns a dedicated Twitter account (and 27 people to manage it) is amazing to me. Check out some of their interactions:

• The support team addressed an issue with a user and then initiated a follow-up message nine days later. This is outstanding, given the volume of users they interact with on an hourly basis.
• This user tweeted a thank-you message about a replacement Xbox.
• One follower tweeted a custom greeting card, entitled: “To my good friends: Xbox.”

Takeaway: Be committed to your social media customer service.

9. Nike: Respond Kindly to Confused Customers

Nike Support is one of the strongest customer service accounts on Twitter. They feature a dedicated Twitter account, support seven days a week and in seven languages (English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, German & Japanese.)

An example of their approach is here in this customer interaction: A customer contacts them to ask for help finding an order number. Although the question was unclear Nike’s customer support made the customer feel cared for. And when the customer realized they had the information all along, their response is super supportive.

Takeaway: Be kind, even when it’s not your fault.

10. Seamless: Pay Attention to Every Comment

Seamless is an online service for ordering food from local restaurants. Food orders are full of variables and when you add in time frame and delivery – it has the potential to be a nightmare. To manage customer service, they have an active Twitter account where customers can share their love and voice their complaints.

In a recent comment, a customer tells Seamless that on his recent order he received white rice, instead of brown. He wasn’t upset – he said: “Don’t mind terribly, just FYI.”

In response, Seamless asks for the order number so they can check into it. In response, the customer tweets:

Takeaway: Pay attention to all customer service issues. Passive complaints that are left unaddressed can easily cause a rift between the vendor and customer.

11. My Starbucks Idea: Listen and Harvest Ideas

As a way to listen to customers – and get tons of great new ideas – Starbucks created My Starbucks Idea. To date, customers have submitted more than 210,000 unique ideas. To support this program, they have a dedicated Twitter account. It is a great place for users to share their observations and coffee wishes.

A couple of the recent ideas include solar cell equipped umbrellas for device charging and morning coffee delivery (looks like it’s going to happen).

Takeaway: Make it easy for customers to tell you what they want. Listen to everyone and implement the winning ideas.

12. Sainsburys: Fishy Exchange

Sainsbury’s is one of the largest supermarkets in the UK. They’ve got a pretty active Twitter feed with lots of customer questions about products and sale prices. The tone of the account is helpful and positive.

There are lots of good examples of interactions. But none better than Fishy Sainsburys. This fishy exchange took place over a three hour period, between David (Sainsbury’s Twitter manager) and Marty (a customer). The puns will make you groan – many made me laugh out loud. Remember, this interaction was not a marketing play but a real conversation between the company and a customer.

Takeaway: Let your customer service team have fun.

13. Hubspot: Every Day of the Year

Holidays can be challenging times for customer service. When customer service closes for the observance of a holiday in one country, users from other countries will still have questions.

This recently happened with a HubSpot customer in London. She had workflow issues and couldn’t contact anyone at the US-based call center because it was closed for American Thanksgiving. When she took her concern to Twitter, she found a customer service representative in Ireland.

Like many companies in this list, HubSpot has a dedicated customer service Twitter account. To manage international schedules and time zones, they have two Dublin-based representatives and another three in Cambridge, MA.

Takeaway: Be available for your customers.

14. Buffer: Personal and Kind

If you take a quick look at Buffer’s Tweets & replies feed you’ll see how engaging their customer service is. Responses are personal and friendly. And they are usually signed by the team member you’re chatting with.

For example, my wife has been impressed that when she mentions them in a tweet, they acknowledge it, even using her name in their response.

Takeaway: Treat each person with respect. Use your name (and theirs) when interacting with customers online.

What we can learn from these customer service examples

Here are some key takeaways:

1. Choose a primary channel for customer service (many use Twitter) and assign staff to manage it.
2. Decide on your schedule of availability (set hours and days) and post it on your profile.
3. Have each tweet/post signed by the person who sent it. This is done well by Xbox Support, Sainsbury’s, and Buffer.
4. Remember that customers might contact you any number of ways – not necessarily on the channel you chose. Make sure you monitor other social channels for questions and conversations about your brand.
5. Establish a tone for your social media conversations. Generally speaking, you’ll want first to empathize with your customers problem. Stephen Covey said it best: “Seek first to understand…”

I recommend following a few of these companies on Twitter. Watch how they handle customer complaints and comments. I’ve learned so much doing this.

What to do next: Review these points with your customer service team. Decide which apply to your business right now and assign a team member to implement them.

Over to you

Have you had an amazing customer service experience via social media? How are you using social media to provide customer service? I would love to hear both in the comments!

What’s amazing, though, is that only 9% of small businesses in the U.S. are actively using YouTube, and my hunch is that figure would be pretty accurate worldwide, too.

So why aren’t businesses investing in YouTube?

In short, because video is harder to produce than a blog post or an image.

Or at least that’s the perception many of us have.

In reality, though, video is becoming much easier and cheaper to create. This means there’s a huge opportunity for your business on YouTube.

If you’ve been debating getting started on YouTube or have maybe experimented a little and not yet found your feet, this post is for you. Throughout this post we’ll dive into:

• The basics of getting your account set up
• How to create a YouTube channel
• How to create the perfect channel art
• Top tips for optimizing your channel.

Ready to start? Let’s go.

How to create a YouTube channel

Creating a YouTube channel using your Google account

If you have a Google account, you can watch, share and comment on YouTube content. However, Google accounts don’t automatically create YouTube channels. Getting a new channel set up is a simple and quick process, though.

1. Go to YouTube and sign in

Head over to YouTube.com and click ‘sign in’ in the top right corner of the page:

Then log in using the Google Account you’d like your channel to be associated with:

2. Head over to your YouTube settings

In the top right corner of the screen, click on your profile icon and then the ‘Settings’ cog icon.

3. Create your channel

Under your settings, you’ll see the option to “Create a channel,” click on this link:

Next, you’ll have the option to create a personal channel or a create a channel using a business or other name. For this example, we’ll choose the business option:

Now, it’s time to name your channel and select a category. The channel options available include:

• Product or Brand
• Company Institution or Organization
• Arts, Entertainment or Sports
• Other

Note: a new Google+ page will also be created for your brand. 

Congratulations! You’ve just created a new YouTube channel 🙌

Next, let’s fill out all the information and create some channel art to get your page looking awesome (click here to jump to the next section).

How to create a YouTube channel if you don’t already have a Google account

If you don’t already have a Google account set up, you’ll need to create one before you get started on YouTube. To do this, simply follow the below steps:

1. Head to YouTube.com
2. Click ‘Sign In’
3. Now, choose the option to create a Google account
4. Follow the steps to create your Google account

Now, you’re all set up with a Google account and can follow the above steps to create a YouTube channel.

How to create YouTube channel art

YouTube channel art is essentially YouTube’s version of the Facebook cover photo. Channel art features in a prominent place on your YouTube channel, which means it’s absolutely vital for any YouTube channel to use customized art to share your personality or more about your brand with your audience.

Here’s an example of Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube channel art:

Gary is well-known for his public speaking at conferences and for sharing all he knows about marketing and building businesses with his audience. This is reflected in his cover photo, which displays Gary in mid-flow giving a presentation at what seems to be a large event. The inclusion of his handle @garyvee helps users to identify him on other social chanels and his signature branding makes the art feel personal.

Here’s what you need to know to create striking YouTube channel art…

The perfect sizes for YouTube channel art

The best place to start with your channel art is with the optimal image size that works across multiple devices. For the best results, YouTube recommends uploading a single 2560 x 1440 pixel image.

• Minimum width: 2048 X 1152 px. This is the “safe area”, where text and logos are guaranteed not to be cut off when displayed on different devices.
• Maximum width: 2560 X 423 px. This means that the “safe area” is always visible; the areas to each side of the channel art are visible depending on the viewer’s browser size.
• File size: 4MB or smaller recommended.

YouTube also supplies a Channel Art Template in both PNG and PSD formats to help your figure out the perfect layout for your channel are and how it’ll look across platforms:

Here’s an example of how I used this template to create some channel art for the Buffer YouTube account:

And here’s how it looks across various platforms:

2 top tips for YouTube channel art

1. Ensure any text and logos are within the safe area

The text and logo safe area is the 1546 x 423 pixel space at the center of the YouTube channel art template. This is the area that will be displayed on YouTube when your channel is viewed on desktop screens.

Be careful to ensure any important information such as branding, text, taglines, and key images are within this space so that it’s always displayed as part of your channel art across every device.

2. Consider your channel links

YouTube enables you to add links to your channel and these are displayed in the bottom right corner of your channel art. For example, check the bottom right of the channel art below:

When creating your channel art, it’s important to think about the space these links take up and ensure you don’t have anything important (such as logos) occupying that space within your design.

How to add art to your YouTube channel

If you’re just setting up your YouTube channel, you’ll notice the channel art space is blank with a clear call to action to add your art:

Once you’ve clicked this link, you’ll see a popup window that gives you the option to upload your own custom channel art. If you’d like to, you can also choose to use one of YouTube’s templates from the “Gallery” or choose to upload one of your photos from Google+.

Adjusting the crop

Once you’ve uploaded your channel art, YouTube allows you to adjust the cropping of your image so that you can ensure it’s all lined up correctly.

This crop screen is very handy for checking how your design will look on various platforms. The clear section in the middle of the grid shows you the content that will be displayed on mobile and desktop and the rest of the image shows the image that will be displayed on TVs.

Once you’re happy with the way your cover art looks, click “Select” and your channel art will be added to your channel and saved.

Changing your current channel art

If you already have some channel art in place and would like to update it, head over to your channel homepage. From here, move your mouse over your cover art and you’ll notice a little edit button appear in the top right-hand corner:

Once you’ve clicked on this icon, you can update your channel art.

This video from YouTube also explains how to add and edit your channel art:

How to add your channel icon

Each channel also has space for a profile icon.Your channel icon shows over your channel art banner. It’s the icon that shows next to your videos and channel on YouTube watch pages. The key here is to select something that will look good at very small resolutions –  many brands opt to use their logo here.

Your channel icon should be 800 x 800 pixels and one of the following formats: JPG, GIF, BMP or PNG file (no animated GIFs).

To update your channel icon, head to your channel homepage and hover over your current channel icon until you see the edit icon appear. Click on that icon and you’ll be able to upload a new icon:

5 ways to enhance your channel

1. Optimize your description

YouTube gives you a space on your channel to write a little about your brand and the content you share on YouTube. The description is limited to 1,000 characters, so you have a little room to be creative here.

The copy in your channel description won’t just appear on your channel page. It’s indexed by search engines and can also be featured across YouTube in suggested channel categories. A good tactic is to include some relevant keywords and CTAs within the opening lines of your description.

2. Add links to your channel

We briefly mentioned channel links earlier in this post and I’d love to share with you how to add these links in 4 super-quick steps:

1. The first step is to head to your channel homepage and click on the ‘cog’ icon next to your subscriber count:

2. Next, you’ll see a Channel Settings lightbox appear. Here you need to toggle on the option labeled “Customize the layout of your channel”:

3. Now that you’ve enabled customizations on your channel, pop back to your channel homepage and you’ll now see the option to “Edit Links” under the settings menu on your cover art:

4. Click the “Edit Links” option and you’ll then be taken to the “About” section of your channel. Here you’ll have the option to add links and choose how many are displayed over your cover art:

3. Add a channel trailer

As soon as visitors land on your channel, you want to give them a picture of the type of content your channel covers and why they’ll want to subscribe and check out your videos. A channel trailer is the perfect way to do this.

A short, to-the-point channel trailer can be a great way to introduce people to your content. A channel trailer should grab attention as soon as it starts and also represent the type of content you create on YouTube.

It’s also important to think about the description you add to this video as it features prominently on your channel homepage.

(These trailers only appear for people who are not yet subscribed to your channel.)

Here are a couple of great examples:

Gary Vaynerchuk

SoulPancake

4. Add your contact details (email address)

If you’re using YouTube as a business or a creator, it can be great to have your contact details on hand for anyone who is interested in your work. YouTube has a section on each channel profile for you to list your contact details for business inquiries.

This can be found under the “About” section of your channel. To find it, go to your channel homepage, click “About” from the navigation and then scroll down to “Details.” Here you’ll see the option to share your email address:

Over to you

Thanks for reading. It’s been great fun to dive into how to create a YouTube channel and I hope you picked up one or two tips from this post. If you create a YouTube channel of your own or already have one up and running, I’d love to hear from you and learn from your experience in the comments below.

In the 21st century the job-seeking process is complex and quick.  A career path can present itself to you in the blink of an eye, and can disappear just as quickly.

The development of platforms such as LinkedIn have shown that it is not just a paper CV that shows off who you are and what you can do.  It’s now possible to find out every bit of detail needed about a potential employee to make an educated decision as to whether they should get a job or not.

It is widely accepted that employers will likely Google an applicant as soon as they get their name.  What comes up in the search can be a window into their lives – whether you like it or not.  To ensure your results are ones that play in your favour, here are some tips to promote yourself better online and ensure a search of your name makes it more likely that you will be hired…

1. Google Yourself

The best place to start – do what an employer might do (ideally on a different computer than your own to see what someone else might see).

This will show you what they might see and could give you a good place to start when identifying where you are visible and what you should do about it.

2. Optimise Your LinkedIn Profile (Or Create One First!)

Firstly, if you are not on LinkedIn then you’re doing it wrong. Join LinkedIn.  It is a fantastic [FREE] resource where you can lay down as much or as little information about yourself, connect with people you know and people you want to know, and ultimately use as a live, digital and interactive CV.

Second, make sure your profile is complete using LinkedIn’s built-in step-by-step guide, add a great photo and take your time on your bio.  Then get connecting – sync your account with your phone or contacts and start by adding people you know.  Then once you have a network the platform will automatically start suggesting jobs and new connections for you – then you can start to action these connections and see where leads might come from.

3. Write a Blog

What better way to express yourself and show-off your expertise and knowledge in your area than writing about it.  You can write anything you want and tailor it to your intended are of work to show a) that you care about what you do/want to do, b) are knowledgeable and have an opinion on it, and c) you are computer/digitally savvy enough to get out there and set it up [but don’t worry it’s actually pretty easy to do with services such as WordPress and Tumblr].

4. Check Your Settings

Go through all of your social accounts and check your privacy settings – you may be happy for someone to discover your Facebook profile through a Google search, but are you happy that they can look at your 10-year old photos from University parties? Probably not.

Settings can often be tucked away or a little tough to root out, but platforms nowadays have great flexibility and control for their users when it comes to privacy – take time to work out what the different on and off switches mean.

5. Make the Most of Your Biography

Your Twitter bio, LinkedIn short biography and any other place where you can add a public biography are what people will see first.  Take time to make this as good as possible – you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but people often do anyway so make sure yours looks great.

6. Reverse Engineer The Search

Work out what an employer might look at that is connected to you – go through the process yourself and make sure everything is as you wish at each stage of a search.  Think about what they want to see and tailor your profiles to that.

Plus, turn the tables on a potential employer and look at their company profiles, connect with people from that company, or even explore their LinkedIn profiles.  They will no doubt do it to you, so you can do it to them.  Going into an interview with knowledge and info on the bosses, co-workers or interviewees will almost certainly be useful in your search.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

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As we are all only too aware the golfing landscape has changed significantly over the past few years, and probably none more so than that of the traditional club professional.  We are now seeing golf pros specialise in certain areas rather than focussing on wearing a number of hats as many club pros do.

These specific areas of expertise include that of teaching and golf instruction. The golf instruction industry has now become much more mainstream – from the days of David Leadbetter making his name with his work with Nick Faldo, to Sean Foley and his well chronicled work with Tiger.

As a result, we now see a great many PGA members teaching full-time at driving ranges up and down the country, and for these golf pros teaching is their only source of income with no retainer being paid to them.  In the majority of cases a rent or percentage of earnings is paid back to the range owner in return for that professional to be able to have a spot to teach at that particular driving range.

Instructor or business owner?

The self-employed full time instructor needs to be part instructor and part small business owner, and a question I often ask when presenting to golf instructors is ‘Which do you need to be first, golf instructor or business owner?’

You could be the best instructor in the world, but if you do not market yourself and let people know who you are then you will not be able to create the fans you need.

I am fortunate to be able to teach at a very busy driving range, and having been teaching there now for 14 years I have built up a client list and manage to fill my lesson book well in advance.

I often used to think that because my facility is so busy then this would always be the case, but over the past number of years something has changed.  I have seen a number of good instructors come to work at my facility and then struggle to fill their lesson book, and leave to greener pastures after a period of time.

This got me thinking as to why some instructors would thrive and others would struggle.  I plan to share with you insights I have gained that you can then apply to your own business and increase your revenue.

You need a list

First things first, if you want to be a busy instructor you need clients, not customers – it is important to know the difference.  A customer is someone who has done business with you once; a client is someone who does business with you over and over again.

So you must have a list of your clients, and you need to be collecting data as much as you can – at bare minimum you need to have the email address and mobile phone number of every one of your students.  If you are reading this and you do not have these, then make it a point to start collecting this today.

This list becomes your client base, or as Ken Blanchard calls them, Raving Fans.  I have used the following methods of collecting email addresses from people.

Collecting data

1.

Add a place on your website for people to enter their email to go on to your mailing list.  In return for this it is a good idea to have a free download, this can be In the format of a pdf document, based on a golfing topics, for example, hit better bunker shots, improve your chipping, or ten extra yards from the tee, just use your imagination.

2.

Walking the range. I know this is a contentious issue among golf instructors, but this is a great way for people to see you.  I understand that some people are on the range to practice and do not want to be bothered by a golf pro, but with some practice this can be a very powerful strategy to increase your client base.

My way of doing this is to have my video camera with me, and ask a golfer practicing if he wouldn’t mind me videoing his swing as I have a new camera I wish to try out, I have never had a golfer say no.

Once videoed, ask the golfer if he would like to see his swing, show them, but do not offer any instruction at this point.  Inevitably the golfer will ask a question, and if he asks for your advice, then give it.

Before leaving ask the golfer if he has an email address as you would like to send him the video clip of his golf swing.  Easy.

3.

Have a goldfish-type bowl near where you teach on the driving range.  If a golfer puts his business card in the bowl he will be entered into a monthly draw to win a golf lesson with you.

4.

Talk to people on the range.  Show people that you are personable and approachable.  If you are asked for your business card, hand it to them.  You should always have business cards on you, and then ask the golfer for his card in return.  If he does not have one with him, ask for an email address or mobile number.

You mustn’t wait for the golfer to get back to you.  If you wait for the golfer to take the initiative it may never happen.  Personally, I wait 24 hours and then email or text the golfer with a small note saying something along the lines of ‘How nice it was to meet the other day and when are you looking to come in for that lesson’.  You must follow up.

What to do with your list

Once you start to compile a list, you now have to do something with it. For myself I send out a newsletter once a month.  If you are going to do this, you need to be consistent with how often you send it out, and at what time of the month.

If you are not already sending out a newsletter, then I urge you to start doing so immediately, because if you aren’t, then another golf pro could be contacting your students and you are missing out.

You must keep yourself at the forefront of your students’ minds when they come to thinking about golf instruction, and by regularly making contact with them, you will become their ‘go to guy’ for golf instruction.

In terms of a newsletter, I put information in my newsletter about the golfing world in general, tournament results etc.  I also put in items such as an instruction tip (in video format), a recommended reading list of instruction books, an article from a fitness or psychology expert and student success stories.

Again, design it to suit your own needs, but remember you must be consistent with when and how often you send it out.

Also be sure to add an ‘opt-out’ button in case people do not wish to receive emails from you. If you are unsure about any of the above, you should contact a web designer.

White space in the diary is the devil. Well, not quite but close. White space in your diary means lost revenue.  This is where I find having students’ mobile numbers is very useful.  If I get a late cancellation, I will send out a group text informing people of this, many of my students find this helpful and more often than not, the space will get filled.

This also places you in a different bracket to other instructors who are not offering their students this service.  Input the students’ data into your phone; this is not a time consuming task for you to do.

I have a waiting list made up for students looking to get a lesson, especially at my peak times.  People really appreciate you contacting them to tell them of a cancellation and making an effort to get them booked in.

In conclusion

So to recap, you firstly need a list. Start compiling email addresses and mobile phone numbers of your students today, if you do not already.  Try and find clever ways of collecting them.  Make it your daily goal to try and add five addresses to your list.

Send out a newsletter – You must communicate with your students.  Be consistent on how often and when you send the newsletter out.

Text your students if you get any cancellations, or if you have space in your diary for a lesson.

Remember: They do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Ian Clark is an Advanced Fellow PGA Professional, a Trackman certified instructor, the Golfing Machine Authorised Instructor GSEM and one of GolfWorld’s Top 100 coaches in the UK. You can email Ian at ian@ianclarkgolf.co.uk.

For more details visit www.ianclarkgolf.co.uk.

One of my previous jobs was at Precision Golf in Surrey, UK, as Marketing Manager. During that time I learnt some useful lessons about how to promote/market custom fitting as a service that I will share here.

1. Focus on Improvement

Ultimately the biggest benefit a person will get from having their equipment fitted to them is improvement of their game – they should be better able to play to the best of their ability knowing that the equipment they are using is not holding them back.

But improvement means different things to different people – make sure you look at all the benefits they could get. It could be that they achieve better performance, which could ultimately lead to a drop in their handicap. But equally the most important thing to someone could purely be the ability to enjoy their game – increased likelihood of hitting good shots or doing what they plan to do might not necessarily make them score massively better but it might allow them to have more fun. Speak to your clients to find out what their motivation was and align your marketing with these.

2. Promote Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Whether you have PGA Professionals or professional club fitters carrying out your fitting sessions you should shout about their knowledge, their certifications, their amount of experience and successes. Framed in the correct way, shouting about all of this does not have to be big-headed, but can be a genuine reflection of the service you can offer.

3. Case Studies

As has been shown throughout many areas of marketing and advertising, you can say how good you are as much you want, people will still give value to the views of their peers over what you say.

Case studies are a great way of showing how your services have benefitted people just like your prospective customers. Focusing on different types of players (e.g. male/female, pros/amateurs, etc.) allows you to develop examples of how you have helped people before and the types of benefits they can achieve.

This shows that you can practice what you preach and there are real-life examples of people who will support that.

4. The Gift of Choice

Tell people about how many options you have to offer them. Clients interested in custom fitting want to know how many options you can offer them because this is a good indicator of how specific you will be with their specification choices.

5. Show You Care

Something I think many custom fitting outfits could improve upon are their aftercare services. If a customer is engaged enough to want to have their clubs tailored to them then it is likely they will want this to continue in the future, especially in order to get the most out of what are often substantial investments.

Do not just sell a custom fitting session – combine it with a follow-up appointment of some kind – even a 10 minute check when they have received their new equipment and have had a chance to get used to it. You can promote that a) you care about their game and b) they will get the most out of their investment.

If you have any other ways of promoting your services then I would love to hear about them – you can contact me at aw@CPG.com.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

Publicity and brand value, as well as potential avenues in sponsorship and funding are just a few reasons that show why effort should be invested in communicating sustainability initiatives as effectively as possible – here are some ways to promote and market your activities:

Address Perceptions

Sustainability means different things to different people. Most will often automatically default to thinking of the environment, but there are various other dimensions such as societal and economical elements.

Their views on sustainability efforts may also be focused on the initial cost implications or potential lack of impact for the effort that goes into the activities.

Focus comms on explaining what sustainability is, how it affects your stakeholders, and what benefits will come from the activities you are undertaking. You could do this through FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) pieces, external case study examples of similar activations that have been successful, question and answer sessions, or video walkthroughs of plans/ideas.

Engage All Stakeholders

Create clear, easy to consume communications channels to engage with the stakeholders that will be influenced by your initiatives such as local governments, your customers/members, academy pupils, local residents surrounding your facility, the local golf community, etc.

Your best approach here would be to initially identify all the different stakeholders involved and find out what they want, what their concerns are, and how you can communicate with them effectively. Then you can build a plan about what messages go to which stakeholders and when.

You could then take that a step further and involve stakeholders at key points (e.g. inviting local government officials to milestone events, or running open evenings with members).

Be Transparent

2015 is seemingly a turning point for transparency in business – keeping people in the loop on what is happening and why will help them feel involved in the process ensuring understanding of actions and their impact.

Publishing reports or findings, regular updates by email, in-depth explanations of actions authored by key decision makers, and clear policies/standards will help your stakeholders stay informed.

Be Prepared

Prepare in advance for questions, queries, challenges and more from various stakeholders. Use the information gathered during stakeholder research to create a library of answers for people to use and tap in to.

The other key here is to make sure your entire team/staff are on-board and understand what is happening, how to explain it, and how to answer consistently so everyone is on-message.

Shout About Your Good Work

Lastly, make sure you shout about the outcomes of the work as much as possible through articles, features, interviews and more. Contact local authorities or media outlets to show off how your business is promoting sustainability – you never know what sort of assistance, funding or business could be attracted when you get good PR and marketing behind your activities.

If you have any other ways of promoting sustainability initiatives then email them to aw@CPG.com

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

These stakeholders include your very own army of students that you coach and members/visitors to your facilities, and leveraging this band of merry golfers can help golf’s cause, as well as your own.

As you will read in this issue of IGPN, there are many health and well-being benefits that come from taking part in the sport, so we’ll use these as a basis for getting your army on-board and spreading the gospel of golf…

Get All Your Staff Involved

You and your facility’s staff all need to be aligned with your plans and also embody exactly what you are after from your ambassadors. They need knowledge and information in order to reflect what you want to portray.

Every staff member that could have an interaction with a client or customer (and even those who might not) can be educated with top-line information about the benefits of golf to different demographics’ health and wellbeing.

Short, sharp bits of info that they can be armed with when speaking to people about the sport and why they should get involved.

Promote the Benefits in Your Facility and to your Clients

A key thing with getting people on the same page as you is ensuring they are aware of information and engaged with it.

Create some resources [the Confederation of Professional Golf will have some soon for you to use as well] that you can use on noticeboards around your facility, or in your Pro Shop for example, that show the benefits of the sport. Materials like posters, infographics, leaflets, etc. are great items to get in front of people.

Having on-site information is the first step – then you need to get people engaged with the materials so including a section in regular email blasts to your databases can help support your actions and activities and can also allow you to share great examples of how golf is benefitting people in various different forms such as news items, feature articles or videos.

Create a Programme or Team

A great way of getting the message out there would be to build a team of ambassadors from your facility with people from key demographics represented.

A good place to start could be with you in the middle as the group leader and include a couple of members of staff from around the business along with a couple of males and females from differing ends of the age spectrum. Ideally these people will be the opinion leaders from the facility – when these people speak or act, others pay attention.

The individuals you pick should be willing to join in with the activity and embody the message you are trying to get across. They can act as on the ground troops for your armies to infiltrate their demographics and get the messaging out there to educate others and spread the word.

Activate Your Ambassadors

Once you have a team of ambassadors who are exemplifying your message then you need to activate them and leverage their knowledge, peer groups and influence within them.

For example you could have your more ‘youthful’ ambassadors promote a fun day or charity fair at the facility to their social groups and make sure that the event is on their level and of interest.

Or you could record some interviews or write a short blog post using your ambassadors as case studies to show how their social, mental and physical health might have benefitted from playing. This could go on your website, blog and shared on social media and you could even contact your local media to see if they would like to use the information in a piece about golf’s health benefits.

Once you have some ambassadors on your side then they can be a really useful asset to you to help promote the benefits of the sport as well as your own facility and services.

This article originally featured in International Golf Pro News. Visit the IGPN Page to find out more and subscribe for free.

Here Sarah explores the challenges faced by coaches in managing clients’ hopes and expectations…

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With the reported decline in players taking up the sport, we hold a pivotal role in not only introducing new golfers but also ensuring retention and progression of our new players to prevent this gradual decline.

One key area I try to focus upon is ensuring a clear and concise pathway of communication is provided from the initial meeting for any individual or group based situation.

Pre-coaching introduction

This pre-coaching introduction is vital and provides the chance to gain an insight into clients’ personality, attitude and expectations with the use of a series of structured questions in a relaxed environment.

Much can be learned from how the client responds and reacts during conversation and understanding what they want from the game, which as a coach we must not lose sight of.  It is vital to remember that the client will already have their own expectations mapped out either from previous experiences, advice given to them from current players, families or self-comparison from another experience or sport.

Many new golfers will model their improvement based on colleagues; this is an area that over the lesson structure will have to be addressed.

Let’s face it, golf is a truly unique sport; it is one of the most mentally demanding sports where a very small percentage of the time is actually devoted to hitting the ball.

The conditions are never the same and we have to deal with a multitude of external factors that inhibit our consistency.  I believe it is the timing of this and other information and how it is portrayed that is critical to our players’ development.  It is easy to forget how much information can be provided in one session that can easily lead to confusion and demotivation for the player.

Making clients feel valued

People’s expectation levels vary and it is a challenge to maintain these at realistic levels both during and post lesson.  Try following up your lesson with an email checking your clients’ progression so they feel you are genuinely Interested and valued.

With this issue in mind, I spoke to a client who possesses a very logical and organised approach.  She explained that after her initial lesson she totally changed her personal levels of expectation as a completely new player three years ago.

Prior to her initial lesson she “expected” to hit the ball most of the time, this quickly changed to striking the ball cleanly, which progressed to striking the ball cleanly more than 50% of the time.

Her subsequent expectations developed to hitting it straight, which then developed to requiring additional distance.  This adjustment was reflective of her personality and logical approach.

Some players may not automatically adopt this type of logic and could benefit from a greater depth of guidance.

In this case, through conversation and communication between lessons we provided a clearly structured model in which she progressed from playing a course of 885yds, 1200, 5300, 5600 through to her current course of 5,800yds.

We just have to be creative as coaches and be prepared to alter any preconceived ideas or expectations in order to work with our players.

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Sarah is a PGA of Great Britain & Ireland Class AA Professional, and Ladies European Tour player.

She is Head PGA Teaching Professional at Three Rivers Golf Course near Chelmsford, UK, and is one of the most experienced female golf professionals in the UK making extensive use of technology within all aspects of her coaching.

As I promised you yesterday, today, Aimee Burke (Sales & Marketing Director Kemper Sports, The Ridge Club) will show us the challenges of expanding golf club membership. Aimee Burke will give some advice and tricks. Her article/post will continue soon. Here is the first part.

Here are her thoughts:

“If you’re lucky to have a dedicated sales person inside the club driving membership, one could assume you have a systematic sales process, dedicated sales CRM, strategic annual marketing plan, analytics on ROI, and tracking of lead sources from advertising efforts.

“Many small golf clubs may have to shuffle the responsibly of sales to the general manager or additional full time staff. This can be a challenge considering the volume a typical golf department and club restaurant will see during their peak seasons.

“Add in the fact that we as an industry have a shrinking population of golfers to pull from combined with some basic sales stats and it can be a real challenge to drive memberships in a season. Regardless of your current structure, knowing where your leads are coming from and being able to measure your ROI on the ones that deliver are keys to reinvesting into the appropriate marketing channels.

“One could hardly argue that the best source of membership prospects come from current, happy members. Let’s assume for arguments sake that your sales person is asking for referrals. But how do we compound and capture this information?

“I have seen members hang onto valuable prospect information, many times stating to me, “Let me work on him first and then I’ll have him call you.” We’ve all been in this scenario. And to the seasoned sales professional, we shake our heads as we see the member trying to start and end the sales cycle on their own. Many times they come back and say “he’s not interested”… and you never even had a chance.

“So how do you get the prospect information from the member without seeming too pushy?

“Another lost opportunity for prospect leads and member referrals are golf guests. Very often I am in conversation with a prospect and they tell me that they’ve golfed at the course a few times. How frustrating is it to know that there have been multiple opportunities to engage the prospect as a guest yet no process to capture their information for a systematic follow up!”

To be continued….