by J.L. Eck

Created on: March 17, 2010   Last Updated: March 25, 2010

The phenomenon known as Tiger Woods garners more attention for the golf world than all other golfers combined.  Since taking his leave from the game, the popularity of the sport has dropped dramatically.  New memberships have declined, attendance and clubhouse sales slumped, and media attention has fallen off.  This, combined with the current economic downturn, is a double bogey for the industry.

In such troubled times, companies will need to get creative and persistent in order to maintain profit margins.  A strategic marketing plan built upon the platform or this creativity and persistence is key to attracting new clients and maintaining current memberships.  Adopting such a plan will first require having one.  The following will give an idea of where to begin. 

Advertising strictly with paper media is a way of the past.  The advent of the Internet has made it tough for some to reach the target markets they need in order to grow their business.  The idea for today's world is to advertise via both paper and Internet.  To reduce costs, using media that is both in print and online is the wisest of advertising investments.  

For traditional advertising, targeting the audience is as simple as choosing the best of local publications with the highest possible circulation.  Catchy ads with special offers will entice the locals to give the fairways a fair shake.  In order to attract customers from abroad, it may be necessary to advertise with a national publication or two as well.  Sporting rags and travel magazines are some of the typical venues for such advertising.  Chosen wisely, free advertising on the web will come with the print ads.  This will help advertising overhead to remain as low as possible while maximizing the size of the target audience.

Targeting the audience online can be much more tricky.  Literally thousands of possible options make Internet advertising quite confusing.  The upside to this is that target audiences consist of millions of possible clients.  With the proper keywords, enticing offers, and strategic ad placement, a struggling business can be come an overnight success!  In order to get the full benefit of advertising on the web, it may be necessary to partner with an advertising firm.  This can be costly, but with a respectable, productive agent, a business can grow exponentially.

Offering current members incentives to bring new clients to the course can be a great way of increasing "word of mouth" exposure.  This type of free advertising is possibly the best and could be more profitable than all others combined.  Incentives can include freebies for those who bring in others that sign up for a membership.  Using only new memberships to pay for the bonuses reduces the companies "out-of-pocket" expenses as well.  Advertising such offers online and in print are simple ways to dredge for new business in a mucky economy.  It is amazing what people will sign up for if they get something "free" in return-especially when money is tight!  That person who only intended on driving a bucket of balls may stay on as a member if they can go home with a pack of brand new balls, or a few free trips to the range.

It is essential to put such an advertising plan in place in order to combat sluggish sales and a slumping economy.  Adopt a strategic marketing plan, implement it, and follow through with the plan.  Doing so will ensure that the marketing campaign does better than just make par.

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