Social Media & Yield Management

As golf course operators and owners we understand the importance of yield management in the golf industry, especially in the 21st century where market share has been lost due to the increase of golf facilities around the world.  Gone are the times where we were charging rack rate and recording 100% utilization of our tee sheet.

I truly believe that many golf course operators are sufficient in two-thirds of their yield management programs and the PGA of America has made some great initiatives in creating programs and packages that suit golfers of many dimensions.  I believe that golf operators are great at understanding their customer and market, and also do a great job in anticipating or forecasting when they can charge top rate and when they know they need to run a program or discount to fill inventory they would normally loose.  However, I believe as golf course operators the thing we do not do well is execute these initiatives, either at all, to late, or poorly.

So after we understand and anticipate consumer behavior, how do we influence them to maximize profits?  I would say most course operators probably use email blast, which if done effectively, is a great start.  The problem usually is that it is executed too late and not efficiently.  There are so many factors that go into maximizing a good email marketing plan, from timing to a correct subject line that most course operators are  oblivious to.

However, there is also social media and ad buying that is important as well.  These can be done faster and can be targeted to specifics, reaching beyond your email database.  There are very few golf courses using this today, and the ones who are, like our clients, are noticing their utilization of inventory increase and more direct bookings.

Today we as operators have to bridge the gap from being two-thirds great at yield management to completing that last third and not by utilizing 3rd party companies that will just steal the data that should be rightfully yours.  We at Your Brand Voice assist you in influencing your current customers and new customers so you fill your tee sheet.  We can manage your email marketing, run a successful social media campaign, create Group Deals, etc.. They sky is the limit and you keep all the data retrieved, which is so valuable in it's own.

If you are interested in more information on how to maxamize your tee sheet and revenues at your facility visit us at www.yourbrandvoice.com or email me directly at stuart@yourbrandvoice.com.

From one PGA Golf Professional to another,

Stuart J. Proctor