3 strategies for using guest recommendations in your golf marketing

Guests come and go, but the power of word-of-mouth sticks around. Well, not literally, of course. Because word-of-mouth spreads like a positive plague, infecting one person after another. And this type of recommendation is hands down one of the most effective marketing tools any golf club can hope to have.

But hold on before you wave goodbye to your marketing team or start slashing your advertising budget. Turning guests into walking billboards is not something you can achieve overnight. It takes time, effort, and well-thought-out customer experience and marketing plans around guest recommendations.

Guest satisfaction is your golden ticket to get more visitors

Alright, let's break it down. Basically, happy guests are the ones who will recommend your club to others. Marketers and customer experience experts use a metric called Net Promoter Score (NPS) to measure exactly how satisfied people are based on how likely they are to recommend something.

So, if your guests have a high NPS, it means they're happy with your club and more likely to recommend it. And even though it requires hard work to achieve a high NPS, this accomplishment will result in more than just a pat on the back. Actually, improving it will have a direct impact on your revenue.

Our data shows that when the NPS among guests changes by 10 points, whether in a positive or negative direction, it leads to a 7% change in the number of rounds played by guests. In other words, if you improve your guest NPS by 10 points, it means more guests will visit your club, resulting in increased revenue.

Players 1st

This sounds great, right? More rounds played is always a great sign, and it’s been proven that an increased number of rounds played has a positive effect on the NPS. Plus, when you boost guest satisfaction, your guests will want to come back more often, spend more time and money at your restaurant or pro shop, and spread the valuable word about your club.

3 strategies to capitalize on golf guest recommendations

At this point, it is clear: When your guests have a fantastic time at your club, they'll most likely become your biggest cheerleaders. And just like a helpful caddie on the course, you can steer them in the right direction when sharing guest recommendations.

So, here are 3 bunker-proof strategies to use when you want to focus on golf marketing using guest recommendations for your golf club.

1. Get direct guest feedback from the source

After guests pay a visit to your golf club, reach out to them with a friendly message or a guest survey to hear about their experience. If they had a great time, kindly ask if you can use their feedback to promote your guest offers. Genuine feedback from like-minded guests can sway potential visitors and convince them to choose your club.

2. Spread the word online

Encourage guests to share their experiences on popular social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. You can even create fun hashtags for your club and suggest that guests use them in their posts. Because when guests share their posts on their personal profiles, it's like unleashing powerful word-of-mouth advertising in the digital age. And this can greatly boost your club's visibility and attract new guests.

Why encourage guests to share their experiences on social media.

3. Perks for recommending friends

Set up a smart referral program exclusively for your guests. This could involve offering attractive perks such as discounted green fees, free rounds, or credits for your pro shop to guests who bring along their friends, family, or colleagues to visit your club. It's a win-win situation – your guests get rewarded for spreading the word, and you attract more visitors to your club.