A Better Way Of Keeping Your Members Informed

Have you ever had a member drive a number of miles to an event that you had cancelled or delayed? How impressed were they? You then had the “fun” of dealing with an unhappy member; who mostly likely then complained to anyone who would listen to them for the next 6 months!

Of course, we are ignoring the fact that you would have emailed them to let them know of the change, but they didn’t see it – it could be because they simply didn’t check their emails that morning or had checked their email… 5 minutes before you hit send… Either way, you now have an unhappy member.

However, there is a solution, and it’s one that is right in their hands, one that they never leave the house without – their phone. On that phone is your club’s app.

Your club’s app can do something your more traditional methods of communication cannot; it can send a push notification that will put your message right across the front their phone – and there’s no missing that!

Getting Your Club Push Notification Strategy Right

Push notifications are a direct path of communication with your golfers, they don’t get caught in spam filters, or forgotten in an inbox. Clubs should treat the ability to communicate with users via push notifications as a privilege, not a right, which means your club must provide value to your members and visitors. If you optimise your push notification strategy correctly, your club will be able to communicate a whole new level.

Permission is key! Push notifications are permissive, this means the very first thing you will need to do is to get your members to agree to let you send them push notifications. Whilst many golfers will allow you to send notifications without even thinking about it, it is a good idea when introducing your app to members to remind them that they need to agree to you sending notifications to keep them up to date with current events, course conditions and any last-minute changes.

Unlike other businesses, club apps are an anomaly when it comes to push notifications. In other industries the general rule is don’t send to many, maybe once or twice a month, otherwise people will ignore them or even delete your app! However, golf clubs buck the trend, our statistics show the more push notifications a club sends, the higher the engagement of their app and better feedback to the club is. This does not mean you should bombard members, but provide timely notifications that is relevant.

What Should You Send?

You might feel that using push notifications to forewarn of course closure or delay in playing is the only thing you should be sending members. Whilst this is valuable information, and certainly appreciated by the golfer, your club would be missing out on its potential to drive engagement, interaction and even revenues (statistics* of click-through rates from promotional push notifications can be as high 78%, making this is an area your club cannot afford to ignore).

Below is a selection of real-life examples of notifications sent out by clubs will give you a base to build your own unique strategy upon:

 

Personal:

· Wishing members happy birthday

· Congratulating winning the player/team

· Informing members to check out photos of the latest event

 

Improving member experience:

· Reminder of upcoming fixtures and social events

· Last minute openings in an event

· Notifying of today’s closed tees and times due to a fixture

· Cancellation of event…. But the club house is still open/the meal is still on!

 

Pro shop:

· Club fitting and demo days

· Seasonal sales and new arrivals

· The start of a new coaching course(s)

· Installation and deals on golf simulators

 

Promoting products or offers to increase sales

· Remind to book tickets to golfing events

· Promotion of non-golfing events, for example live music or family fun day

· Promotion of non-golfing facilities, for example tennis or the spa or even function rooms

· The latest food and/or drinks promotion

Push Notifications can even be used for reminders to pay subscriptions and direct your members to other marketing channels such as social networks.

Summary

Push notifications cannot be underestimated, they can be a vital part to the whole club dynamics. It places your message directly in front of your members giving you an incredible communication tool that can give up date information, encourage engagement at a club level, increase numbers at events and improve retention.

The technology is here and it is simple to use and implement; don’t be afraid to move to a “modern way” of thinking because mobile phones and apps is commonplace in all our lives, not matter our age.

We all like to do things quicker, easier, better. Your members are no different, give your team the tools to communicate and engage on a new level.

To learn more about how your club can improve communications with your very own club app fill out our short form for a free, no obligation consultation

*Statistics from tracking analytics in CourseMate Golf Club Apps September 18 to August 19

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