There are many ways in which your pro shop can increase its online presence – we asked James Ibbetson, a PGA Member and expert in the field, to offer his advice
Paid advertising, how to use social media and email marketing are all key considerations golf clubs and stores can make to increase footfall and sales.
PGA Member James Ibbetson is an Account Manager at 59club, and he also worked across the retail operation in his previous roles as Director of Golf at Tudor Park and Yas Links in Abu Dhabi, as well as General Manager at Farleigh Golf Club.
He spoke to us to offer advice about effective digital marketing strategies in retail departments, how social media can be used to its maximum potential and how PGA Professionals should look to present their websites.
What are effective digital marketing strategies in a retail department?
If you look at hardware, it's a golf professional doing short form video to explain the new drop or highlight the benefits. Whether you chuck Trackman data in there, or Flightscope data, that really helps.
Putting a face to a name and adding a personality behind it, particularly in member-centric environments, they can trust them. That’s really important.
Whether you're talking about changes to the golf course or the menu, it has got to be engaging.
Words on paper aren't as strong in that marketing environment. We used to do product showcases. When the new range of Cleveland wedges, or Vokey wedges would drop, we would do a pop-up wedge clinic on the morning.
You’ve got to get it in people's hands. You've got to make sure that people are aware of the key features.
What role does social media play in building a retail brand?
We're starting to see a lot more golf clubs on there, but it's traditionally the golf club’s social media page, rather than the pro shop.
Some of the best retailers are doing their own things. If you look at AF Golf Store, they've got their own YouTube channel, where they're getting someone who is confident and capable in front of a camera.
It’s got to be concise, it doesn't need to be War and Peace! That’s where some videos fall foul. It needs to be a minute or 90 seconds of key facts and key figures, with a call to action.
Facebook is the go-to platform. But we're still relying too hard on the text element of it, where we've been very descriptive about what we're doing, rather than a short, engaging video.
I'd like to see a lot more golf clubs using Instagram. Golf clubs are missing a trick from a TikTok perspective.
The people and clubs that are doing it are doing it in an engaging way, and are going to win.
How important is email marketing with customer relationships?
Email marketing is massive. When I was in golf clubs, our key successes from a retail perspective were through the captive email database.
They’re already customers. They've already been to your venue. If they’re coming back, you're doing something right. The main thing is capturing that data.
If you call up to book a tee time, the likelihood is, if you work with 59Club, you are going to be asked for a contact number and an email address. We've got one person. But if you're playing fourballs and doing 1000 rounds a month, and you're only capturing one player's email address, what's happening with the other 750 pieces of data?
If you look at golf club newsletters, how often are the pros and the retail offering ever? It's relatively low and sometimes it's because there's a disjoint between the management of the club.
"I'd like to see a lot more golf clubs using Instagram. Golf clubs are missing a trick from a TikTok perspective. The people and clubs that are doing it are doing it in an engaging way, and are going to win” - James Ibbetson
How can paid advertising be used in product promotion?
It depends how targeted it is. If clubs are going to spend money, whether it's on Meta or enhancing their rating on Google, it's got to be targeted to the right individuals.
They've got to understand where their customers are coming from, where their members are based, where their casual attendees at the club are coming from, and target accordingly.
If anyone who has looked at golf content over the last two months gets an advert, is it going to resonate with them? When they're on site, it’s trying to find out how they heard about you.
How did you hear about us? What brings you here today? If it is all email marketing, let's spend more time and effort into the email marketing, rather than that social media push.
How can a pro optimise their website to drive traffic and online sales?
Have more presence. Pro shops are often a forgotten element of a club's website. Very few clubs that we work with have their own standalone website.
Sometimes, club websites are quite hard to navigate. If you throw the pro shop into the mix, all you see is a little two-paragraph blurb of the brands that they stock. Quite often it's out of date.
It’s more focused on the professional staff itself. See the importance and do something with it, whether it is building your own website, building your own brand within a golf club – as long as it still aligns with the values of the club that you are actually part of.
Try not to be an afterthought. Even in things like an email confirmation when you book a tee time, it’s still marketing. Very few clubs that we work with have a real push on how good the retail offering is.
It's only certain clubs that are starting to say: Actually, we've got a real opportunity. People are paying a lot of money to come play our course, we want to be shouting about the elements that we stock.
