Boosting Female Golfer Attendance
Women are an integral part of the golfing industry, making up almost 20% of the United States golf community. While this won’t be most of your course’s customer base, it’s one that you can’t neglect – women spend roughly $5 billion per year in the golfing industry and influence more than $21 billion in purchases from others.
With these numbers, you’re missing out if you don’t attempt to boost your female golfer attendance rates. Women are more likely to spread the word of their club experience to others, as well as more likely to bring their families along to the course. In a global study, 29% of non-golfing and lapsed women players were interested in picking up the sport in the future.
However, attracting female customers to your golf course requires an updated approach from your current marketing strategy. Women golfers have different interests and standards for their golfing experience than men, and you need to recognize that to take advantage of this opportunity to boost your membership.
Work With Your Staff
One of the easiest ways to start improving women’s experience at your golf course is to think about your customer service. Women want to feel comfortable and invited to new places, and providing that throughout your golf course can create an environment that women golfers want to be in. Welcoming new customers and providing a quick overview of the course can be the first step to a long-lasting membership.
Incorporate these strategies into your customer service by having a staff meeting and including trainings for recognizing the different gender needs of your customers. You can host these meetings yourself or, for a little more cost, hire a consultant to conduct presentations for you.
Think More About Your Restaurant Options
Adding more healthy options to your restaurant and clubhouse is a good strategy to make these locations more appealing to all golfers, but especially women. Salads and other lighter options will make resting with a meal at your course more appealing and help pull in additional revenue.
While men will be more than satisfied to settle down with a beer after a day on the green, many women may have more interest in wine. Designating a wine of the month and stocking it in the restaurant, clubhouse, and drink cart can provide an extra option that your women golfers will appreciate – and the special of a monthly wine also encourages return trips.
Update Your Golf Shop
A dedicated women’s section can go a long way to boosting your golf shop’s appearance and sales. Mixing all your equipment and outfits together can create a mess that’s hard for women to navigate and find what they need. A sale rack and bench to try on shoes are also simple upgrades that can encourage more purchases.
Also think about how you present your shop. Purchasing a female mannequin and rotating her outfit on a regular basis can help attract repeat business, and placing coordinating outfits and gear next to each other can encourage further purchases.
Target Women in Your Marketing Strategy
Your marketing materials are a prime location to include women and make them feel welcome to your course. Your website, bulletin boards, brochures, clubhouse art, and social media should include them on a regular basis if you want female customers to come to your course.
Emails are a powerful marketing tool to help stay in touch with your course’s members. When building your email strategy, don’t neglect the women in your customer base. Be sure to include items of interest in your regular newsletters or even create a special mailing list for women.
Possible things to include are: photos of women golfers in outfits from your shop, updates on what’s new at your course, coupons and discount offers, and events you’ll be hosting. Since women are more likely to spread this news, you’ll also gain some strong word of mouth advertising from these promotions as well.
Brainstorm More Ideas for Your Women Members
Setting up special activities for your women golfers will help them feel welcomed and involved. Consider setting up lunches, clubs, and paying special attention to the course on ladies’ day. Anything that brings women to your course regularly is always a good thing.
On that note, you can also set up more extensive events, like golf days, weekend summits, and tournaments. So long as these include activities to appeal to both men and women, you should see a strong response from both groups. Activities that also encourage group and partner golfing are also great ideas.
Give Attention to the Restrooms
In any business, a clean restroom is a sign of a clean facility, and the quality of yours may be affecting your women customers more than you think. Upgrading where possible creates a clean and welcoming atmosphere that reflects well on your course.
Installing new toilets and sinks where necessary can vastly improve the quality of your restrooms. Providing other self-care products in your clubhouse, like deodorant, sunscreen, hand lotion, and hairspray is another simple addition that can go a long way. Also, be sure to equally tend to your restrooms that are on and off the course.
Add Additional Tees
The average woman golfer can hit her driver 140 yards. Higher distances are certainly possible, but many women won’t be able to complete greens in regulation pars. Adding additional tees set at under 500 yards can create a more accessible and fun game for your women golfers of all ages, which is the essential key to having repeat customers.
Consider Hiring a Marketing Consultant
All these activities may seem overwhelming to incorporate all at once – and they can be. You may decide to slowly implement different strategies over time. However, there’s still a point where maintaining all your strategies to attract women golfers may need a little extra help to remain effective.
Having a dedicated marketing consultant or golf ambassador to focus on these things can be the solution. In addition, these activities are worth real value: more members means more merchandise sales and more lessons, which is well worth the investment.
Your golf course may already have a high number of women members, or it may be lacking in reaching that potential 20%. Either way, more focused strategies to attract and maintain women golfers at your course are a worthwhile investment.
Sources:
www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2017/3/tee-time
www.thegolfbusiness.co.uk/2011/10/tips-for-attracting-women-to-join-your-golf-club/