Reaching Your Members
Push notifications have received a lot of attention over the last few years. Running via apps, they allow clubs to send a message or an ad directly to the golfers’ phones, even without the app open. This makes them a powerful marketing tool and an excellent way to communicate to your members.
A 2016 Google study shows brands increase engagement with their apps by using targeted ads that reach users at relevant times. This is backed up from our own tracking statistic, where we have noticed an increase in golfers viewing the section(s) relating to the club’s notification.
Popular notification that clubs are sending out include:
- Special offers (club fitting days/seasonal sales start)
- Upcoming social events (from bands to fun-filled family friendly weekends)
- Spaces available in forthcoming tournaments
- Course closures – but don’t forget the clubhouse and shop is still open
- Special days (Valentine’s/Captain’s Ball/Mother’s Day/etc.)
Clubs that are using push notifications appropriately are seeing the benefits and it’s an easy way to let your members know what is happening.
Notification Types
There are a few different types of push and pull marketing options available today, each with their own strengths. This article will outline how each one works allowing you to choose what suits your own club.
Text Push Notifications
This is the most commonly sent notification where text messages are manually entered via a backend content management system and sent to the user’s phone.  The types of messages you can send via this method are entirely up to your imagination. However, most common uses include notifications of upcoming events, special offers or course closures. Just don’t make the message too long – no one wants to read an essay on their phone lock screen.
GPS Based Notifications
When the app user approaches a certain point it will automatically send the phone a message or an image. This is often used either for sponsorship or suggestive selling, e.g. “Enjoy 10% off your next game”, or “don’t forget to order your food”, can work very well as an excellent marketing tool.
While great out on the course, there are limitations of GPS based push notifications as they do not work very well indoors. This is because they require line of sight with a satellite for them to work. Also they have a fairly wide catchment area, which can prevent them from being used for things that require better precision. For example, with a loyalty scheme, you wouldn’t want anyone driving down the road past your club inadvertently topping up their loyalty card! Â
Geo-Location Notifications
Similar to GPS push notifications, but with greater precision, clubs are able to define an area on a map and whenever anyone enters it, they will be sent their notification. This technology can be very useful for those that have a pay-and-play or other casual facilities because you are able to send an offer to the user’s Smartphone and entice them in. Using geo-location notifications has been shown to work well alongside a loyalty scheme.
iBeacon Technology
The last of notification systems is the iBeacon which is a push and pull system. The app and the iBeacon “listen” out for each other and can be used to create an excellent sales tool and an amazing member interaction tool.
iBeacons are small, portable, weatherproof digital beacons that run off low frequency blue-tooth, and with a capture area from about 20cms to 200ft., they give managers a large range of options both in and outdoors.
When set to a close range, an iBeacon will know where the app user is on a micro-environment scale, which means you, the manager of the system, will do too. This will allow your club to give a truly personal experience and utilize a comprehensive management tool.
To give you an idea of practical uses, this technology can be employed from the simple to the complex, with excellent results.
Simple effective uses include:
- Welcoming a member to the club
- Topping up loyalty points
- Logging how many times a person has visited an area
- Pace of play
- Sending of (sponsorship) messages at certain locations around the club/course
On the other end of the scale, this technology can be used to completely transform the member’s experience.
For example (based upon a hotel golf resort experience):
The iBeacon is able to send a greeting to the member as soon as they enter the gate and send a notification to the clubhouse that this particular person has arrived. This can all be coded into the clubs CMS to enable the member’s profile to be brought up.
This can allow the following to happen:
- Valet can be ready to drop their car/collect their bags and know the person’s name, and if staying overnight, what room the member is staying in.
- The reception desk knows who has arrived and can start getting items ready for their check in, as well as greet them personally by their name.
- The pro-shop can also be notified of their arrival and have their buggy ready, etc.
And so on.
Because of its micro tracking and your own choosing of iBeacon placement, your club would be able to notify the restaurant, the bar, the golf club, the spa, etc. of the arrival of the member, and enable your staff to greet the member by name. Also, dependent upon your records, know what their preferences are, or even if they are allergic to certain things.
Currently the iBeacon is being mostly used in larger retail business and exclusive clubs, and there is no reason that smaller clubs cannot very successfully use the iBeacon on a smaller scale.
All of these types of push notifications can raise the profile of the club to both their members and visitors, creating both an excellent communication tool and a sales solution.
One word of caution – do not overuse them otherwise your members will simply turn them off!
Dubbed “Miss App” Jenni specialties in creating dynamic apps that deliver results for her golf clients. Writing technical papers for different golf magazines, online blogs and associations she has enjoys educating and helping the golf industry grow. Visit http://coursemateapp.co.uk/
