Case Study | How Flinders Golf Club grew public bookings online by 150%
Posted: 13th February 2019 in MiClub Golf, Vouchers
Flinders Golf Club is an 18-hole course, located on the scenic Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Flinders are very proud of their modern facilities and loyal member base. Over the last couple of years, the club identified the opportunity to develop their public golf offering through further investment into their online communications strategy. Chris Poulton, General Manager at Flinders commented “Part of our marketing goals in the past year was to really focus on our brand awareness and relationships with public golfers”. This included encouraging online bookings with mobile functionality, sending email marketing campaigns, and golf booking vouchers. At the start of 2018, they set out to raise brand awareness and improve relationships with public golfers.
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“From the initial presentation to the follow-up support, MiClub’s team is first class. There are a range of support options available including live chat and supporting documents. But there is nothing better than being able to pick up the phone and speak to someone straight away. It’s a valuable point of difference from their competitors.”
Chris Poulton, General Manager
Flinders Golf Club
Objectives
- Grow public player database
- Encourage and promote online green fees
- Mandate new player registration process
- Improve communication and relationships with public golfers
The solution
- Build and create the “Friend of Flinders” campaign
- Send triggered campaigns to reward players and add value to existing bookings
- Thank Golfers post-round with incentives and return offers
The results
- 150% increase in online and prepaid bookings in 2018
- 250% increase in public player database since implementing in late 2017
Increasing public bookings online
Moving forward with their new focus, Flinders decided to implement MiClub’s Vouchers and Trigger Marketing module. This enabled Flinders to target public players, encourage online bookings and increase return play.
Why golf vouchers?
Flinders Golf Club operates with a very small administration team. The club found that the greatest benefit of using the Vouchers and Trigger Marketing module was automation. Mr. Poulton said, “Having an automated system that allows us to engage with our customers without increasing our workload is invaluable”. The club gained the ability to implement a low maintenance marketing campaign, whilst maximising return on investment.
The Friends of Flinders Campaign
Part of Flinders new strategy was launching the “Friends of Flinders” campaign. Their idea was to invite customers to register through the club website and become “Friends of Flinders”. By signing up, players could easily book a round on the Flinders website and receive the latest club news and special offers through email.
Club news promoting events and competitions were delivered using MiClub’s Enews module. Special offers were sent on pre-configured dates and events using MiClub’s Vouchers and Trigger Marketing module. This campaign has yielded great results for the team at Flinders!
Creating automated golf vouchers
In order to further develop their relationships with public golfers beyond face-to-face service, Flinders created a repository of automated vouchers to incentivise online bookings. All vouchers are personalised and delivered through email with a unique promotional code redeemable for a single use.
These vouchers rewarded golfers for registering through the website, thank them the first time they played the course, and reach out if they haven’t visited for a while. “The Vouchers and Triggers module is assisting us to make greater use of our database and working well alongside our current marketing strategies” said Chris Poulton.