In our last blog post, we discussed Social Media and how golf professionals are using it to drive their business.  We left you hanging with the promise of another article on e-Mail marketing.  Well, here it is.

E-Mail marketing is still one of the best forms of marketing. It also happens to be the first form of social media  ( because that’s what people want right now, right? Social media is all the buzz! ) – so why not capitalize on the form of digital marketing that EVERYONE uses! Right now, there are still some people out there who don’t have a facebook profile (hard to believe, I know) but ask almost ANYONE if they have an e-Mail address and you’ll hear yes.

Step One – Build Your Database of Customer e-Mails

So we’ve established that everyone has an e-Mail address.  Now we need to ask them for it – or better yet, we want them to give it to you – voluntarily.  You want to build your database and KEEP building it as your business grows.

There are several ways to go about collecting your customer’s emails.  You can offer an incentive (a free round of golf for signing up for the newsletter!), ask them for it during a purchase, inform them of ‘e-Mail only’ specials they can receive, or simply tell them you want it because your newsletter is going to be great and they need to receive it.

Step Two – Plan Your Campaigns

Let’s get one thing straight – you’re probably not sending out a “newsletter” every time. That’s why they’re called “e-Mail Campaigns.” So before you send your first one, you’ll want to look at the calendar and plan out a few months in advance.  The reason for this is because, like ANY social media marketing campaign, you need to be consistent. Being consistent with any marketing campaign is almost more important than the content you deliver.

So you’ll want to plan out the dates that you will be sending these campaigns – set a reminder in your calendar, on your iPhone, in Gmail, in Outlook, or wherever. Just make sure you set up a schedule that you can stick to.

Step Three – Build Your e-Mail Campaign

An e-Mail campaign doesn’t need to be complicated.  You’re a golf professional – so you don’t need to waste time writing pages of content to send out to your database of customers – and that’s OK.  Just make sure you keep the e-Mail easy to read and to the point. If you’re offering a special deal on a 10-lesson package, then give them the price along with the terms. Give them all the pertinent information relating to that special. If they have to call you to get clarification on the e-Mail, then it’s not written correctly.

Have someone edit the e-Mail before you send it! Spelling errors are the worst! They reflect you and your business.  The quality of your personal brand can be tarnished if your clients see consistent spelling errors.

Step Four – Hit Send! (But how do I send it?)

There are many websites that can manage your e-mail campaigns. MailChimp, Constant Contact, My Emma are just a few of the top e-Mail campaign websites. They start at FREE and go up to several hundred dollars per month depending on your number of subscribers.

So hopefully we have shown you a few things on how build a successful “social media” campaign, although not in the current sense of the phrase!  E-Mail marketing is still a very powerful way to get in touch with your clients and should help you gain more customers, keep more customers, and help you thrive in a competitive economy. Here’s what a client of ours recently had to say:

Also – I wanted to thank you for introducing me to Mailchimp.  I’ve had lots of success driving visitors with a couple of my email campaigns.

-Mary Ritchie, LPGA Instructor