If you are like many of our clients, your club doesn’t have a traditional marketing department. Instead you might put all of your advertising, promotions and public relations budget/tasks into a department called “Membership Director.”
Salaries and commissions are not part of a marketing budget. A marketing budget should be directed to the marketing and advertising of your club which will help your Membership Director attain specific goals with regard to new member growth. Marketing and sales are not the same thing.
A recent Forbes article stated that marketing budgets for most industries fall somewhere between 6-11% of revenue. Within the private club industry, clubs don’t have anything close to that much budgeted for marketing, if any at all.
Expenses to consider when creating a marketing plan:
Outside Marketing and Consulting Services
Printing
Postage and Shipping
Software
Design Costs for Branding and Advertising
Website Creation and Management
Paid Digital Advertising
Content Marketing such as Emails, Blogs, Newsletters and Social Media
Public Relations
We’ve seen it all. There is no real rule for what you should include within your marketing budget, but here’s our number one tip: Be comprehensive. For example, if you plan to run a direct mail campaign, include line items for design, printing, mail list purchase, mail house fees, and postage. That way you know your all-in cost for that tactic. Nothing is more frustrating than planning an activity and then incurring hidden costs along the way.
Membership Marketing, Recruitment and Retention are what Creative Golf Marketing thrives on. If you need assistance in setting goals, developing a game plan, and executing it to achieve success, please Click here or call (800) 526-8794 and we can start planning today.