Digital Marketing for Clubs

WEBSITES

Don’t throw good money at a bad website.

It all starts with your virtual storefront. If we compare a website to a bricks & mortar shop, why would you spend hard earned advertising dollars attracting consumers to your business only for them to be underwhelmed with the décor and unappealing-looking merchandise, or have difficulty finding what they want? It’s the same for your website.

Let’s face it: We all have an opinion of what’s a good website. So how do you know that your site isn’t that grungy old shopfront behind the main street? As a rule of thumb, if you haven’t invested in a new website in the last three years, you’re likely losing revenue potential. Why refresh and renovate your Club regularly but not your online store? Your digital assets, of which the website is paramount, should be seen as an investment – not a liability.

The other aspect to consider is data. When was the last time you viewed your Google analytics to track some basic engagement metrics to understand how your site is performing? Are consumers spending considerable time on your site and visiting multiple pages? Do you see the number of new traffic/visitors growing, likely showing potential new members visiting your site?

With open-source platforms, pretty much anyone can build a site from scratch. While there are no shortage of individuals happy to take your budget, are they Hospitality or Club specialists? Do they have the right digital marketing chops to deliver a site that best represents your brand and attracts, converts, and retains members? Can they make a site that encourages members to take revenue-driving actions such as renew, purchase an event ticket, or book a table?

Clubs spend millions on facilities and renovations only to commit a fraction of that to a platform that is quite often the first touch consumers have with your brand and business. For a medium-sized Club, I would be committing a minimum $25,000 to build a new site.

For our top (8) recommendations for your virtual storefront see here.

DIGITAL MARKETING

Australians are more digital savvy than ever and drive e-commerce by spending more time online. In order to retain and attract members, has your marketing spend accompanied that shift online?

Traditional media undoubtedly has its place in your acquisition strategy (think print ads, radio, newsletters, letter flyer drop, cinema), but it’s often paired with a ‘spray & pray’ tactic that has high costs and very little opportunity to pivot, so important in today’s volatile market. It’s may also be difficult to attach a value on what offline or out-of-home advertising delivers. Sure, there are numerous PR/Marketing Agencies/Corporations and platforms that will deliver an earned spend with lots of impressive reporting and statistics, but do you really know if that billboard drove revenue to your club?

Digital has many benefits, not least the opportunity to target your membership base across social and search but to put your brand and product in front of consumers based on a myriad of options such as:

• Specific interest
• Age
• Demographic (down to postcode)
• Travel intent, for example travelling to your location
• Behaviour (such as interacting with your site and social channels)
• Connections and look-alike audiences or friends of friends.

Digital also allows you to test and learn, change your targeting and re-allocate budget as needed – or in some cases, go back to the drawing board!

The other significant difference to traditional is the transparency of marketing spend and return on investment (ROI) or more commonly return on ad spend (ROAS) calculated by subtracting the revenue generated by the amount spent and then dividing that by the ad spend. A good ROAS will always be dependent on multiple factors, such as your website or campaign landing page, what channels you’re using, the assets (for example, images and copy), audience targeting, budget and length of the campaign. If I give an Agency $1,000 to run a campaign, for example, I would expect to get back at least $6,000 or an ROAS of 5:1.

Ad platforms such as Google or Meta (Facebook and Instagram) can be set up in a way to track what actions your visitors took on your site because of interacting with your ads and what value this action equated for your business. Downloading a menu PDF would be an indication of an intent to eat at the venue and attract a modest value, however a consumer clicking on directions to find your venue would indicate a strong intention to visit the club with the assumption they’re not an existing member. E-commerce (if installed) also gives multiple data points that equal transactional value (joining or renewing, booking a table or event) and can likewise be attributed to a direct result of interacting with an ad.

To help you understand how digital advertising works for Clubs, we’ve put together a detailed overview of the key principles and technology see here.

So, don’t throw good money at a bad website. In 2022, focus on your virtual shopfront and ensure it’s the best version of itself and represents your brand, venue and position in your community.