By Jon Jones^*

Showcasing the Most Valuable Asset - The Golf Course

Golf courses and resorts often invest with graphic designers to create utility pieces such as yardage books, or distance guides as they are referred to internationally. In addition to the obvious profitability these printed items can generate in the pro shop, there are "unsung" advantages to leveraging these "digital assets" in marketing pieces, on websites and in cross-linking. In a digital world, maximium exposure, in 3-D detail, of your most valuable asset is a must to stay competitive.

Full-service production printing facilities have had to embrace the obvious: customers are printing less and using the web more. Golf courses that consume yardage books understand something very important, that the yardage book is one of the best and least expensive advertisements they can purchase. Why? Well, first of all, as a pro shop item, marketed and displayed properly by the pro shop staff, a nice yardage book will retail for three times its cost, on average, generating up to 200% margin as a retail item. In addition to the "cover price," many courses sell ad space within the yardage book to promote spas, dining and drinking establishments and real estate. It does not take much of a mathemetician to understand that yardage books become, at least, "free advertising."

What about new technology? GPS? Those things are great, and they certainly have a place and are evolving, BUT: A golfer can't take it with him when he leaves, AND GPS is an expense, not an income generator.

Providers of yardage book products realize that the digital hole-by-hole 3D artwork had other values that were not being leveraged by its customers. In a beta version, customers are able to see striking renderings of Ultra-3D graphics displayed via an online digital course map, 3D flyovers of each hole, exploded hole-by-hole views, and digital yardage books, all with digital or virtual ad space, or ad "real estate," which could be used by the course to offset cost and generate revenue. They were also shown how these "digital assets" could be cross-linked to partner sites, e.g., tee-time booking sites, golf directory sites, etc.

This season, as you plan your printing and advertising budget, focus on items that not only give your course maximum exposure, but also on those that put money back into your pocket. Leverage that digital triple-play, and you'll see those "rounds played" and "nights stayed" lines on the revenue performance graph go up, while that "advertising expense" line goes down.

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Tour Golf Digital Marketing Bundle

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Credits

Originally posted by JonJones on 10 May 2010.
All contributors: JimKass, JonJones, MarleneStone,

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