You've heard of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and perhaps even Brown Thursday. Yes, these holiday fueled sales events have become "buzz worthy," but days on a calendar alone won't sell your products. You need compelling offers, great product and a qualified list of golfers to receive your message.

NGF’s direct marketing resources have supported more and more B2C clients from key industry segments including retail, publishing, equipment, accessories, travel and instruction. Our services have also helped individual golf clubs generate new customers and recruit new members.

At NGF, we believe all client campaigns should be targeted and/or local. This discipline serves three key objectives:

• Maximize the impact of every dollar invested by clients
• Ensure golfers in our database are appreciative of the offers they receive
• Limit the number of times golfers in our database are emailed

Practical examples would be excluding single-digit handicappers from a training aid campaign or limiting a private club campaign to the best targeted neighborhoods within a 10 mile radius.

Too much email?

While today's email inboxes are crowded places, a recent NGF survey indicates that about 70% of core golfers feel they receive the right amount or not enough email offers from courses, retailers and equipment manufacturers. For these core golfers, email is still the overwhelming preferred method of contact over social network services like Facebook.

Successful email campaigns start with a performance focused list strategy and a transparent review of results covering open rates, click-thrus and sales conversions and a profile of who those golfers are.

So is email marketing king?

It certainly has royal status in our book, but we’ve fulfilled enough direct mail projects this year to know that approach is still flourishing as well. In fact, the Direct Marketing Association estimates that over 50% of mailed postcards are most likely to be read by recipients and that’s a better percentage than just about every email open rate we’ve seen. Still, particularly as our clients look for affordable ways to drive year-end business, the minimal costs, relatively quick turn-around time and very measurable response data makes email marketing an attractive use of marketing/advertising dollars.

NGF's exclusive 100% opt-in database contains contact names, emails, and mailing addresses for hundreds of thousands of golfers.  Clients can target your campaign by location, age, gender, income, average 18-hole score, annual rounds played, and more. Our November and December email marketing calendar is filling up fast, so don't miss the opportunity for NGF to help boost your holiday season promotions. Please request a consultation by Clicking Here or contact us at (888) 275-4643.

Read more about whether Email Marketing is King in the Harvard Business Review
 

Sources: The Direct Marketing Association, Responsys, NGF Quarterly Core Golfer Survey, NGF Core Golfers & Technology Report