Greg Mason, the 2008 Iowa PGA Section Golf Professional of the Year, is a PGA Professional and owner of Legend Trail Golf Club in Parkersburg, Iowa.
Greg Mason on the importance of maintaining a complete marketing strategy:
Some of the most popular forms of marketing these days are social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. While we have a presence on these sites, we’ve made sure not to forget about some of the classic forms of advertising. One of the more effective ways of advertising that we have found is on television. Rather than just trying to reach people on Golf Channel, I try to reach families by getting the word out about our range on other channels. Our ads are family-driven, so we try to hit the kids who are watching cartoons, as well as moms who are watching bridal shows, in addition to dads. We still do a lot of newspaper advertising as well. Iowa is unique in that our newspaper in Parkersburg still has a large circulation, so we’ll use the paper to promote everything from our two-for-one range bucket special on Monday through Friday before 2 p.m. to golf lessons and our restaurant. We’re in the paper every week and at $18 a week, it’s a no-brainer. We also reach potential customers through direct mailings, placing ads in weekly coupon books and on the radio, and we’ve found that these methods of spreading the word about our facility have all been successful.
Greg Mason on the business impact of maintaining a complete marketing strategy:
When we started with our cable advertising, our range revenue increased 20 percent. We always have people coming in and telling us how they heard us on the radio or they saw us on TV. Once I started putting myself in the cable ads, I began getting recognized. In fact, one time while getting my hair cut, one of the hairdressers mentioned that she saw me in the ad and it eventually led to a group lesson with six female hairdressers. While there are several popular forms of marketing right now, don’t forget to stay in front of your customers in as many ways as possible.
