Golf And Social Media- Golfers Are Engaged

Golfers And Social Media

The National Golf Foundation has run a few studies over the past few years to try and determine just how engaged golfers are in the online world.  One fo the key areas they look at was social media and the results were surprising to say the least.

They defined “core golfers” as the group that played 85% of all of the rounds and were responsible for more than 85% of all fo the spending in the golf industry.  As you might imagine, that group is fairly conservative and not the type of people who you would expect to be very active in the world of social media.  Well…it turns out that just the opposite was true.  they are extremely engaged with social media and they are a very active group.  In fact, they were more engaged with social media and user generated content than the general population.

Take a look at some of these shocking statistics:

• 60% of core golfers maintain a profile on at least one social network
• 3.7 million core golfers regularly read blogs about brands, courses, travel and professional golf
• 6.9 million core golfers visit their primary social network at least once per week
• 3.9 million core golfers visit their primary social network every day!

These numbers are increasing year over year with no real signs of slowing down.  There are hundreds of millions of dollars of golf buying decisions being influenced every day in world of social media.  Whether it be through branded social media sites, blogs offering opinions, or golfers sharing their experiences, there is clearly a desire in the golf community to communicate through social media.  It makes one wonder how so many brands and athletes can be missing the opportunity that is staring them in the face.  The core gold audience is begging for more social media and the brands and players who step up and deliver will reap the rewards.

Ok…so that all sounds great because it is a world of opportunity out there in social media.  But there is a down side to all of this as well, and that is the possibility of doing it all wrong.  It does not take very long for a mistake to travel around the world these days and become a trending topic on Twitter.  Yes that may bring attention to your brand, but is it the attention you want?  Obviously that answer is no.  The best bet is to hire a professional company to help you with your social media to ensure that you are doing everything right.  That is not to say that you need to keep them around forever, but laying a solid foundation is a critical component to a successful social media presence.  You need to understand the rules and audience expectations of social media and…you must remember that social media is a two-way conversation.  You must have the time, desire and ability to create quality content on a regular basis and then be prepared to respond to questions and comments.  Your social media company should help you in the beginning and then teach you how to handle it in house for the long haul.

Remember that there is a huge opportunity out there so you want to get it right.  Just because you can engage in social media for free, does not mean it is easy.  After all, most golfers have taken golf lessons from a professional or a coach to build their foundation.  Don’t you think you might want to follow suit when it comes to your social media efforts?