What is it?
Pinterest is a website that allows you to upload images that can be directed to your website. You can grow a network of followers, search by topic to find interesting pins or images.

Watch this video to get some tips on using Pinterest for your golf marketing efforts. The following video looks at opportunities to embed links within your profile for SEO credit.

How Golf Businesses Can Leverage Google+ Pages:
Google seems to have finally mastered the presentation of a social network with Google +. Still in its infancy, the social network has managed to grow to 90 million + followers. This social network is the real deal and demands involvement, if not for the sole purposes of reaching a broader audience, then for the SEO benefits. Google + is not just another social network, it is changing the way information is shared and can lead to more website traffic from Search Engine Results as well as social media posts.
Getting Started: Google makes it really easy to get your business started with Google + Here’s a link to get set up – http://www.google.com/+/business/get-started.html

Introduction: Google+ aims to cut through the cluttered of unsolicited noise that seems to be a growing issue with Facebook. Google+ provides CIRCLES which allows you to group your contacts and better organize information you would like to share with those groups.

Need Help Finding Relevant Golf Contacts and Circles?  Start Here: http://bit.ly/GolfPlus

Google+ Imapct on SEO:
Google has just released one of the BIGGEST ADVANTAGES to it’s network with Google + Your World. This feature allows contacts within your circle to see your information as it relates to their Google Search, bridging the gap between social content and search engine queries.

What does this mean for you Golf Business? Has your strategy consisted of witty quotes and filler content? Well, we always knew that this was a bad content strategy and now with Google+ it is virtually insignificant banter. Your social media content should be (applies to all social media content) keyword driven and relevant to anticipated searches about your product/service.

Tips for Success:
• Use your personal profile to build a network
• Add golf businesses and pages to your Google + Business Page – Check out our Google+ Page to get a head start
• Interact – don’t just post, search pages, find opportunities by communicating with others in the golf industry
• Think about Keywords and Search Preferences – how are your current customers finding your website through search? Use popular keyword phrases within your posts to ensure your topics appear in Google+ Your World searches.
Learn More About Google+ Your World:

• Google has reported 400% Increase in Mobile Searches
• 20% of All Google Searches are Mobile
• 61% of Mobile Website Visitors Call the Business
• 59% of Mobile Website Visitors Visited the Website

Golf courses and golf retail business stand to benefit the most from mobile use but all golf companies can tee off on their own mobile marketing activity. There are many social media platforms that can push golf brands closer to the cutting edge with little to no effort. Google, Facebook, Foursquare and many location based review sites allow business owners to implement Check In – which goes a long way in pushing brick and mortar branding to news feeds of golfers and their golf buddies.
Location based social media posts are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mobile. This can be a starting point and one mobile activity golf courses should be working into their marketing mix. The way golfers are accessing instruction, videos, news, training aids, and products is becoming more and more mobile. Google states that by the end of 2011 50% of Americans will be using a Smartphone and this number does not include those who are using Tablets, another growing mobile trend.
Golfers will never stop searching for the slightest advantage to their golf game and today’s golf business must ready their sites for the rush of mobile activity that has already checked in to the industry’s mobile channels. Having a mobile ready site is just as important as having a regular website has been for over a decade.
Why Golf Business Needs to Mobilize
Mobile searches are more targeted, less browsing and more getting right to the point. A mobile site provides businesses the opportunity to serve up top level content, products, and access that golfers are searching for. So what’s so different about a mobile site? Websites are LARGE and have a tendency to be loaded with images and text. Navigation of a traditional website becomes more difficult, harder for golfers to find the information they are searching for. A mobile site benefits golf business in a few ways:

• Mobile Sites provide simple navigation
• Content is easier to find and easier to experience
• Limited images and text mean faster load times
• Mobile sites can still link to shopping carts, video and provide click to call functionality
• For local businesses, mobile sites integrate with maps and provide directions

Going mobile shouldn’t be cost prohibitive but a small investment in a mobile marketing site and some due diligence on creating a mobile marketing plan can yield greater return in a mobilized society. Let us show you how your brand can go mobile.

See How Your Current Sites Displays on Different Mobile Platforms Now: http://www.golfpulpmedia.com/mobile/

Contact Golf Pulp to get started on your mobile site: info@golfpulpmedia.com

There is a smart way to determine if your golf website needs to have a golf mobile website version.

Step 1.  You can see how your current website is displaying on the most popular smartphones here: http://www.golfpulpmedia.com/mobile/

Step2.  Use your anlaytics to determine the volume of mobile traffic you are receiving to determine if there is a need to establish a mobile site. Keep in mind this is a trend that is growing rapidly.  Start with your analytics dashboard to find mobile searches

Step 3.  Determine if there is a trend of mobile visits or usage based on the TIMELINE feature of your analytics.

Step 4.  Build your mobile site based on your top mobile referral sources.

Step 5.  Scan to learn more

Well, you’ve probably heard me mention it before but, pawning social media marketing off on your interns, assistants or making it a double duty for your secretary is just not going to cut it.  Social media marketing requires marketing research, intelligence, execution, and measurement. In order to get the most out of your social media hire you are going to want to do a bit of “digg“ing on your own time – here are a few quick steps to help out with the process.

Social Media Hiring Checklist:

• Do they do more than practice what they preach? Go to SocialMention.com drop the business name or the professional’s name in the search bar to find out what they’re doing in the social space. How have they grown their exposure and more importantly how are they communicating?
• Prove it! A social media company or professional should be able to prove results. Look, it’s free to set up a Facebook Fan Page, Twitter Profile, YouTube channel and more, so why in the world would you pay some one to market through those channels? The undisputable answer – they can show results! Ask for recent reports. Ask what they measure. Ask them to show you how they can communicate results.
• Let’s See that Portfolio. It’s easy to talk about your own business but a real social media company should be able to show how they can manage multiple social profiles and develop a unique voice for each. When you scan their portfolio do you feel like you’re reading a script or is it unique content and strategy that pushes their messaging?
• It’s not Called Facebook Media…. Yes, Facebook is huge! But if all a company talks about is Facebook they are probably not the best fit. Social Media existed before Facebook – a social media plan (which is the first thing they should discuss) consists of popular social media sites, blogs, forums, review sites, social bookmarking and outbound content strategy. Make sure your interviewee knows more than the basics – Facebook & Twitter.

Ask any seasoned veteran within the industry and they will tell you – they are more at ease with pre-booked vendor meetings (scheduled well in advance) and more stressed when their Trade show Calendar is looking a little skinny come time to board their flight.

What a number of new and old exhibitors don’t know is that there is a lot of hard work that is required to make your Trade Show Involvement successful and it is possible to close the gap between success and failure with a targeted internet marketing campaign.

How to Boost Trade Show Success with Internet Marketing:

1. Promote Involvement Early!
2. Create an Event on Facebook and Invite your Contacts/Friends – Be certain to give specific information like Booth #, Products you are showcasing, deals for buyers.
3. Create a Buyer Landing Page – Looking to set meetings? Have your contacts pre-schedule meetings with your company with a simple landing page – here is a great resource to build landing pages in minutes –http://unbounce.com
4. Create an HTML Email to Promote – Utilize your existing database or work with Golf Pulp to target buyers, business owners, retailers and distributors. Provide a unique and compelling offer to get them to your Buyer Landing Page to schedule a meeting
5. Pursue Your Buyer/Retail/Distributor Targets via Linkedin – One of the most underused social media platforms, Linkedin can help businesses find potential targets to approach far before the actual event.  See our Linkedin Marketing Post to learn how to get these connections into your marketing funnel. Here’s a great group on Linkedin to help you find Distributors & Buyers
6. Use Social Media Before, During and After – Publicize your involvement, your new items, your opportunity via Facebook, Twitter and Especially LINKEDIN. Facebook & Twitter provide real time feeds so use your profiles to promote giveaways, specials, and more information that drives foot traffic to your booth. After the tradeshow, use social media to reach out to new contacts.
7. Make your booth Internet Marketing Ready -  Set your iPad/Tablet or laptop up to capture foot traffic and get them to opt in to your email list.  Utilize QR Codes to take booth visits directly to your website, video, social sites or designated landing page.
8. Always Bring them Back – Move beyond that handful of business cards and get people back to your site after the show.  Here are some quick ideas to get booth visitors to visit your website after the show is over:

• Offer a giveaway that ends after the show – this will give visitors a reason to follow you.
• Use photos to tag, send, display on your social pages and website – then invite your visitors to view them
• Send a Thank You email with a restated promotional offer

The constant throughout these platform changes has been a compelling story and credibility. Content Marketing has always existed but is now becoming more valuable as advertising is becoming less effective and marketing through platforms like blogs, twitter and facebook are becoming more commonplace.

What is Content Marketing? And how can you use it to create more sales for your business?

Quite simply, content marketing is any form of content that can be shared through online channels.  Content can be as simple as images, video, blog articles, case studies, presentations, social media posts, email pieces…What takes content to CONTENT MARKETING is the ability to express your story in a creative manner and by doing so establish yourself, your brand, your service, or your products as the Subject Matter Expert.

Content Marketing for Golf Businesses

The internet is free (pretty much) and so are a majority of the most common content marketing platforms (Blogs, YouTube, SlideShare, Facebook Page, Twitter Page).  The problem with free is that everyone likes free and everyone can be involved in free. This creates A Lot of noise and a lot of missed opportunities if your content is not hitting the target audience and distancing your brand from the competition.  So, how can golf businesses become more efficient at content marketing?

• Consistency: Credibility comes through consistency. Are you delivering content that your target audience can keep coming back for?
• Quality: Great content is information that people can actually use.
• Resource Driven: Yes, we all know you want to SELL your golf product, or your rounds, or your golf service BUT content marketing is beyond selling. It is a practice of becoming a resource to your existing and potential customer base. By doing this you become a trusted resource, an expert in all things pertaining to your vertical AND PEOPLE LOVE BUYING FROM PEOPLE THEY TRUST.
• Creativity Goes A Long Way:  Creativity doesn’t require a serendipitous moment. Think about positioning your benefits, claims, products in a way that is uncommon. Provide a different perspective. To do this you must break away from the mentality that you want to sell products and focus on your audience.
• Bring Them Back: Content Marketing is great for golfers searching for content related to your brand but how can you can you create an ROI from it? Content Marketing should be presented in a way that brings your target audience back to your site and into your funnel.
  • Have Them Opt In to receive in more great content
  • Place links within your content that subtly moves them back to your page. You don’t always have to say visit our site or buy now.  People like to explore!
  • Create a download
  • Create a Free Product
  • Enable them with technology that is related to your product
• Share: It’s just plain content if you’re not marketing it. Share it on your social sites, advertise it, send it to your database. Once you create content it has to reach the masses.

1) Integration of Facebook based feeds and widgets (coming directly from Facebook) seem to provide more “searchability” for your Facebook Page

2) Utilization of your Vanity URL is a must and should exist on your profile and your website.

3) Engagement leads to relevancy. The more active you are in News Feeds the more popular your Fan Page can become, the more Popular the higher the rank.

Facebook isn’t going anywhere so stay tuned to our blog and our Page http://facebook.com/GolfPulp  to learn more tips to leverage Facebook and other social media sites.

Click Her To View

The leading trend in bridging the gap between traditional marketing, retail, customer experience and promotion is the QR code. Confusing to look at and seemingly insignificant, QR codes can easily be used to increase website traffic, online leads and purchases. A QR Code is really quite simple, it is the next generation “Bar Code” that requires a Reader App which uses the camera of a smartphone to read the information contained within. The coolest part of this and it’s place in your golf marketing strategy is that these codes can be created to provided almost any type of information to the consumer or target audience.

Integrating QR Codes into Your Golf Marketing Plan

Utilizing QR Codes for Consumer Reviews: QR codes can be set up to direct Golfers to your review pages. This application of QR Code marketing works very well for golf courses looking to increase Google Places rank by adding more positive reviews to their listing. It can also be a benefit to Golf Mobile Apps who are trying to increase sales by improved ranking through reviews. Using a Review link within your QR Code can be coupled with a special promotion to encourage Golfers to share their feedback.

Branding and Upselling with QR Codes: One of the most common uses of QR Codes today is with product packaging. QR Codes hold a bit of intrigue in that it’s kind of like a riddle you just have to take a shot at. This curiosity can take Golfers from product packaging either at a storefront or after the purchase to push them to a number of links. Here are some ideas for QR

Code integration in product packaging:

• Use Social Links within QR Codes to turn customers into Social Followers
• Enable online shopping options
• Use QR Codes to upsell other products or services

QR Codes for Golfer Email Lists: Hopefully you have figured out that a primary objective of your golf marketing activities is to grow a database. QR Codes are a great way to create opt in opportunities whether it’s from a code on product packaging, an email signature, press release or even display on your website. Couple your QR Code with some compelling reasons why the should opt in to your list and you are on your way to building more leads.

Increase Sales Opportunities with QR Codes: Lets not skirt the issue, everyone is looking for more sales! QR Codes can be set up to directly link with a shopping cart URL – this provides a different approach to the Buy Now button.

Since QR Codes exist in a mobile world, they can be used to get interested golfers out of browsing and on the phone with your company. Linking a phone number within your Code means that a smart phone can take this information right into your dialer.

Move Your Business Mobile: Identifying trends is just one part of marketing the other part is meeting your customers where they interact. Using special promo codes and making certain promotions available to QR Code users only can help you not only meet customers where they spend most of their time but it can also prepare them for the next level of marketing – Mobile Marketing.

Pull Out Your SmartPhone and use a QR App to See This New Marketing Program:

Golf Pulp’s golf email marketing service was responsible for driving sales to some of the top brands in the industry and email marketing still remains the preferred and pursued marketing service to drive immediate sales. Email marketing with timely offers can create a huge lift to website traffic and can boost sales just seconds after the email is delivered. However, the online shelf life for email campaigns rarely extends outside of a 72 hour window, meaning it should be a part of a holistic golf marketing approach.

Google Search Drives the Most Online Purchases

In an era where information is at the fingertips of the golfer, search engine queries dominate as a primary influencer of online purchases. Google, which is now a household name, is trusted and delivers nearly 80% of search engine traffic to websites. The conclusion is that SEO is still as important today as it was 10 years ago. Unfortunately many golf businesses (especially golf courses) neglect SEO and opt for the quick win. SEO is a marathon, the results are not evident over night and in fact it can take several months to push through competition and on to the top of google search. However, SEO is time and budget well spent because the leading source of traffic for most sites is Google Organic Search. The landscape of website optimization, link building and content development has changed quickly over the last year, so having a trusted SEO resource on your side is KEY.

Social Media’s Influence on Sales

Through our personal involvement with dozens of clients in 2011 we have found Social Media to be an influencer of buying decisions second only to Search, with Facebook leading the referral traffic numbers. This is very encouraging but things must be put into perspective to see how social media fits into the sales process. Social Media capitalizes on an age old human response; peer approval. Social Media is a great way to increase brand awarness, deliver product information, and to create a more targeted audience for your marketing but it is definitely not a direct sales tactic and though we have tried (as the rest of the marketing and business world has) to create an ROI formula it is simply not possible. The true benefit of social media and it’s place within your golf marketing plan is that it provides a gateway and a channel to funnel leads into your website. Instead of evaluating how much money Facebook (and other social media involvement) returned, companies should look at 2 factors; 1) How Much traffic did my social media involvement create? 2) How has social media impacted the growth of my database? Look at Google Analytics to see how post and pre social media involvement have impacted Google Analytics Loyalty data.
Online Sales and Upcoming Trends

Marketing is always trying to get closer to the consumer. What is closer than the device that seems to be invisibly attached to all people? Mobile! In preparation for business in 2012, golf companies must break out of their traditions of slow adaptation and jump on mobile marketing as quickly as possible. Social Media is still an emerging trend that has not reached full potential, for most business, those not working with Golf Pulp Social Media has been a trial run. Look for more informed consumers and more advanced marketing to emerge from the top social sites. As far as mobile goes, that’s a few more blog posts….more to come!