Densons Creek Golf Course
Turning Marketing Resources Into a Business Strategy
Densons Creek had access to the tools and people needed to execute marketing. What was missing was the strategy connecting those pieces to the business.
The Challenge
The tools weren't the problem. The strategy was missing.
Densons Creek had access to email marketing and social media support through its point-of-sale provider. The provider could execute campaigns and create content, but the course was still responsible for determining what to promote, when to communicate it, and how marketing should support its business goals.
Social content was often generic and designed to serve multiple golf course clients rather than being built specifically around Densons Creek's audience, offers and priorities.
At the same time, the general manager's primary responsibility was running the golf course, not building and managing a marketing strategy.
The result: marketing resources were available, but there wasn't a strategic layer connecting them to the business.
The Approach
Adding strategy between the business and the marketing execution.
Miller Cissel Strategies stepped in to provide the strategic marketing leadership Densons Creek was missing. Rather than simply creating more content, the focus was on answering:
- What does the course need to accomplish?
- Which audiences should we reach?
- What should we communicate?
- When should we communicate?
- Which channel makes the most sense?
- What does performance tell us about what to do next?
From there, I developed a strategic content calendar that connected email and social activity to specific business priorities, including tee time bookings, outings, leagues, promotions and other revenue opportunities.
I also reviewed campaign performance to identify what was working and use those insights to inform future communications.
The Impact
Marketing became a strategic function rather than another task on the GM's list.
During the first year of implementing the strategy, Densons Creek saw:
2X Tee Times compared with the previous year.
Beyond the increase in tee-time volume, the engagement shifted from simply having marketing activity to having a more intentional process for deciding what to communicate, why it mattered and how to measure the response.
And importantly, the strategy was designed to work with the resources Densons Creek already had rather than requiring an entirely new marketing infrastructure.
The Takeaway
You don't always need more marketing. Sometimes you need someone to connect the dots.
Densons Creek Golf Course already had the technology.
They already had the executional support.
They already had a strong understanding of their business.
What they needed was someone to connect those pieces to a strategy.
That's where strategic marketing leadership can make a difference.