Generation X , Y and Beyond - Getting People Into Your Club!

Its no secret that it's the younger generation that generally have the disposable income and seek out great places to catch up with friends over a few drinks on a Friday and Saturday night (or infact any night and why wouldn't you while you can!!). It is also no secret that Clubs need to constantly replenish their Membership base as a result of non renewals and, God bless their Souls, older members moving on (with all due respect).

Well, I have spoken a little bit of late on Social Media and Web 2.0, but even more basic than that is the need to get as many Club Members whom have an email address on Clubs Membership Database with these details, including Mobiles. If the penetration of the internet in Australia is now 90% of households have access to it, then of course email must be almost at the same level.

This is valuable marketing information, particularly for Generation X and Y who don't always plan a long time ahead and appreciate a quick SMS or email advising them of upcoming events, attractions, promotions etc. If your not collecting email information or actively pursing it - you should be. Email and SMS is a fraction of the price of Direct Mail and it is straight to the source with virtually no time delay and can be implemented on a regular basis.

It's interesting, I have had some Club Managers say to me, our demographics are skewed to the retired population. Don't take for granted that even if this is the case, that they therefore don't have email, because you'll find its just not the case. In many cases, age is not a barrier to how people embrace technology, particularly because we are talking about 'communication'.

One way that you can really measure SMS and E-Marketing Campaigns is to link a promotion or offer to the content. If your Club is a Clubsational Member, they can do this really easily by creating a link in the email to your Club Brochure page on www.clubsational.com.au and updating your Clubsational Discount Voucher offer accordingly! Not only can you measure your hits on the day of your E Marketing, but you can measure the voucher redemption rate from your Discount Voucher offer. And with Clubsational Membership, you can do this daily, weekly, monthly as often as you like with no restrictions.

In times like now, when revenue and the number of people in your Club is under pressure, why wouldn't you try any means you can to 'Get More People Into Your Club!'

The innovators in the Club Industry, will be the Winners!

Club Profits are Down and more People Need to Get Into Their Club!

There is no doubt that Clubs across NSW are doing it tuff at the moment and this is expected to continue into the near future. ClubsNSW recently published some information about the Club Industry the point being to encourage people into Clubs NOW! Clubs don't talk or promote enough about what they actually do for the community. Registered Clubs support people, the community, youth, sport and the economy. They are not-for-profit organisations, which means any surplus income is reinvested into club facilities and donated to community, charity and sporting organisations.

People

- More than 2.7 million people are a member of at least one club in NSW
- Each day 400,000 people visit a club in NSW
- More than 52,000 people are employed in the NSW Club Industry
- Another 53,000 people volunteer more than 100 hours a year to their Club

Community

- Clubs donated more than $120 million to not-for-profit organisations, charities and sporting groups in 2007
- During the past decade clubs have donated more than $1 billion to community groups and junior sporting teams and organisations

Youth

- There are more than 350,000 club members between the ages of 18 - 24
- More than half of all people aged 18 - 24 are a member of a club
- 90% of 18 - 24 year olds have visited a club during the past year

Sport

- Clubs provide sporting facilities to the community worth more than $2 billion
- There are 345 sporting fields, 1,600 bowling greens, 150 gyms, 350 golf courses, 700 tennis courst and 70 swimming pools at clubs

Economy

- Clubs inject almost $5 billion annually into the NSW economy
- Clubs pay more than $1.5 billion in wages every year
- Clubs pay more than $1 billion annually in tax
- Clubs invest more than $800 million annually on new infrastructure

That should be enough reasons to Get Into Your Club Now! And if not - why not. Why wouldn't you print a great voucher from www.clubsational.com.au and have a sensational day?

Does you industry comparably contribute to the community, the economy, sport and the people?

There is a lot of controversy over pokies, smoking and the likes. The fact remains that Clubs contribute far, far more into the economy than they take out. They are an extension of the community that they serve to represent and provide affordable entertainment, food, leisure facilities and in some cases child care and aged care facilities.

Australian Interactive Media Industry Association

The AIMIA is running what looks like a great course on 2nd September all about Social Media and Blogging and its effectiveness for business - thanks to Brendon Kop for highlighting the course to me through Facebook!! $115.00 for non members for the 2 hour seminar in Sydney TBA. Its a no brainer to attend if you are interested in online!! Have a look at it here and you can register online with a visa etc card.

A visual of Social Media is Better!

A simple story that illustrates the forces shaping social media. What more do I need to say other than 'watch it!'

Social Media Video Here!

Now that You Are Reading a Blog, What is it?

I thought it worthy of directing you to a little 2 minute video through YouTube which explain what a Blog actually is. Put very simple - it is someone's news.

This Blog in particular, is my news on and centred around Clubsational, the website!

I am utilising this Blog, to communicate to Club Managers, or indeed, people in general (or anyone in fact) interested in the Club Industry and Clubs in Australia.

I link the 'News Centre' on www.clubsational.com.au to this Blog as a means of delivering the latest news, on an ongoing basis to people who are interested and may be following this Blog.

Any Club could do this themselves (setup a Blog surrounding news in their Club) and then email the link to their membership base - thats a little simple marketing tip right there!

Anyway, here is the video Blogs in Plain English!

Blogs, Facebook & Club Managers of Registered Clubs in NSW

For Club Managers reading my Blog and wondering what the Blog is all about compared to them joining Facebook and the 'Clubsational' group, the answer is that:

1. Blogs - anyone can comment on any of these blogs, in Clubland or otherwise. The idea of the Blog is to solicit communication on the said subject matter or air opinions. It may be useful, it may be positive, it may be negative but the fact that people are willing to comment makes it meaningful to the author. I originally started this blog as I was interested in providing an opportunity for people interested in Clubs in NSW to provide feedback on their facilities, entertainment value and progress. I am still interested in this! Of course www.clubsational.com.au is an ongoing development project of mine and I welcome feedback on the ways in which we can deliver more value for both users of the website and to Club Managers. Innovation is a part of our vision read it here.

2. Facebook - is a form of 'social media' in the sense that a user creates a profile of themselves and 'invites' friends, colleagues, family etc to share in their individual world. Over and above that, a person can also belong to and create individual 'groups' where experiences, news, ideas, invitations, comments etc can be collected that only the 'members' of those groups can be privy to. In that way, there is a level of comfort in the two way communication between the parties and I suppose a level of non confrontation.

Any questions or otherwise you may have, try the comment button. Look forward to hearing from you!

ClubsNSW July 08 Article

Refer to my June Blog to see the full article!

Supporting Club Marketing Managers with Social Media Interaction

Marketing your Club online, websites, Web 2.0, Social Media - our world is constantly evolving. There are many challenges facing the NSW Club Industry today - social, economic and just plain life cycle evolution (amongst some) considerations that Club Marketing Managers are facing today.

I think it is fair to say, that through my experience with www.clubsational.com.au I have learn t a lot about many of these areas. And certainly, I am and will still continue to learn - through participation and sharing.

I am interested in being able to share this experience and continual process with Marketing Managers, in particular Club Marketing Managers, who can see the benefit in being online & utilising technology as an important method of communication, co-operation & community. Why not learn together - the old saying goes - 'united we conquer!'

I think it is important to understand that the generations embracing social media and two way conversations with their experiences, both positive and negative is a way forward and that there is NO going back. Conversations and media can no longer be 'controlled' or move in only one direction. But how do we embrace this revolution and move forward as an industry?

We have to be willing, and able participants and this includes listening, sharing and in some cases a little bit of guts, well 'no guts, no glory!'.

I have established a Facebook Group called Clubsational. Shortly I will be inviting Club Managers and Marketing Managers whom I have met or who have shown an interest in online, technology and Marketing to join this group to share in the learning experience, ideas and the future of the Club Industry. Watch out for your email invitation coming through - otherwise - you can find the group on Facebook under 'Fina a Group' and type in Clubsational and request that you become a Member.

Remember to read my article in the July issue of ClubsNSW magazine on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)