3 WAYS HOTELS & CLUBS CAN ATTRACT AND RETAIN MILLENNIALS

Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest generation in total numbers around the world. One of their most notable qualities to the marketing industry: they’re extremely brand loyal. While hotels have already started to tap into this market, clubs are struggling to figure out how to position themselves to appeal to the younger, but very influential millennial generation. They may not be ready to access gaming rooms for several years yet, (eventually everyone gets older), because they have no money…yet. However, clubs need to at least make them comfortable coming to venues now by updating aspects of the venue that are of interest to them for example on trend bars and areas with insta-worthy views that you already have or can create.

Once you do have the right space here are 3 ways that your club can begin working towards attracting millennials:

1) Evaluate and Enhance your Clubs Digital Presence

The best way to reach an audience is to meet them where they already are, and millennials are online. There’s no debating it. The industry lags far behind when it comes to digital marketing and technology. In my opinion one of the biggest reasons for this is that many clubs don’t have a clearly defined digital marketing strategy and are still doing advertising rather than marketing.

Without a defined roadmap, how do you know where you’re going?

The best digital strategy tells the club’s story across all forms of digital media; from the website to social media channels, from email marketing to a mobile app. It’s a combination of all of those that make digital marketing one of the most successful ways to target millennials.

Millennials are the first generation to grow up in a completely interactive and digital world. Understandably, they expect the companies and brands that they interact with or spend money on to be as digitally savvy as they are.

Millennials don’t want a great mobile app experience; they EXPECT it in almost every interaction they have on a daily basis

2) Invest More Effort in Social Media Marketing

The social media profiles of most clubs that we review tend to consist of a basic rotation of only three post types:

• Images of event flyers (usually the same from their monthly newsletters).
• Club lunch specials (often just text with no supporting content).
• A few venue photos.

While these types of content are okay to post, we urge clubs to get more creative! Clubs are all unique, so a social media strategy that works at one club might not be a good fit for a club just down the road. Tell your story by sharing what makes your club different so you can stand out among the competition.

• To take a step in the right direction, have your social media manager incorporate some more in-depth and creative content into your club’s feed.  Some ideas include:Share community events and other local information.
• Post glimpses of some behind the scenes action on your clubs Instagram Story
• Help your followers get to know Club staff by sharing photos along with short intros.
• Discuss family focused amenities to bring the whole family in.

Having a dynamic presence in the marketing formats that are the most relevant to this generation, with a concentrated focus on social media, has become critical to successfully showcase offerings and their benefits to future members. While word of mouth will always be our most powerful marketing tool, the brand will grow and thrive based on a willingness to jump into social media marketing with both feet.

TIP:  Don’t be afraid to boost posts that are performing well and getting large organic engagement. The average organic reach for any post is going to be less than 15% of your total audience – so boost it up to further the reach!

3) Email Marketing Automation

Email marketing is the most popular way to reach your current members on a consistent basis. According to a recent study email communication was the preferred method of contact by millennials. One way you can step up your email marketing game is by implementing an automation.

What is email automation? 

Simply put, email automation is an automated sequence of emails that are delivered based on a defined action or trigger. eg Nearly all club websites have a form where interested candidates can request more information regarding membership. This is a perfect opportunity to implement an automated email sequence. A “3 email drip campaign” can be put together to deliver on day 1, day 2 and day 3…all with different content that drives the lead further down the funnel. You’ll be able to see which candidates have read the emails, which arms you with more information when contacting the prospect to set up a tour!

In summary, the 3 best ways to reach millennials are:

1. Enhancing your club’s digital presence including web, social, email and mobile marketing.

2. Learning to speak their language by amp-ing up your club’s social media efforts.

3. Implementing email automation to turn leads into sales.

Adapted for an Australian audience from: https://www.longdriveagency.com/country-club-millennials/