Participate in the event…even if you don’t golf.
If you have never participated in a local golf event for a fundraiser or chamber, you are missing out on a great experience and potential lead generator. Not only do these events bring financial support to local businesses, organizations and schools, they provide a great opportunity for your brand and team members to interact with other local businesses outside the workplace environment.
They always say (whoever they are) that many business deals are typically done at the bar or over a friendly conversation outside of the cold calls and networking events. Over the years, this has proven to be true with conferences, workshops and golf events.
Taking the time to interact with people in a non-business setting opens the doors for normal conversations, similar interest related stories and potential positive interactions that lead to a follow up phone call on Monday morning.
You don’t have to know how to golf or want to golf to be a part of a local event. Sponsor the event at any level of paid sponsorship. This will get your brand in print, on the web and typically on a sign on the day of the event. Attend the event to watch and socialize or even offer to volunteer to get you in front of the participants. Mingle and support the event in any way you can, and you are bound to find some positive results.
Of course, for the best results, pick up a club and pretend you know what you are doing. You will meet new business professionals and you more than likely will enjoy your time at the event. Bring a co-worker or existing clients with you to experience the event. It’s a great gesture to offer and then you have someone to help start conversations and support you throughout the day.
Set up shop and offer an interactive experience.
This strategy is successfully used by many businesses and proves to bring more excitement and brand awareness to golf events. It can be themed to whatever your company offers as a brand, or it may be theme that is just fun for all event goers to enjoy…like free margaritas on the 10th hole from a tiki hut themed booth.
You need to have a branded tablecloth or a vibrant pop-up booth that draws attention to your brand from across the course that will get attendees excited to stop by. This setup can be very similar to your current trade show booth strategy but consider that you are outside. This may allow you to go bigger with your branding and utilize more space to promote.
Have a cornhole tossing contest, a chip-off with wiffle balls or create some sort of interaction that allows each group to stop by and experience the “fun side” of your brand. While they are at your booth enjoying themselves, now is the time to see what these business professionals do for a living and passively promote your brand in a way that may benefit them.
One of the best at-booth strategies for marketing is to raffle off something of value that attendees can win. This creates excitement for visitors and gives you a chance to grab new leads from the event that you can follow up with later. Be sure to make the prize something of value. Shoot for $50+ to get more people interested and participating, like a Bluetooth speaker, a local business gift card or the forever desirable cash prize.
Give away something with your brand and logo on it.
Everyone knows by now that promotional products are a great way to keep your brand in front of prospects and clients. The downside to this is that many companies are using this strategy as well. That doesn’t mean you have to forego the free stuff at your sponsored hole, it just means you need to get creative with your purpose of the giveaway.
Using a theme for your promo product can help it stand out among the sea of free stuff that is handed out at golf events. Does the event carry a theme that you can tie into, or could you create a unique theme and message with your booth that will resonate through the product giveaway and be memorable beyond the event? You can always keep it simple and line your booth table full of branded pens and chip clips, because those small everyday items are still a favorite among us business professionals.
If you want to stray from spending money on promo products or do not have enough time to order, you can always buy candy and tape a business card or branded label on top of it. This works well for the sweet tooth visitors and stands out from some of the traditional, non-editable promotional products.
Whatever your hesitation may be with sponsoring or participating in a local golf event, consider it a new marketing channel that is worth trying once or twice. It gets your brand and team out in the community and in front of other business professionals. You never know, you may get a hole in one.
With 30 years in the print marketing world, IntegriPrint can bring quality and professionalism to your brand through design, print and marketing. Reach out to learn how we can help build and execute your event marketing strategy today.
