No Bays Unbooked: How to Fill Your Tee-times and Maximize Golf Simulator Usage

Demand is high—in fact, it’s the highest it’s ever been for golf simulator commerce. Among younger generations in the post-pandemic era, it’s common to hear weekend plans being made to go to driving ranges, indoor golf venues, or golf simulator facilities to hang out (and practice swings, of course). This isn’t just a hunch either. According to the National Golf Foundation, an estimated 6.2 million Americans hit golf balls with a club in a golf simulator from 2022 to 2023, a total thats increased to 73% compared to pre-pandemic levels—and the market is only growing. 

What was once a sport that was primarily played amongst friends outdoors has now adapted to the solitary lifestyle that emerged during the pandemic. Players got accustomed to the luxuries of having a golf simulator in their homes that could be played at any time and regardless of the weather. Now that COVID-19 is in the rearview, everyone wants to play with friends again—and the result is a surge in demand for indoor golf facilities.

With all this interest, you’d expect tee-times to be booked solid. But for many facilities, that’s just not the reality. Despite investing in state of the art technology, building an incredible social atmosphere, and otherwise “doing everything right,” open spots still remain—and so does untapped revenue potential.

‍So, the question for these venues now becomes: Where are the gaps in my current strategy and how do I fix them? Let’s break down what’s missing and what can be done to increase the number of indoor golf bookings at your facility.

Two areas for opportunity

Marketing

1. Optimize for search engines
2. Email marketing
3. Leverage social media
4. Take advantage of free listing websites

Booking + business strategy

1. Implement a dynamic pricing strategy
2. Offer incentives through booking
3. Invest in a golf simulator booking software that supports your business
   
   1. Make booking mobile-first
   2. Adapt to your pricing strategy
4. Analyze current booking patterns

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Marketing for indoor golf facilities

The traditional outbound marketing approach, which relies heavily on advertisements, is no longer enough in the digital age. The key is to also incorporate inbound marketing strategies into your plan, leveraging technology to attract and engage with your audience. The steps below are outlined in order of importance, so feel free to use this as a step-by-step guide.

Optimize for search engines

You may have heard of the acronym, SEO, in passing, but the actual definition might be new to you. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process by which you improve your website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), with the goal of driving more organic traffic to your page. The higher you rank on search engines for certain keywords, the more likely your target audience will land on your site.

Buzzwords aside, how can you actually do it?

1. Fully set up your Google My Business (GMB) profile with your address, contact information, hours, images, videos, and customer reviews. For even more visibility, add a “Book now” button that directs your audience straight to your booking page.
2. Bake keywords and phrases into your website that people are likely to search for when looking for indoor golf bookings.
3. Include pages on your website that offer information specific to your location, such as highlighting local events and community involvement—this will help improve local SEO.

Email marketing

This is where nurturing your audience comes into play. You’ve established a customer base who is already a fan of your venue, now’s the time to provide them with information related to indoor golf booking that they find valuable and relevant—and that’s the key—relevancy. 

Action items

1. Set up a customer relationship management (CRM) platform if you aren't using one already. We recommend HubSpot, which is free to start, as it is a one-stop-shop for scheduling social media posts, creating email sequences, and managing all customer communications.
2. Understand what your audience finds valuable and deliver that straight to their inbox. Here some ideas you can bake into your strategy:
   
   1. Performance tips: Do they want to improve their game, learn how to use simulator features, or track their stats?
   2. Social proof: Here’s how John Doe upped their game in one month.
   3. Promotions: Refer a friend and get 2 free booking slots, get 25% off your next reservation, or tag us on social media and get 10% off your next booking.
3. Keep your facility top of mind through monthly newsletters. Ideas for content to include:
   
   1. Current rankings: Highlight your venue’s top 10 player rankings in a specific stat category from the past month to spark motivation.
   2. Industry spotlights: Share information like tournament highlights, equipment and product news, and player updates.
   3. Customer stories: Build social proof by sharing customer testimonials, player success stories, and other real-life examples that show the positive impact your venue has had on its community.
   4. Facility updates: Share any recent developments at your facility, such as new staff members, updated equipment, or even a new menu item.

Leverage social media

Make your presence known. Social media is perhaps one of the most effective ways of driving organic traffic to your business, increasing brand visibility, and fostering engagement with your audience—and, yet, it is frequently neglected because it feels daunting to business owners. 

A few tips to help ease your anxiety:

• You do not need to post on all platforms—and it is, in fact, advised against, as you should tailor your strategy to the platforms that are most appropriate for your audience.
• You do not need to post every single day of the week. What is important, however, is that you have a defined cadence for what you will post and when. ‍
• You do not need to be a graphic designer or copywriter. There are plenty of platforms that you can use to help curate your content, such as Canva or Adobe Express for design. As for copywriting, it’s recommended that you use your natural voice and tone, as authenticity is perhaps, above all else, valued most by those consuming your content.

Action items

1. Define which platforms your audience is most active on, and focus your efforts there.
   
   • The indoor golf community is most active on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, so we recommend posting on those three platforms to start. 
2. Set up a LinkTree account and insert your LinkTree link into any relevant platform. Most social media platforms only allow one link in your bio, which can make it hard to direct customers to important pages—like your tee-time booking page. That’s where LinkTree comes in. It lets you create a single link that opens a menu of all the key pages on your website, so your customers can easily find exactly what they need. Setup takes less than 5 minutes, and it’s the easiest, most effective way to drive traffic to your site.
3. Post content your audience cares about and consider the customer journey when brainstorming. It’s common for golfers to go directly to Instagram and TikTok to search for videos of places they are looking to try out, so when brainstorming, ask yourself: What do people want to see when they search for indoor golf facilities? 
   
   To give some other ideas, consider posting about upcoming promotions, technology your audience can expect when they visit, high-quality pictures of food and drinks your venue offers, and images of happy clients hanging out and having fun.

Take advantage of free listing websites

Take advantage of online resources, like Screengolfers, designed to help people quickly find indoor golf facilities nearby. Visitors simply enter their location, and a list of local venues populates. As a directory of sorts, platforms like these provide extra visibility, with a direct link to your website for easy booking.

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Booking + business strategy

Put yourself in the drivers seat and take full control over your booking strategy so that reservations are aligned with your overarching business model. To truly capitalize on golf simulator commerce, these two strategies have to work in tandem.

Implement a dynamic pricing strategy

What is your current pricing model and is it actually serving your business well? If not, it might be time to reconsider your approach and explore a dynamic pricing strategy. You’ve likely experienced this firsthand when booking a flight: ticket prices can change by day or hour, and it’s purely dependent on demand. When demand increases, prices follow, and when demand drops, so do the rates. So, how can you apply this same approach to your business?

Let’s take a look at an example. Transition Golf, a five-star indoor golf facility located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), successfully implemented a dynamic pricing strategy and it’s proven to be a game changer. They’ve priced their six golf bays—two “private” and four “open”—based on traffic. At all times, the “private” bays are always priced slightly higher than the “open” bays, yet their prices fluctuate based on day of week, time of day, and season.

This model is effective for two reasons:

1. They are able to maximize their earning potential by capitalizing on demand.
2. They are able to attract customers who may be more price-sensitive during “off-peak” hours.

Offer incentives through booking

It goes without saying that any opportunity to score a deal or put off making payments is a selling point for anyone. A couple of ways to do this are through discounts and the option to book now and pay later. However, it’s critical that you have a system that supports your strategy from an operational standpoint. Consider a golf simulator booking software with robust functionalities, including pricing rules so that you can easily offer lower rates to your customers based on user type.

Invest in a golf simulator booking software that supports your business

You can be doing everything else right, but if your customers can’t book easily, and you don’t have a booking platform that supports your pricing strategy, it’s going to be a challenge to fill up your tee-times. When looking for the right software, you need to define your must-haves before even starting to research. 

Some features to consider that drive more reservations:

• Intuitive booking experience for your customers. Today’s customers expect an easy-to-use, hassle-free interface for a smooth checkout experience. Opt for a solution with a mobile-friendly booking system and a downloadable app, so your clients can book tee-times on the go.
• Advanced pricing rules. Your booking software should support your pricing strategy—not the other way around. Choose a system that lets you set customized pricing for each space, with rates that can vary based on time of day, day of week, user type, or booking duration.
• Direct payment integrations. Your booking system should make it easy for customers to pay—especially on mobile. According to Forbes, Salesforce reported a 46% year-over-year increase in mobile wallet usage, leading to an increase in mobile sales.  Look for a system with a direct integration to a payment processor that supports mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.‍
• Discounts or book now, pay later functionalities. Remove any and all friction when it comes to making an indoor golf booking by choosing a system that offers flexible payment options like discounts or “book now, pay later.”

Analyze current booking patterns

Make data-driven decisions that support your space-management strategy. How? Through analytics provided by a booking software. AllBooked provides key insights into which spaces are most popular, when your busiest time of week is, who your top users are, how utilization has changed over time, and what the most common booking duration is—just to name a few. Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to maximizing the use of your space.

To learn how AllBooked simplifies golf simulator commerce by handling bookings, payments, and customer needs, reach out to us at info@allbooked.com or give our platform a try by clicking the button below.