There is no doubt about, the Golf Industry has got to quickly get use to using social media and Google+ is the best place to get started.
The denial most private golf clubs, golf retail shops, golf facilities and Golfers have with the internet helping them move forward in social networking has to be overcome before they are going to be able to make the change they need to make. The question I am asked frequently when I meet with general managers of golf facilites and golf business people always has to do with where can they go online to make the biggest impact to their business.
Right Place to Be
The instinct many golf businesses have is to go where they feel their consumer are online. This could be part of what they need to do but they all need to think ahead. Social networking is changing and businesses… golf industry included… need to change with it. How social networking and social media have changed is in how information, or content posted in the social space, is perceived.
Consumers…which fortunately include golfers… are not as trustworthy of the content they are provided in their social space as they were before. This comes from years of unbridled high volumes of scamming and philshing allowed in the social space. The consumer became smarter and their search began to find ways to determine what is real.
They turned away from social networking to using the search engines to surf for accurate information. Eventually, their search focused on content from real people who have used the product or services they are being presented in their personal space online.
Naturally, seeing this change coming Google reacted by jumping in with offering the world Google Plus (G+). Google+ from it’s inception over a year ago was designed to gather real people to socialize openly or in private. What made G+ different was it’s connection with the world’s largest search engine..Google. This allowed for all content being posted in G+ to be immediately searchable on Google which met the needs of consumers. This made being on G+ a very powerful tool for those who clearly understand social networking and social media.
Social Search
With G+, the dynamics of social networking changed to becoming Social Search. Everything a business… yes, golf businesses included …posts on G+ about their product or services is placed on Google. Everything a customer says on G+ about the business’ product or services is immediately seen on Google. This established G+ as the place every business needs to be if they want to get in front of the consumers.
More importantly, G+ is where the managers, owners and emplyees of the golf businesses need to be since the golf consumers are moving to G+ to get out of the less desirable and decaying enviroment of other social spaces. Being able to build a reliable community of golfers was made easy with G+.
Right for Golf
G+ has everything to offer a golf business to help it gain the attention of the consumer. The HangOut video chat feature allows a golf club or golf business to put a face on who is in charge or who manages the facility. The Event feature combined with the powerful G+ Circle allows for announcements to be targeted to a specific group or the world. The Party Mode, available on smartphones, allows people who attend an Event to immediately post comments or Photos they took…show everyone the Hole-n-One you made..or almost made.
The Comment Ripple feature lets a golf business see where and, more importantly, who is spreading the word or content they posts. The Local feature can be used by golfers to find a golf course or for a golf business to tell the world where they are located.
For the golfer, G+ provides a clean interface and environment for socializing in public or private. It also offers golfers the ability to create Pages for their businesses or create a place for more personal conversations to be held.
The one big aspect G+ offers the golf world is…it’s all offered at no cost. So what are you waiting for? Come join me on the Mr Business Golf G+ Page , let me show you how to use G+ to work for and let’s get social.
And just in case you are asking..No, I am not a Google Employee nor is Google paying me to post this. My remarks and statements come from my six years of using all of the social networks and finding G+ being the place to be for effective use of social media.
