Gaining followers on your social media accounts is no easy task.

You need to set up your account, post regularly and follow along with comments. Most importantly, you need to have a strategy to add followers to your page.

Here are some quick tips on ways your golf course can add more followers to your social media channels:

On-Course Social Media Promotions

The easiest way to get followers to your social media accounts is to tell your golfers to follow you with on-course promotions. Some ways you can create on-course promotions to get golfers to follow you on social media are:

Clear Signage – include signs on your course, in the clubhouse and in the golf shop that tell your golfers you’re using social media.
Selfie Spot – Identify a popular picture taking spot on your golf course and include signage letting your golfers know this is a great spot to take a photo to share on social media. They will likely follow and share their experience at your course with their friends too.
Photo by Tom Prince
At the Point of Sale – Train your staff to let your golfers know to follow you on your social media channels for special offers, updates and course conditions.
Include a Scrolling Feed: Use a scrolling feed to show your golfers what you’re posting and what your golfers are posting on social media in your golf shop or clubhouse.

Engage on Other Social Media Pages

With more than 1.1 billion users, it’s possible to reach and connect with people from all walks of life, especially golfers. Local community pages, local golf-related pages, and local business pages are a great way to reach out and connect with your community and get more people following you on social media.

Local Community Pages: Regardless of where you live, there are social media accounts set up to engage your local community. In my town, Chino Hills Connections is a go-to resource for members of our community. Be sure to engage in local discussion to raise the profile of your social media pages.
Local Golf-Related Pages: You may have seen golf trick shot videos, golf equipment review sites, and golf course aficionado social media posts all over the internet. Connect with these influencers to raise the profile of your golf course and add to your follower count.
Local Business Pages: Local businesses are a great resource for golf courses to reach out to. Not only are they great prospects for events and tournaments at your golf course, but the people that visit those pages are likely people in your community.

Social Media Advertising to Target Golfers

An easy way to add followers to your social media channel is to use Facebook Advertising. With Facebook Ads, we recommend targeting golfers who live within 30 miles of your golf course.

Ads for Likes: You can run ad campaigns to target people who would be most likely to like your page. This will help increase your follower count.
Ads for Sales: We typically don’t recommend using ads for likes unless you’re just starting your social media account. What we suggest instead is using Facebook Ads to drive potential customers to a sale. While doing this they will be aware of your social channels and be more likely to follow.
Ads to Your Prime Market: With Facebook Ads, you can target golfers who are on your email list, who have visited your website in the past 90 days, or are the most engaged on your Facebook page. This high level of targeting insures that you’re reaching the right customers at the right price.

Use Hashtagging

Most social media sites use hashtags to help identify topics of conversation or categories of posts. Using hashtags in your posts will help add followers, specifically on sites like Instagram and Twitter.

Straight-Up Hashtagging: Example = #Golf – Using a hashtag like this makes your content usable on the various social media search engines. #Golf in Instagram as an example has more than 10,717,779 posts.
Local Hashtagging: Example = #SoCalGolf – Want to be searchable for a higher target market. Use local hashtags to be found by golfers who are more likely to play your course. #SoCalGolf in Instagram as an example has 7,304 posts.
Golf-Related Hashtags: Example = #GolfLife – There are tons of golf-related hashtags that can help your golf course get found by golfers all over the world. #GolfLife in Instagram as an example has 476,967 posts.

Run Social Media Contests

Run contests through your page to help spread word of mouth. They can get golfers to share your posts which can drive new golfers to your social media accounts. Some examples of contests you could run to gain followers are:

Photo Contest – Have your golfers submit a photo to your social media channel. The photo with the most likes wins. This will encourage your golfers to take a picture at your course, share it with their friends and invite them to your page to see it.
Share This Post with Your Friends Contest – Ask your followers to share a post. Randomly choosing a winner from the participants.
Majors Contest – Host a social contest during the major golf tournaments. Give your golfers a contest they’re happy to share with their friends.

Use Emails and Website to Promote Social Media Channels

Include your social media accounts in your emails and on your website. You can do this by:

Including your social media accounts in all employees’ email signatures
Sending an auto-responder email when they complete a round to ask them to follow your social media accounts
Having social media buttons on your website
Including a live social media feed, showing your actual social media posts, on your website.

Post Authentic, Engaging Social Media Content

The more engaging and authentic the content on your golf course is, the more likely you’ll have people want to follow you.

Think of your social media accounts as your own personal newspaper. The more subscribers you have, the more customers you’ll get.

Want more tips on how to get more golfers playing your golf course more often using social media? Sign up for the 19th Hole Media email list.

About
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Zeb Welborn

Zeb Welborn is the founder of 19th Hole Media, author of the Social Golf Course, president of Welborn Media and the host of the Twitter Chat, #GolfChat. Find out more.