Got your attention, didn’t I? That is what many of the golf professional who are online posting a barrage of swing tips are hoping to do as well.  The problem is..they are failing miserably. 

On the surface, just having anything about Golf online is positive.  In fact there needs to be more information about Golf online but is having thousands of videos and blog posts offering up the breakdown of the golf swing what Golf needs more of online?  Obviously not.

In a quick survey I conducted during a gathering of business people, mixed with golfers and non-golfers, over 45% said they have stopped checking out golf swing videos since they all are saying the same.  25% look only at the swing videos of the celebrity golf instructors and the remainder ranged from just gave up looking for golf tips, to losing complete interest in golf since nobody has any new ideas.

Social Media for Golf

The use of social media to promote anything is a must now days and this included the efforts of the golf teaching instructors.  However, social media does not adapt well to the old methods of marketing which many of the teaching professional today grew up with and/or have been told they need to use to get noticed online.  Also, following the lead of the celebrity golf instructors, who are backed my millions of dollars of advertising, is not something the regular journeyperson golf instructor should attempt using as their main content for their digital footprint.

What most golf teach pros are not told or have not found out about yet, is the people looking for an instructor are not sold on seeing them show how to swing.  What the consumer is looking for is ‘Who Is This Person wanting to give me lessons’..not ‘what can they do’.

Failure From the Beginning

Too many times I go over to Twitter and see a few of the golf professionals in my feed pumping out video after video of them showing how to do something.  The same thing is going on around all of the online social spaces.  This method of marketing golf instructions was unique back in the mid-90’s.  The video golf instruction media is now overflowing YouTube and other online video outlets making golf instructional videos a huge turn off for a growing number of people interested in learning to play golf.

Fortunately, consumers are still interested in learning to play golf and eventually after they check out Hank Haney, Butch Harman and David Leadbetter instruction videos, they are going to Google to find a golf instructor in their area.  What they will find is a HUGE void since over 85% of the golf professional anywhere in the country are either not online or are online but have not idea how SEO works…or what it is.

The Fix

Golf instructors, like any of the professionals offering services to consumers, need to first answer the consumer’s #1 question..Who is this person?  They need to have a blog that has more on who they are, what they like in life, what they do and don’t do as well as touching on their philosophy in golf.  Its a given they can teach golf and the proof of that does come ‘in the pudding’, but only after the consumer is convinced the instructor they are interested in is not a ‘Butch Harmon’ wannabe..for which, there is only one Mr Harmon..well, a couple, but only one who is seen in the limelight.

If golf instructors are to succeed today with their social media efforts they need to develop a very strong web presence, awareness of how social media works and a broad digital footprint in the social spaces.  Golf professionals need to highlight first who they are and then what they can do. 

Showing a flashy video of a fancy trick shot is cool, but if the person making it is not very conscious of his student’s needs or wants, then that instructor is seen as a ‘One Trick Shot’ golf pro.  The nature of social networking is to be social and that is where golf professionals do not understand.  What they need to grasp from the beginning, and stay with it, is the sale today is made with a smile and quick wit in the social spaces, not on a video of it.

Let me know how I can help.