At this point there’s no reason your club shouldn’t have a sizable media catalog available to fill all of your marketing needs.

As we’ve highlighted in a past blog, smartphone camera capabilities improve with every update, anyone is capable of capturing high quality images at any moment. The trick is being able to identify the best moments to capture the images that will most benefit your future marketing efforts and your digital presence.

With this blog we want to show you a few of the photography opportunities that regularly present themselves in the everyday operations of a golf course or country club and the benefits you reward yourself by building a diverse media catalog.

Value of a Diverse Media Catalog

It shouldn’t be a surprise that we are an extremely digital society and with that comes certain realities that we must accept when we build out our marketing strategy.

Marketing, regardless of the medium in which it is channeled, requires captivating imagery.

From email marketing to your club’s digital presence, the photos and other media you choose to use directly reflects how your audience perceives your club.

The name of the game when you’re out collecting marketing content is “General”.

While you don’t want to be completely random when it comes to your shot selection, it helps to think generally by looking for moments to capture that produce an image that can have a few different uses. The goal is to collect a wide variety of quality content to build out your media library, not just a lot of content.

To help we put together a short list of what you should be looking for. 

1) “Stock” Images

While stock images can be quick and easy, they also have an impersonal feel to them. Stock photos are made to be intentionally vague, with the models doing various activities that could be applicable in different situations.

Creating your own “stock” photos is easy and if done well can give your website and marketing material a much more authentic feel.

Simply plan a few “photo shoots” with volunteer employees and members to get you started with stock photo collection.

Have your volunteers run through a few staged employee/member interactions, member/member interactions, and other activities around your facility. Make sure you’re of focusing on the photography basics, ensure full, even lighting and that the subjects are properly framed.

Planned shoots are a great way to get a lot of content at once but it isn’t always the best option, after all, sometimes it’s just difficult to stage a “genuine” looking moment.

So always be on the lookout for those great candid moments when you go about your day to day tasks, the moments will present themselves.

2) General Course Photos

Golf tournaments, despite their chaotic nature, are the perfect time to gather content. Candid shots of players warming up, interacting with staff, or simply taking a moment to take in the course are all easy shots to find and also gives your course a human touch.

3) User Generated Content

This is by far the easiest method for gathering content, make your members do some of the work!

While user generated content won’t always produce the highest quality images, it won’t really matter for social media purposes.

Encourage your members and guest to snap some shots of themselves having fun with their friends and family while at your Club.

By using a specific hashtag or tagging their location, you’ll be able to see what others post and gather content from there. This method is great for driving word-of-mouth by having your members promote your club for you.

However you choose to promote your club, it’s important to make sure you have the appropriate media catalog to back it up. With a high quality camera in everyone’s pocket, building these catalogs is easier than ever. Once you make it a habit to be on the lookout for great photo opportunities, the rest should come naturally.

If you’re looking to grow your Country Club’s media catalog

and start creating eye-catching advertisements, we can help!