If you have been a fan of this blog, you know that I am an avid golfer. Part of the reason we moved to North Carolina is the weather. In Chicago, I was lucky to get 20 rounds a year. In NC, I can golf as many as 20 rounds a month, and we play 12 months out of the year.

One thing I can assure you is that golfing more often leads to consistency. Consistency leads to better scores.

Since the beginning of the year, I was dealing with some medical issues (Sciatica and others) that prevented me from golfing for weeks. When I started back up with once or twice a week, my average score was 96 (still breaking 100). Now that I am golfing 3 to 4 times per week, my average score is 86. I just had two days in a row where I scored an 83 and 84.

Because I am interested in golf, I am hounded by ads on Facebook for tools, technology, and training to lower my score. This is my form of exercise and a hobby. My goal is to be the best I can be without spending huge amounts of money per month. Just so you know, my monthly golfing expenses are usually less than my electric bill.

Professional golfers play 4 days in a row almost every week, and they have to shoot in the 60s to win tournaments. Shooting in the 70s will result in elimination after the first two rounds. But they also have coaches, practice and exercise daily, and can hit the ball farther and with more accuracy than I could ever hope for.

They have a combination of youth, strength, talent, and a team of professional trainers. But if you think they just get a million dollars for playing a weekend of golf, you're forgetting about the cost of doing business.

I believe that marketing is a lot like golf. It takes money, a team, consistency, and measurement to score more sales.

Money

As I said in my last post, AI users fall into two camps: those who create content and those who do research. I realize that many people do both.

As a professional, you have to commit to spending some money. You have to find tools and techniques that deliver an ROI. That means you can earn more from the tool than it costs you.

If you are using AI as a hobby, you want to spend as little money as possible. That's where all the free stuff comes into play. It's great because you don't have any commitments like you do when you are paying for something. Your use and loyalty can change with your day and mood.

For example, I use Planable to post to multiple clients' social media accounts. I also have a dedicated team member who does that posting for me. That costs almost $1000 a month, so I have to make sure I am making more than that for the service I am providing, or else I am losing money every month.

It can cost a professional golfer $5000 to $7000, including travel, lodging, food, and paying their caddie, to play the first two days. If they miss the cut, that money is 100% an expense. They only win some money if they play all four days, so you know why they are so competitive or hard on themselves if they miss a short putt.

Team

As I mentioned above, I have a professional team that supports me to complete client work. I have found professionals who do what I can do but better, and I rely on them to keep my clients happy.

As a golf hobbyist, I am too lazy to carry my own bag, so I rent a cart. The only advice I get comes from my non-golfing buddies.

Professional golfers have a team. They could have a swing coach, putting coach, fitness coach, and even a sports psychologist. They also have a caddie to carry their clubs and give club advice on the course. Obviously, when you add that to the $5000 you spend just to get to a tournament, you have to make some cuts, and better yet, finish in the top 10 to make enough money to pay for all that.

AI can make it seem like you don't need more people because it can write for you, create art, keep your calendar, and even search for new clients. Keep in mind, though, that in the end, it's still all up to you to complete the tasks at hand.

As long as I can make a profit, I prefer to pay people who are better at all of those tasks, like a writer, graphic artist, web programmer, and email and social media specialists. They all do it more consistently and proficiently than I can. They keep my clients happy and successful, while helping me to make a profit and focus on what I do best.

Consistancy

Professional golfers use a whole host of technology to help them become more consistent. They have ball launch monitors, golf simulators, swing analysis computers, and putting lasers. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In marketing, most of us small to mid-sized players rely on Google Analytics. Although you get metrics and analytics from social media platforms, I believe that these are vanity metrics and are subject to the goals of the platform more than your business. Hits, likes, and views can be subjective and slanted to get you to spend more money.

Although Google Analytics is designed to encourage you to buy more Google ads, it still uses data to create its reports. Based on what we are seeing, it is clear that Google searches are having a huge decline. So how can you counteract that?

Most of our clients post 1 to 2 blogs per week. We have found that posting to social media and emailing consistently creates more direct traffic. We then post teaser quotes to social media daily, which lead back to these posts. We also email that new content to their client base at least once or twice per week.

We have found that this consistency (along with a team that is writing empathetically-focused teaser text) is driving people back to our websites to browse or read the entire post. Those hits are the direct traffic that leads to more contact us forms being filled out and, ultimately, more sales.

Measurement

When a pro golfer hits a shot, they must consider several factors: the distance, wind speed, slope (height of the target), and the ball's initial impact location, as well as how and where it will roll. It's a lot of calculation to choose which club will provide the desired results. They are trying to get the ball in the hole in par (3, 4, 5, or less).

As a hobbiest, I just want to get the ball in the vicinity of the green so I can chip and putt to a par, but I expect a bogey (1 over par). Bogey golf is a 90 on most courses, so if I can par a few holes, I can shoot in the 80s.

When it comes to marketing metrics, I find hits to a website the best measurement tool to get a client to par (make sales that generate a profit that includes the expense of marketing).

Viral videos and social posts are good for branding, but unless you can trace them back to action on your website (which most ad platforms pontificate about), they are just attention and not action.

Getting people to a blog teaser and measuring them getting back to your website (Direct Traffic) is far outpacing any search traffic. Getting them to your contact form or having them subscribe to your email list is ACTION! And, ACTION Leads to SALES!

Closing Thought

As a hacker (golf hobbyist), every once in a while, you hit a shot that would make a pro jealous. It could be a hole-in-one, a fairway shot that hits the pin and drops, or a 60-foot putt that dribbles into the cup for a birdie. But those occurrences are few and far between. I could never turn an occasional success into a profession.

As marketers, we have all seen those posts, videos, webinars, or blogs that achieve a momentary off-the-chart success. But it's the consistent approach that generates more business.

Paying more attention to your website, through Google Analytics, gives you consistent feedback that helps you do more of what's working and rely less on those one-hit wonders.

As we say on the golf course, “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.” But to be a PGA pro (as in business), we need sustainable, repeatable, profitable activity to keep playing on the pro tour!

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.