Growing the game of tennis: Increasing participation

In the first of three blog posts we share our insights and approach to growing the game of tennis with a specific focus on increasing participation.

Tennis is a game that can be played for a lifetime, and for the sport to thrive in the long term, a constant flow of new players trying and going on to learn tennis is required. Introducing as many people as possible to the game should be a top priority for every venue. For government owned and leased facilities, it’s also particularly important that tennis facilities are well utilised. Underperforming venues can often be rezoned or repurposed for other sports if deemed to be of more benefit to the community. Here are some of the key areas that Voyager Tennis focuses on to increase participation.

Every tennis venue is unique and has a varying number of courts, clubhouse amenities and area demographics to evaluate when putting together a programming plan which should consider the following:

• Coaching programs
• Competitions and tournaments
• Court hire
• Restringing
• Proshop
• Food & Beverage
• Membership

A great way to start building a program timetable is to offer a wide range of options initially and then assess the participation of each service offered. Generally, the junior program works best in the afternoons after school, teenagers in the early evenings and adults at night and all programming usually works well on the weekend due to increased customer availability.

The first principle of successful tennis venue pricing is that it needs to be affordable to the local community and allow a broad local audience to participate. Allowing customers to do a free introductory trial is also a good way to ensure that people can try the session before they make any financial commitments.

The second key consideration is that the pricing needs to be high enough to allow the business to pay all operating expenses as well as set aside funds for facility upgrades when they are required. The key is finding the balance, as pricing that is too expensive will create a drop in participation. This will make it difficult to launch new programs and reduce employment opportunities. If pricing is too cheap, the operator will eventually lack the funds to pay for facility upgrades and operational expenses which will produce negative outcomes for all stakeholders.

An appropriate marketing strategy is critical to ensure that the business is generating enough demand from customers to create a sustainable business.

Developing and maintaining a quality website is a key component and should clearly display all programs and services on offer including the timetable, pricing, physical address as well as contact phone number and email in a prominent position. Around half of all website views originate from search engines such as google so ensure your website is SEO optimised and your google business profile is up to date.

Another key area is the active management and promotion to your database which can be the biggest driver of participation from our experiences. Capturing all customers phone numbers and email addresses who participate at your facility, and segmenting according to the programs they have enrolled in allows you to market and cross promote programs to participants and their families. Promotional emails generally have an open rate of 25-40% although text messages have a 95%+ open rate and can achieve better results than emails despite the small cost per text message.

Social media can be very effective for developing a brand and reputation for larger tennis companies with a marketing budget. The key channels for tennis venues to invest time and effort into are Instagram and Facebook. To keep your followers engaged we suggest regular weekly posts including a mix of promotions, club news and tennis education such as blog posts.

Most tennis venues may struggle to maintain a strong social media presence and develop enough content to make this avenue worthwhile. From our experience we’d suggest venues first establish a strong internet presence and maximise the promotion opportunity to their database before considering investing time and resources into social media platforms which may not deliver the results you are looking for.

Another key marketing initiative is to contact local schools to request advertising within their school newsletters and potentially holding tennis in school sessions to help promote uptake of tennis programs.Ultimately, delivering a customer orientated experience on and off the court will help encourage word of mouth referrals and positive customer reviews on Google Business and social media.

Providing a quality overall customer experience is a team effort between coaches and administrators which incorporates items such as the booking process, program delivery, billing, and re-enrolment.

The initial booking process is where the customer often forms their first impression of your business. Responding quickly to their enquiry combined with an efficient booking process can get the relationship off to a strong start. Having quality management software including an online booking system will facilitate this process.

When the customer arrives at the facility for the first time, they should be greeted by a friendly team member. For services involving coaching or competition, a well-trained coach should ensure the customer is in the appropriate group for their level and is provided a quality experience.

By Ryan Henry, Managing Director of Voyager Tennis and Ex-Pro Tennis Player

The above blog post is an excerpt from an article written by Voyager’s Ryan Henry for the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Coaching and Sport Science Review.

The ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review is the official coaching and sport science publication of the International Tennis Federation. The ITF Coaching and Sport Science Review is an Open Access scholarly peer-reviewed journal aimed to publish studies in different sub-disciplines within the world of tennis coaching. It aims to provide cutting-edge studies to players, parents, coaches, sports administrators, sports scientists and others.