Marketing Your Tournament to Players and Sponsors

Marketing a golf tournament works best as an ongoing process rather than a single announcement.

Before you begin promoting your tournament, make sure people can quickly understand what the tournament is, why they should participate or sponsor, and what action you want them to take. Then use your Tournament Website, existing contacts, Email Blasts, and other communication channels to keep the tournament visible as registration and sponsorship sales progress.

Start With a Clear Tournament Offer

Before sending emails or sharing your tournament, make sure the basic information is ready and easy to understand.

A prospective player or sponsor should be able to quickly identify:

the tournament date and location;
the tournament format;
who the tournament is for;
why someone should participate;
available Registration Packages;
available Sponsorship Products;
important registration or sponsorship deadlines; and
what the tournament supports, especially for charity or fundraising tournaments.

Your Tournament Website should act as the main destination for this information. When you promote the tournament through email, text, social media, or other channels, direct people back to the appropriate page where they can learn more, register, or make a purchase.

Build and Reuse Your Contact List

Your existing contacts can be one of the most useful starting points for promoting another tournament.

Potential contacts include:

past players;
prospective players;
past sponsors;
donors;
volunteers;
committee members; and
corporate or community contacts.

Rather than rebuilding these lists every year, export contacts from previous tournaments and import them into the current tournament.

You can also organize email contacts into Email Contact Categories so different audiences receive messages relevant to them.

For instructions, see Managing Email Contacts and Categories.

Promote Player Registration

When your goal is to fill available player spots, focus the message on the experience and make the next action obvious.

Useful player-registration messages can include:

registration opening announcements;
reminders about registration deadlines;
reminders when availability is becoming limited;
new tournament details, prizes, or activities;
updates about confirmed sponsors or tournament supporters; and
reminders to share the tournament with friends, coworkers, or potential teammates.

Use Player Registration Emails for Registration Promotion

A Player Registration Email is specifically designed to encourage contacts who have not yet registered to sign up.

Player Registration Emails can include a reminder date. Event Caddy checks registrations before each send so contacts who have already registered are excluded from the registration promotion.

For setup and sending instructions, see Sending Emails with Communication Tools.

Important: A Player Registration Email is a promotional email under Communication Tools. It is different from the automatic Registration Confirmation Email sent after an eligible player registers.

Promote Sponsorship Opportunities

Player registration and sponsorship promotion should not necessarily use the same message.

Players are deciding whether they want to participate in the tournament. A prospective sponsor is deciding whether the sponsorship opportunity makes sense for their company, organization, or goals.

When promoting Sponsorship Products, clearly explain information such as:

what the sponsorship includes;
the audience or tournament the sponsor will be supporting;
where sponsor recognition may appear;
whether the sponsorship includes player registrations or other benefits;
how the sponsorship supports the tournament, charity, or organization; and
any sponsorship deadline or limited availability.

You can promote sponsorship opportunities through dedicated emails, a page on your Tournament Website, or a downloadable sponsorship document.

If you use a PDF or other sponsorship document, upload it through Event Website > Website Editor > Downloadable Files and link to it from your Email Blast or Tournament Website.

A Sponsorship Product is something sold through the Online Store. A Sponsor is the recognition record that can be displayed on the Tournament Website. These are related, but they are not the same concept.

For the distinction, see Selling Sponsorships vs. Displaying Sponsors.

Use One Time Emails for Ongoing Promotion

A One Time Email is useful when the message is not specifically a Player Registration Email.

Marketing examples include:

save-the-date announcements;
tournament updates;
sponsorship announcements;
sponsor spotlights;
prize or activity announcements;
deadline reminders;
volunteer information; and
post-tournament thank-you or recap messages.

Keep each email focused on a clear purpose and make the desired next step easy to identify, such as registering, purchasing a Sponsorship Product, visiting the Tournament Website, or reviewing updated tournament information.

If players and sponsors need different information, send targeted messages rather than trying to make one email serve every audience.

See Sending Emails with Communication Tools for the complete Email Blast workflow.

Use Text Messages for Short, Timely Updates

For Event Caddy PRO tournaments, text messaging can supplement email when the message is short and time-sensitive.

Marketing-related examples may include:

registration deadline reminders;
limited-availability reminders;
sponsorship deadline reminders; or
another short call to action as the tournament approaches.

Text messages are limited to 160 characters and are sent immediately rather than scheduled, so they are best used for concise messages where timing matters.

Use text messaging selectively and only with contacts you are permitted to message.

For Contact Groups, credits, and sending instructions, see Sending Text Messages.

Make Your Tournament Website Part of the Marketing

Your Tournament Website should support the messages you are sending elsewhere.

Useful website content may include:

a clear description of the tournament;
registration information;
Sponsorship Products;
Sponsor recognition;
photos from previous tournaments;
information about the organization or cause;
prizes, contests, or tournament activities; and
downloadable sponsor or participant information.

Photos from previous tournaments can help prospective players and sponsors understand the event experience.

See How to add a photo gallery to your site for the current Photo Gallery workflow.

Sponsor logos and recognition can also help show which organizations are already involved with the tournament.

See Displaying Sponsors on Your Tournament Website for sponsor display management.

Encourage Sharing and Word of Mouth

Do not limit promotion to the people already on your own contact list.

Encourage players, sponsors, volunteers, committee members, and supporters to share the tournament with people in their own networks.

For example, you can:

ask registered players to invite friends or coworkers;
ask sponsors to share the tournament with employees or clients;
include your Tournament Website link in promotional emails;
encourage recipients to forward an email to someone who may be interested; and
share tournament updates through the social channels your organization already uses.

The goal is to make it easy for someone who already supports the tournament to direct another person back to your Tournament Website.

Use Real Deadlines and Availability

Registration and sponsorship deadlines can give people a reason to act instead of postponing their decision.

Examples include:

registration closing dates;
sponsorship closing dates;
limited Registration Package availability;
limited Sponsorship Product quantities; or
other genuine tournament deadlines.

If availability is limited, communicate that clearly and keep the information accurate.

Avoid creating artificial urgency that does not match the actual tournament setup.

Show That the Tournament Is Active

As the tournament grows, use new activity as another reason to communicate.

For example:

highlight newly confirmed Sponsors;
announce prizes, contests, or activities;
share photos from past tournaments;
provide progress updates;
remind contacts about approaching deadlines; and
continue directing prospective players and sponsors to the Tournament Website.

This helps prevent promotion from stopping immediately after registration first opens.

Reuse What Worked Next Year

After the tournament, keep useful material for the following year.

Consider retaining:

successful email messaging;
your organized contact lists;
past Sponsor relationships;
tournament photos;
sponsorship materials; and
notes about when registrations or sponsorships increased.

Event Caddy does not currently provide a standard duplicate function for Email Blasts, but the content of a previous email can be reused through the Source Code workflow described in Sending Emails with Communication Tools.

If you want delivery/success and reported-open information for an Email Blast, Event Caddy Support can provide available statistics for up to one week after the email is sent. Requesting that information while it is available can help you compare messages before planning the next tournament.

A Simple Marketing Timeline

You do not need to use every marketing tactic at once.

A simple approach might look like this:

Stage	Marketing focus
Before registration opens	Prepare the Tournament Website, build or import contacts, finalize Registration Packages and Sponsorship Products, and send a save-the-date if appropriate.
When registration opens	Send a Player Registration Email, begin sponsorship outreach, and direct contacts to the Tournament Website.
While registration is open	Share updates, promote remaining player and sponsorship opportunities, highlight Sponsors, and continue targeted email communication.
As deadlines approach	Send accurate deadline or availability reminders. Use text messaging for appropriate short, time-sensitive messages if your tournament has PRO.
After the tournament	Send thank-you or recap communication and preserve useful contacts, photos, sponsor relationships, and messaging for next year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I send the same marketing email to players and sponsors?

Not necessarily.
Players and sponsors are usually making different decisions. A player-focused message should make registration clear, while sponsor-focused communication should explain the sponsorship opportunity and recognition or benefits being offered.
Email Contact Categories can help you communicate with these audiences separately.

Should I use a Player Registration Email or a One Time Email?

Use a Player Registration Email when the purpose is specifically to encourage contacts who have not registered to become players.
Use a One Time Email for other communication, including tournament announcements, sponsor promotion, updates, reminders, and post-tournament messages.
See Sending Emails with Communication Tools for both workflows.

Can I reuse contacts from a previous tournament?

Yes.
Contacts from previous tournaments can be exported and imported into the current tournament rather than recreated manually.
See Managing Email Contacts and Categories.

Should I stop marketing once registration opens?

No.
Registration opening is one stage of the promotion process. Continue communicating useful updates, deadlines, available player spots or sponsorship opportunities, new Sponsors, prizes, and other tournament developments as appropriate.