We know that our Year 1 channels delivered thousands of tickets with significant headwinds (unproven concept, lack of prior-year marketing material, unclear tournament format and details (lack of clarity on geographic inclusion, rules, venues and prizes for much of the marketing window). While experimenting with new channels and regions is a small part of the Y2 plan, the prudent approach is to leverage existing channels to deliver the bulk of teams. We have 50k leads and 11k Y1 players of whom the majority have indicated they want to play again. We still have access to creator channels and we know we can successfully activate paid ads. 

To get these channels to more than double from Year 1, we need to focus on doing the basics better: nail down tournament format details earlier, clarify rules and address pain points, optimise and A/B test the website, localise content and currencies, ensure the offer is compelling and much more adapted to audience segments, lock down attractive venues and prizes much earlier, identify partners and lean on them for content and distribution, etc.)

We will explore new channels and markets as well, but recognise that these are unproven, and therefore cannot expect them to contribute significantly to sales. We should make efforts to expand more strategic partnerships with brands, sponsors and clubs with the aim to using them both to strengthen the entry fee value proposition (prizes and perks) and to give us new distribution channels. Lastly, we should aim to tailor messaging to different audience segments - for example, Year 1 messaging was very heavy on the creator angle which may not have been the right emotional trigger for parts of our audience.

We have 5 key growth areas that act as inputs into our go-to market strategy:

Our year two growth strategy leverages a balanced approach, building on proven success to retain users while actively exploring new markets to reach our 7,000-team target.

We need to diversify our player acquisition strategy beyond current channels to tap into new golfer segments.

Year 1 has given us a wealth of data on motivators and pain points via analytics, customer support interactions and surveys. We will these insights to tailor messaging to different audience segments.

To cater to varied player preferences and address common concerns, we are testing a new entry pathway for Year 2.

Combining our understanding of markets, channels, audience segments, emotional triggers and product offerings allows us to shape tailored go-to market strategies for each target audience.

In anticipation of expanding the concept to speak to the wider golf market, we are considering changing the Creator Golf Club name to something more player-centric, such as The Fan Major, for example. This would be part of a bigger brand audit exercise to make sure our communication and messaging is consistent with the experience we want our players to have.

Chart 1: Waterfall buildup of teams by acquisition channel

Here we go more into more detail on practical implementation of the key areas:

For Year 1, the creators as the face of the tournament and main acquisition channel worked. Combined with paid ads and some light partnership and sponsor credibility (England Golf and Trendy Golf), we launched a new concept with 4,000+ teams.

2 out of 3 Year 1 participants said they would have played even if creators had not participated, suggesting creator credibility in the marketing phase mattered more than their tournament presence.

This suggests that we should not view Year 2 growth only through the lens of creator distribution. Credibility can come from several sources - content creators, governing bodies, commercial sponsors, golf clubs or strategic partners.

While focusing on core channels (retention, creators and paid), the strategy is to build business development pipelines across every acquisition channel, with each pipeline having:

Viewed this way, creators are no different from sponsors or federations - they're simply another stakeholder group and distribution channel.

All channels should be progressed simultaneously as they are mutually reinforcing. This strategy reduces execution risk, increases negotiating leverage, and allows the launch strategy to evolve naturally as opportunities develop.

Each successful partnership becomes another proof point, increasing the probability of closing the next.

Rather than committing significant capital behind a single acquisition channel, CGC should pursue multiple credibility pathways in parallel while recognising that each has very different lead times, costs and probabilities of success.

We should maintain our paid and creator-led channels while growing more traditional golf channels (where a large part of the remaining on-course players live) such as golf clubs and partnerships with organisations like England Golf.

Our Year 2 plan is designed to scale Creator Golf Club by doing the basics better and testing new opportunities.