Guest Article: Stories from the Course
Stories from the Course: How to Use Instagram and Facebook Stories to Showcase Your Golf Experience
Using Instagram and Facebook Stories for your golf content is a powerful way to engage a vast, active audience. Whether you’re a single golfer wanting to share your passion or you run a golf-related business, it’s a great way to get yourself out there!
With features like filters, stickers, polls, and geotags, you can create dynamic, interactive stories that highlight the beauty of golf courses, share behind-the-scenes moments, and build authentic connections with your followers.
The nature of Stories also creates urgency, perfect for promoting events or special offers, while tools like hashtags and swipe-up links boost discoverability and drive traffic to your website or other content.
In short, they’re an excellent tool for sharing golf content with your audience. If you aren’t already using them, you definitely should be!
How Do Instagram and Facebook Stories Work?
Instagram and Facebook Stories are dynamic features that let you share photos and videos with your audience for a 24-hour period. These ephemeral posts show up at the top of your followers’ feeds, making them hard to miss. After 24 hours, the content disappears, but both platforms offer options to archive or highlight these stories for future viewing.
They also both offer cross-posting, so you can post on one and automatically post the same thing on the other at the same time. Saving you time!
Preparing to Share Your Golf Experience
So, do you want to start sharing more golf content on your Instagram and Facebook? Here’s how to plan ahead… Because preparation gives you the greatest chance of success!
Planning Your Content
Planning might take some practice and some experimentation, but here’s a quick guide to how to do it effectively:
Define Your Story Arc: Start with an engaging introduction—perhaps arriving at the course or showcasing the day’s weather. Follow up with the main content, like highlights of your game, tips, or interesting course features. Conclude with a wrap-up, such as your reflections on the game or a call-to-action.
Balance Content Types: Mix photos and videos to keep your audience engaged. A video of a perfect swing can be captivating, while photos can highlight the course’s beauty.
Consistency is Key: Develop a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience anticipating your content. Regularity helps build a loyal following.
Equipment and Apps
With the right tools and apps, you can produce engaging stories directly from the course:
Smartphone: Modern smartphones have impressive cameras. Make sure your lens is clean, and explore your phone’s camera settings.
Tripod or Stabilizer: To avoid shaky footage, especially during swing recordings or course panoramas, consider using a compact tripod or a handheld stabilizer.
Lighting Equipment: Natural light is your best friend on the course. But for indoor shots or early morning/late evening sessions, portable LED lights can help make your content look professional.
How to Create Engaging Stories
Engagement is everything on social, and Instagram and Facebook stores are no exception. Here’s how to create engaging stories that people actually enjoy.
Visual Aesthetics
To make your stories stand out, establish a cohesive look by using a consistent color palette, fonts, and filters that reflect your personal or brand identity. This creates a recognizable look that your audience can instantly associate with you.
Make sure your photos and videos are clear and well-composed. Natural lighting works wonders, especially on the golf course. Avoid overly edited content, but don’t be afraid to use stickers and text for a bit of fun.
Interactive Elements
Polls can be a fun way to engage your audience and make them feel involved. Pose questions like, “Which club would you choose for this shot?” This not only engages your audience but also gives you insights into their preferences and gameplay styles.
CTAs like, “Guess my score on this hole!” can create a sense of community and invites followers to actively participate. Or, test your audience's golf knowledge with fun trivia related to the sport. This educational approach keeps viewers engaged and coming back for more.
Giveaways, gifts, and competitions are also fun and add a bit of a competitive streak to your page! This may be better to try once you’re fairly established and have a loyal following, though.
Behind The Scenes Content
Sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses makes your content relatable. Showcase things like your training routines, warm-ups, or even the occasional mishit. This humanizes your content and shows the effort behind the game.
Share moments of setting up, choosing outfits, selecting equipment, and so on. It offers a peek into your personal process and rituals. It is also a great idea to discuss your own areas for improvement. This kind of transparency can inspire and motivate your audience.
Engaging with the Online Community
Responding to people who’ve engaged with you is an excellent start. However, creating some engagement of your own could take your engagement to the next level.
Tagging and Mentions
Tagging and mentioning are powerful tools to increase the visibility of your posts. When you tag someone in your post or photo, it links directly to their profile and notifies them, encouraging some interaction.
If you're playing at a particular golf course, tagging their official account can catch their attention and potentially lead to them sharing your content, reaching a broader audience. Just make sure your tags are relevant and directly related to the content to avoid being seen as spammy.
Mentioning someone in your caption or comments using the @ symbol followed by their username also notifies them of your post. This is particularly useful when acknowledging people or brands, like thanking a sponsor or giving a shoutout to a fellow golfer.
Hashtags
Hashtags categorize your content, making it discoverable to users interested in specific topics. Use hashtags that are relevant to your content, like #GolfLife, #GolfTips, or #GolfCourse. This helps your posts reach people who are searching for golf-related content.
Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, but studies suggest that using 5 to 10 well-chosen hashtags can be more effective for engagement. On Facebook, it’s best to use fewer hashtags, usually 1 to 2.
Collaborations
Collaborate with other golfers or influencers by co-hosting live sessions, participating in challenges, or featuring each other in your stories. This cross-promotion can attract their followers to your profile and vice versa.
If you use specific golf equipment or apparel, tagging and mentioning these brands can catch their attention. Brands often share user-generated content, providing you with exposure to a wider audience. Just make sure that your content aligns with the brand’s image and values for a higher chance of being featured.
You can also participate in community-driven hashtag campaigns or challenges. Engaging in popular trends or movements within the golf community can increase your visibility.
Best Practices and Tips
Post regularly but avoid overwhelming your audience. 3 to 4 stories per week is a good starting point.
Share content during peak engagement hours, typically mornings or evenings.
Mix live updates with pre-planned content for variety and spontaneity.
Share real moments, including challenges or off-days, to connect with your audience.
Avoid over-editing photos and videos; natural, relatable content resonates more with viewers.
Always obtain permission when featuring others in your stories, especially for close-ups or identifiable moments.
Respect copyright laws when using music or images; use platform-approved libraries or royalty-free resources.
Be mindful of location-specific rules, like drone usage on golf courses, and adhere to platform community guidelines.
Conclusion
Keep in mind that Instagram and Facebook stories are a long game. They’re great for catching attention and getting engagement, and you might even see some big spikes in engagement or followers pretty quickly.
But if you really want to build something solid, you need to be prepared to do this for an extended period of time. If people enjoy your content, they’ll expect it from you on a regular basis. To keep them interested, you’ll need to continuously be analysing and streamlining your strategy.
If you do it right, you’ll find not just the satisfaction that comes from creating something on a topic that you love, but you’ll also enjoy watching your follower count climb and you may even be able to monetize your content. It’s a worthwhile marketing tool if you’re serious about social.
About the Author
Jordan Fuller is a retired golfer and businessman. When he’s not on the course working on his own game or mentoring young golfers, he writes in-depth articles for his website, Golf Influence.