Our past three blog posts have focused on available analytics in three core areas of the Gallus ecosystem: User Data, Push Notifications, and Rewards. As we embark on our final post in this series, it’s important to revisit why analytics are important: without them, you are operating your business in the dark.
We saved this final post because it’s the most crucial metric to check frequently: revenue. To track the money made in any system, tracking must be set up BEFORE customers ever use it. So as we turn the calendar into a new year, let’s make sure you’re ready for a data-driven 2024.
We’ll use this post to walk through strategies for working with your booking engine provider to track different revenue streams, along with detailing the readily available Mobile Check-In metrics available in a Gallus admin dashboard.
Gallus Golf has been an outstanding partner for Marriott Golf. They continue to provide the best mobile app technology for our properties to engage our guests, reach new customers, and provide opportunities to grow revenues.
The team is proactive in making sure our properties are utilizing the most current features, and their support is superior.
Brett Stark
Senior Director, Marketing & Commerce, Marriott Golf
Booking Engine Strategies: Mapping The Revenue Trail
Tee times are the lifeblood of any golf course operation. Most clubs utilize a booking engine provided by their point-of-sale company to display openings and allow customers to book them and take them off the board.
Since convenience in today’s world is so key, courses should be making these booking engines available through a variety of sources aside from their website: social media profiles, partner sites, and, of course, their app!
Getting this spread seems easy enough: take the URL of your booking engine, paste it into every stream, and you're done. While this gets end users the access they need, the metrics dashboard in your POS provider’s backend will leave you in the dark as everything flows through one single revenue source.
The question is, how much money is every stream making? Answer this and you’ll be able to allocate marketing budget to whatever is most successful for your audience.
What's The Best Way To Track Revenue For My Booking Engine?
Here's where a robust revenue-tracking strategy comes into play. Every booking engine provider does this differently, so collaborating with yours is the fastest way to get up and running.
Club Prophet's Analytics Method
For instance, Club Prophet's Affiliate ID feature allows automatic appending of unique identifiers to outbound V5 URLs used in the app, enabling precise tracking of app-driven bookings and their corresponding revenue. Gallus apps do this for you automatically, adding affiliate 1 for general tee time bookings through the app and affiliate 2 for tee times booked through the StandBy tee time waitlist feature.
Take it from this:
To this:
This means Club Prophet customers can filter their revenue in Club Prophet’s dashboard by those affiliates for detailed metrics, and all they had to do was add ?affiliate=1 to the end of their URL (or exchange 1 for whatever number you have set up).
Use Google Analytics For Plug & Play Tracking
Another option is to set up Google Analytics tracking, which is free to use. Many booking engine providers offer Google Analytics integration by adding a brief string of tracking (provided by Google) into the source code of your booking engine. You can then set “Events” to fire through Google Tag Manager whenever a user books a tee time, complete with the revenue.
UTM parameters are where our quest for parsing sources comes into play. Similar to Club Prophet’s method above, UTM’s are a series of details added to the end of a URL to indicate where the traffic originated from. This allows you to view user data via Google Analytics' website along with revenue either on an aggregate or granular level, providing insight into booking patterns and campaign effectiveness.
Take it from this:
To this:
Gallus automatically populates UTM parameters into every outbound link from an app, with the UTM medium set as gallus_app. This is what you should filter for app revenue, but Google also provides a UTM builder tool for setting up your other revenue streams. Just add the necessary text to the end and let the tracking do the work for you!
Mobile Check-In: Convenience Meets Data Insights
We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention our game-changing Mobile Check-In feature within the app. It isn't just about streamlining the arrival process; it's a treasure trove of valuable metrics readily available through the App Analytics module in your customer dashboard (no additional setup needed once the module is enabled).
You can access insightful, date-filtered data on:
Check-In Activity
Monitor the number of check-ins initiated and successfully completed, gauging app adoption and overall flow efficiency.
Success Rate
Identify potential friction points and ensure a seamless check-in experience for all golfers.
Revenue Generated
This is where the impact truly shines! Track the direct revenue attributable to mobile check-ins, showcasing the app's tangible contribution to your bottom line.
Conclusion
App analytics are not mere dashboards; they are springboards for action. Put the work in to set up your tracking during the slow days of January so you can reap the benefits once revenue picks back up.
Then use your newfound insights to transform your Gallus app into a true revenue engine, fueling growth and optimizing your course's success.
