HEATHROW, FL – For Proponent Group member golf instructors, the top-performing social media platform is Instagram, the average frequency of their posting is once a week and the payoff in newly acquired students comes “regularly” for 17 percent and “every now and then” for 52 percent.
A recent survey covering social media as a business tool revealed this information, thanks to the participation of 49 member coaches spread across the U.S. Asked the basic question of which platforms they use for marketing and promotion, finishing first, second and third, respectively, were Instagram (89 percent use it), Facebook (69 percent) and YouTube (46 percent). The survey also revealed significant use of LinkedIn (by 44 percent of survey-takers) along with Twitter/X (21 percent) and even TikTok (13 percent).
To the question of “Which platform has brought you the most new student inquiries?”Instagram was the choice of 61 percent of member coaches and Facebook was a distant second at 12 percent. No other platform registered as high as 3 percent.
Like professionals and small business owners throughout the economy, golf coaches are tasked with performing their core function and at the same time promoting their services via social media’s marketing power. As the platforms proliferate and as they alter their policies and algorithms, staying abreast becomes more difficult. Through webinars, weekly published updates and in-person presentations by experts, Proponent Group takes on the challenge of guiding busy coaches in their online marketing efforts.
Moving forward, the task of providing guidance and best practices on social media usage will be structured by Proponent in part via answers to an open-ended question in the survey, which asked: “What additional information about using social media for your business would be most beneficial to you at this time?”
Responses were both numerous and varied. Most were decidedly practical, such as: “How to edit video fast and easy;” “How to know how long a video should run;” and, “stats on what attracts golfers, perhaps broken down into golfer demographics.” One survey-taker was interested in “what’s the best mix of fun, personal, business, and other information” as well as “how to deal with annoying trolls.” One member employed at a private facility was curious about “navigating the privacy policy of a country club as we use social media for promotion.”
All these comments have been flowed into Proponent Group’s research and reporting plans, both for the remainder of 2025 and on into 2026.
About Proponent Group
Proponent Group is the only organization solely focused on helping golf’s dedicated, full-time instructors grow their businesses and build their careers. Founded in 2007, Proponent Group recognizes that even accomplished teaching professionals need a unique array of professional services to build their teaching brand, create job security and grow compensation. For more information about how Proponent Group has benefited more than 1,400 instructors worldwide, visit proponent-group.com.
