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Golf Digest aims for personalized content through companion app

Condé Nast-owned Golf Digest is continuing to mobilize its content with an application that lets users improve their game.

Golf Digest has partnered with GolfLogix on an initiative that brings the publisher?s content into the GolfLogix applications to help golfers improve their game on the course. The content is ad-supported by current sponsors Farmers Insurance and Nike.

?What we are looking for is to find golfers that are digital and want to use apps, so the perfect way to do that was through this partnership with GolfLogix,? said Bob Carney, brand editor at Golf Digest, New York.

?It kind of creates a miniature version of Golf Digest content,? he said.

Golf content
Consumers with the GolfLogix iPhone app now have the option to buy the Golf Digest Live content through an in-app purchase of $19.99 a year with a free 30-day trial.

The app serves as a companion app to let users record a game of golf while on the course. Users can type in the types of golf clubs that they use and create a profile that keeps track of their game with scorecards and analytics.

Additionally, the app uses GPS to help golfers navigate more than 30,000 golf courses in the United States.

Some of the app?s content is available to users while playing, but the majority of the app is focused on helping users off the course.

After a game of golf is logged, the app serves personalized content that helps users improve their individual games, such as tips and video lessons.

For instance, if a user?s driving distance off a tee is off, the app will bring up specific content to help.

Using a mobile app as a complement to help users improve their game with both content and advice is a smart move for Golf Digest.

The Golf Digest Live content is planned to be rolled out in the GolfLogix Android app in the next two weeks.

Mobile readers
Not only does the app help consumers improve their game but it also lets Golf Digest repurpose some of its content into personalized, digestible bundles for users.

According to Mr. Carney, approximately 25 percent of Golf Digest?s Web traffic comes from mobile devices.

Golf Digest-owned Golf World already has a smartphone app and a Golf Digest smartphone app is in the pipeline for the publisher.

Golf Digest also has apps for tablets.

Additionally, the publisher has plans to update its course critic app, which finds the best golf courses by state and in the country.

?Mobile is big and growing for us,? Mr. Carney said.

?We think that there are different types of golfers out there, and we want to be available to all of them,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York