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What your marketing plan must include
Your padel club marketing plan should align commercial goals, audience insights, pricing, channel mix, budget, and measurement. Use this checklist to frame your template:
Revenue goals and unit economics - monthly revenue targets by stream, utilization targets, revenue per court hour, cost per acquisition, payback period.
Audience and positioning - primary and secondary segments, playing frequency, motivations, barriers, messaging pillars, proof points.
Market and demand - local supply and demand, seasonality, competitor density, travel times, catchment size.
Unique value proposition - facilities, coaching, programs, events, service standards, digital experience.
Pricing and membership - pay-per-play, memberships, dynamic pricing, packs, corporate offers, promotions, loyalty.
Channel mix and campaigns - always-on acquisition, pre-opening and post-opening bursts, lifecycle programs, referral.
Budget and performance benchmarks - allocation by channel, CPA targets, CTR and conversion benchmarks, testing cadence.
Partnerships - schools, corporates, hospitality, influencers, community organizations.
Technology and data - booking software, CRM, analytics, marketing automation, loyalty platform and API integrations.
KPI review - a monthly dashboard with KPIs for utilization, revenue, acquisition, retention, engagement, marketing efficiency, and operations.
Revenue goals and unit economics
Start with a bottom-up model. Define the number of courts, bookable hours per day, and your target utilization rate. Track revenue per court hour and the mix across pay-per-play, memberships, coaching, leagues, events, corporate bookings, food and beverage, and retail.
Key formulas
Revenue per court hour = total court revenue divided by court-hours sold.
Utilization rate = court-hours sold divided by court-hours available.
CAC payback = cost to acquire a member divided by contribution margin per period.
Benchmarks to aim for
Overall utilization: 40-55% in mature months, 60-75% at peaks.
Revenue per court hour: 25-45 EUR depending on market and time slot.
Member retention: 70-85% 6-month retention with a strong loyalty program.
Target audience and positioning
Map primary and secondary segments, then tailor offers and messaging.
Primary - 18-45 social players seeking easy access, fun workouts, and group play. Motivations: social connection, low barrier to entry, skill progression.
Secondary - juniors and parents, corporate groups, 45+ wellness seekers, competitive ladder players. Motivations: structured coaching, team-building, health, competition.
Digital habits - Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp groups for younger players; email and Facebook for family and community segments.
Positioning - emphasize convenience, coaching pathway, friendly competition, and a digital journey that is fast and rewarding from first booking to repeat play.
Market size and demand trends
Padel has expanded rapidly across Europe with strong momentum post-2020. For your plan, focus on local demand drivers: travel times under 20 minutes, availability after work, indoor capacity against weather, and competing leisure options. Count courts within 10-15 km, estimate your catchment population, and model demand using realistic peak and off-peak occupancy scenarios. Track seasonality and build promotions and leagues to lift midweek off-peak utilization.
Pricing strategy and membership structure
Choose a mix that maximizes revenue per court hour while encouraging repeat play.
Pay-per-play - base rates by daypart; add dynamic pricing for high demand slots and weather spikes.
Membership tiers
Light - priority booking window and small booking discount.
Core - deeper discount, free league enrollment, guest passes.
Premium - largest discount, coaching credits, locker and event perks.
Packs and passes - 10-play packs with 10-15% savings to pull forward cash flow and lift frequency.
Corporate - team bundles and off-peak courts with catering options.
Promotions - first booking credit, refer-a-friend bonus, birthday and milestone offers triggered in your CRM.
Channel mix and campaigns
Balance high-intent channels with scalable awareness and lifecycle programs. Always-on search captures demand. Paid social, local partnerships, and influencers build consideration. Email and SMS convert and retain. Use leagues, ladders, and events to generate content and referrals. Plan and execute your initiatives with the Campaign Builder for club marketing campaigns.
Campaigns before and after opening
Phase | Key activities | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|
T-90 to T-30 | Landing page with early-bird list, teaser video, local PR, Google Search and Meta lead ads, school and corporate outreach | Leads captured, cost per lead, email opt-in rate |
T-30 to T-0 | Founding member offer, influencer preview nights, community open day sign-ups, referral waitlist program | Pre-sold memberships, referral rate, booking intent |
T+1 to T+30 | Grand opening event, first-booking credits, welcome email series, win-back for no-shows, UGC push | First bookings, CAC, first-to-second booking conversion |
T+30 to T+90 | League launch, beginner clinics, corporate nights, loyalty program rollout, review generation via email | Utilization, repeat rate, membership conversion |
Budget and performance benchmarks
Start lean and scale channels that hit CAC and payback targets. Track per-member and per-first-booking CAC. Reinvest a portion of incremental margin into the best performing campaigns.
Channel | Budget share | CPA target | Benchmarks |
|---|---|---|---|
Google Search - non brand | 20-25% | 60-120 EUR per member | CTR 3-6%, booking-page CVR 8-15% |
Google Search - brand | 5-10% | 25-60 EUR per member | CTR 25%+, CVR 12-20% |
Meta Ads | 20-25% | 50-100 EUR per member | CTR 0.9-1.5%, lead-to-member 2-5% |
TikTok | 5-10% | 60-140 EUR per member | Thumb-stop 25%+, landing CVR 10-15% |
Local partnerships and events | 10-15% | 20-50 EUR per first booking | Lead-to-booking 15-30% |
Email and SMS | 5-10% | 5-20 EUR per first booking | Open 30-45%, click 3-6% |
SEO and content | 10-15% | Compounding | 3-6 months to traction |
Influencers - micro | 5-10% | 40-90 EUR per first booking | Use trackable codes and UTMs |
Guardrails: CAC payback under 3 months, 20-30% of new members sourced via referrals within 6 months, and at least 30% of bookings through owned channels like email, SMS, and your app. Learn more in Why omnichannel and mobile-first loyalty strategies win.
Partnerships to grow bookings and events
Build a repeatable partner playbook:
Schools and universities - curriculum sessions, beginner packs, interschool leagues.
Corporates - off-peak team sessions, quarterly tournaments, wellness credits.
Hospitality and travel - hotel concierge offers, weekend packages, tourism boards.
Community organizations - city sports programs, charities, youth clubs.
Coaches and micro-influencers - host clinics, produce content, referral bonuses tied to tracked codes.
Technology and tools to track and retain players
Integrate your stack so data flows from discovery to repeat play:
Court booking software - real-time inventory, dynamic pricing, waitlists, and payments. Ensure webhook or API access for downstream tracking.
CRM and marketing automation - capture leads, segment by skill, frequency, and value; trigger emails and SMS based on behavior like first booking, lapsed 14 days, or pack depletion. Leverage Direct notifications to drive member engagement.
Analytics - server-side event tracking, UTM discipline, conversion APIs, and dashboards for CAC, LTV, utilization, and cohort retention.
Loyalty platform - reward bookings, check-ins, event participation, retail, and referrals. Use tiers, badges, and leaderboards to drive habit formation.
Authic Labs example - a white-label loyalty application that integrates with booking systems to award points automatically for bookings, purchases, and check-ins, supports personalized rewards, community features like leaderboards and badges, and provides a Loyalty API for custom integrations. Explore the White-label app for your padel club.
Practical flows to implement:
New lead joins waitlist - welcome sequence - first booking credit - reminder - convert to first booking.
First booking - NPS capture - prompt to join loyalty - second booking offer - league placement suggestion.
14 days inactive - win-back offer - coach recommendation - dynamic off-peak discount.
High value member - invite to VIP event - unlock premium tier benefit - encourage referrals with bonus points.
Fill-in marketing plan template
Copy these sections into your document or planning tool and complete the fields:
1. Goals - monthly revenue target, utilization target, new members per month, CAC and payback goals.
2. Audience - segments, jobs-to-be-done, barriers, proof points, key messages.
3. Market - catchment size, competitor snapshot, seasonality, demand risks.
4. Proposition - facilities, programs, service standards, digital experience, UVP statement.
5. Pricing - pay-per-play matrix by daypart, memberships and benefits, packs, corporate offers, promotions.
6. Channel plan - search, paid social, influencers, partnerships, email/SMS, SEO; per channel objective, budget, CPA target, and testing plan.
7. Campaign calendar - pre-opening, launch month, first 90 days, seasonal events.
8. Technology - booking, CRM, analytics, loyalty, integration notes, tracking plan.
9. Budget - allocation, expected volume, CAC, and payback by channel.
10. KPI dashboard - metrics, owners, review cadence, decisions framework.
Monthly KPI review dashboard
Use Loyalty Analytics to define and track KPIs like retention, visit frequency, and ARPU.
Category | KPI | Target or benchmark | Action if off-target |
|---|---|---|---|
Utilization | Overall and peak occupancy | 40-55% overall, 60-75% peak | Introduce off-peak pricing, launch leagues midweek |
Revenue | Revenue per court hour | 25-45 EUR | Optimize daypart pricing, add dynamic pricing |
Acquisition | New members and first bookings | MoM growth 10-20% | Shift spend to channels under CAC target |
Cost | CAC per member and per first booking | Member 50-100 EUR, booking 10-30 EUR | Refine targeting, creative, and landing pages |
Retention | 30/60/90-day repeat rate | 30-day 45-60% | Loyalty offers and coaching pathways |
Engagement | Loyalty participation and points redemption | 40-60% of actives | Simplify rewards, promote in-app challenges |
Marketing | Email open and click rates | Open 30-45%, click 3-6% | Test subject lines, segment content |
Operational | No-show rate | Under 5-8% | Add deposits, auto-reminders, waitlists |
Competitive analysis snapshot
Competitor type | Price model | Acquisition angle | Weakness | Your counter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Municipal center | Low pay-per-play | Budget-friendly | Limited service, no loyalty | Better experience and fast booking, loyalty perks |
Boutique premium | High, memberships | Facilities and status | High cost, limited access | Value packs, inclusive community, events |
Multi-sport complex | Mixed | One-stop shop | Generic programming | Specialist coaching and leagues |
Low-cost field operator | Dynamic prices | Cheap off-peak | No coaching or community | Beginner clinics, ladders, retention |
Loyalty example that drives retention
With a white-label loyalty app like Authic Labs, you can automatically reward bookings, check-ins, retail, and referrals. A real-world example is Club Peakz Padel (see the Padel loyalty program case study: Peakz Padel), where players earn points based on playtime and actions, then redeem for discounts and merchandise. Features like leaderboards, badges, and shareable achievements create social proof and habit loops. Use triggers for inactivity, milestone rewards after a set number of sessions, and segmented offers for juniors, beginners, and corporate groups. Integrate via Loyalty API with your booking system so data and rewards flow without extra admin.
Want to see how loyalty connects to your plan? Book a demo to explore Authic Labs and how to embed retention into your padel marketing funnel.
FAQs
What are the 5 P's of a marketing plan?
The 5 P's are Product, Price, Place, Promotion, and People. For padel: Product is courts, coaching, leagues, and events; Price covers pay-per-play, memberships, and packs; Place includes location, access, and booking UX; Promotion is your channel mix across search, social, partnerships, and email; People covers coaches, front-of-house, and community ambassadors who shape the experience and referrals.
What are the 7 steps of a marketing plan?
Define goals, analyze market and audience, craft positioning and messaging, build pricing and offers, design the channel strategy and campaign calendar, set budget and performance benchmarks, and implement measurement and optimization. Review monthly via a KPI dashboard and reallocate budget to the best performing channels.
How profitable are padel clubs?
Profitability depends on courts, utilization, pricing, and cost structure. With 4-8 courts, overall utilization of 40-55%, and revenue per court hour of 25-45 EUR, clubs can reach healthy margins provided CAC payback is under 3 months and retention exceeds 70% at 6 months. Coaching, leagues, corporate events, and loyalty lift LTV and stabilize demand.
How much does it cost to set up a padel business?
Costs vary by land, indoor vs outdoor, and number of courts, but capex per indoor court can run into low to mid six figures including enclosure, flooring, lighting, and amenities. Add budget for booking software, CRM, and loyalty. Plan working capital for marketing and staffing through the first 6 months, then scale spend with CAC and utilization performance.

Founder & CEO
Founder & CEO of Authic. Wouter helps businesses build lasting customer relationships through branded loyalty apps that drive engagement, repeat visits, and growth.
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