Are All Members Equal? What Every Club Should Know About Loyalty Strategy in 2025
When it comes to club memberships, there’s one truth that too often gets overlooked: not all members are created equal.
At the 2025 CMAA Conference, Hospitality Mavens Founder, Matt Rafton shared a framework for transforming how clubs view and manage loyalty, backed by real data from more than 30 venues across Australia.
Here’s a snapshot of the key takeaways clubs can action right now.
Know Your Member Value
On average, a single club member is worth $612 per year – and that figure’s not static. It changes drastically by age, gender, visit frequency, and spend behaviour.
Clubs tend to overinvest in marketing to young, infrequent visitors (18-35s), when the real gold lies in segments like females aged 55–74 – the most consistently high-value demographic across all venue types.
Future-Proof Your Membership Strategy
With NSW likely to follow Queensland in removing mandatory sign-in zones, clubs must prepare for a membership environment with less regulatory friction.
That means building internal processes and incentives that promote membership organically – not rely on front desk formality.
Design Smarter Loyalty Programs
Done well, loyalty programs can drive major gains – but done poorly, they drain budgets and breed entitlement. Common pitfalls include:
- Over-rewarding base tiers
- Poor tier spacing (too easy or too hard to progress)
- No food & beverage inclusion
- Cost blowouts from birthday freebies
Make Community Support Count
Clubs give generously – but only 1 in 5 actively market their community contributions. From club grants to sponsorships, these programs should be more than charitable; they should tell your story.
Use Data to Make Members Feel Valued
As Matt closed his talk: “Data is only valuable when it’s used to make a member feel valued.” Clubs have a goldmine of behavioural insight – but if that doesn’t translate to relevant, memorable experiences, the opportunity is lost.
Ready to Optimise?
If you’re a club manager, marketer or GM looking to sharpen your loyalty strategy, Hospitality Mavens can help with tailored programs, hands-on support, and data that delivers.