· 3 min read · Jason Youngjin Koh
Where adult beginners come from
Most adults who start tennis are not looking for tennis. They want exercise, friends or something they used to love. Advertise to that.
Adult beginners come from three groups: people who played as children and stopped, people who want exercise with a social side, and people new to an area looking for a community. Each responds to a different message. The program that fills is the one whose ads speak to all three, with a first session easy enough that nobody worries about being the worst on court.
Why is adult tennis harder to sell than junior tennis?
Parents buy for their children with conviction. Adults buying for themselves hesitate. They worry about fitness, about looking unskilled in front of strangers, and about committing to a full term. The marketing has to remove those worries before it asks for a booking.
How do you reach each group?
| Group | What they want | What the ad shows |
|---|---|---|
| Returning players | To get back to something they enjoyed | An adult rally at a friendly pace, with a line about coming back after years away |
| Fitness seekers | Exercise that does not feel like the gym | A cardio tennis session: music, movement, laughter, sweat |
| New to the area | People and a routine | A social night, players chatting after the session |
What should the first step be?
A single session, clearly priced, with no term commitment. Cardio tennis is often the easiest entry point because it needs no prior skill and feels like a fitness class. A beginner clinic labelled for complete beginners does the same for people who want to learn strokes.
After the first session, the follow up offers the next step: the rest of the term, a beginner course, or a regular social game. Adults who play three times in a month tend to keep playing.
Which creative works best?
Real adults at your venue who look like the people you want to attract. Not juniors, not coaches hitting perfect shots. The single strongest clip is usually an ordinary adult laughing after missing a ball, because it answers the question every beginner has: will I feel stupid?
When should adult programs advertise?
Before the moments adults decide to change their routine: the new year, the start of daylight saving, and the weeks after school holidays when parents regain their evenings. Run the ads two to three weeks ahead of each intake so the program fills before it starts.
Adult programs are also the natural way to fill daytime courts. Filling the courts nobody books