The Evidence

The numbers behind Come & Try — pilot results, advertising data, and what they mean for the regional rollout.

The pilot: East Brisbane, early 2026

Metric Result
People through sessions 16 in 6 weeks
Committee's verdict "Highest membership growth the club has ever seen"
Sessions per week Variable (moved to fixed playing times mid-pilot)
Confirmed future members 2 from flyer group alone, several more likely
Membership cost discussed $300 — nobody hesitated

What worked: Four-person groups with two volunteers. Fixed playing times (not individual scheduling). Friend groups — one book club connection brought in a full disbanded tennis group.

What changed mid-pilot: Individual scheduling across three different afternoon slots created constant rescheduling via text message. Anne at East Brisbane flagged this as unsustainable. The fix: two fixed playing times, visitors come when they can. Exactly how you'd run any club day. This change made the program sustainable.

The advertising test

Facebook campaign targeting the 55–69 age group across five postcodes near East Brisbane.

Metric Predicted Actual
Cost per lead $17–$33 $6.53
Cost per click $1.15–$2.10 $0.25–$0.36
Click-through rate 1.4–2.0% 4.16% (best ad)
Total spend $91 $91
Sign-ups — 14

Every metric beat the prediction by three to five times. The hand-drawn "Miss Your Garden?" ink illustration outperformed every photograph tested.

The geographic lesson

We targeted five postcodes near East Brisbane. 73% of sign-ups came from outside those postcodes.

Facebook optimises for conversions, not boundaries. When it found responsive people outside the target area, it served ads to them regardless. The platform operates at a regional scale whether you want it to or not.

What this means: Club-by-club advertising doesn't work the way the original plan envisioned. The rollout has adapted to a regional model — multiple clubs participating simultaneously across Brisbane North and Brisbane South, with leads matched to the nearest club by postcode.

The scaling case

Based on pilot data (conservative scenario):

Scenario Leads Likely attendees
Conservative ~1,000 500–900
Moderate 1,300–2,000 750–1,400

At $300 annual membership, the economics are straightforward. A lead that converts pays back its acquisition cost many times over before counting repeat years or the friends they bring.

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