NOVEMBER 20248 IN MY V EWHARNESSING TECHNOLOGY IN MODERN DAY HOSPITALITY MARKETINGThere's no doubt that hospitality marketing has come a long way: shifting to adapt to the ever-changing needs of diners, there's been a growing trend of teams adopting technology to facilitate broader strategies. From personal experience at Pacific Concepts as Marketing Head, I found that utilising technology can go a long way in uplifting brand awareness and generating customer interest, particularly in a market with such stiff competition. With 8 casual brands and 44 restaurants across Australia and New Zealand, Pacific Concepts is one of the large hospitality groups in ANZ. As Account Director of Marketing Advisory Partners (MAPS), we took over the marketing function at Pacific Concepts and became its dedicated in-house team in March 2022. Working alongside agencies Cindy Liand tech vendors, we have initiated various successful projects for our portfolio of brands. Organic SEO UpliftingAfter noticing a dip in SEO rankings post our paid Google ads running, we engaged an experienced agency to improve SEO performance sustainably. A multifaceted approach was employed to enhance our online presence; after our preliminary 3-month trial brought us significant success we then decided to span across all brands. Central to our success is the data-driven approach to keyword optimisation. We conduct meticulous research to target the most relevant and high-performing keywords for each of our brands. This ensures that our websites appear prominently in search engine results, attracting a steady stream of organic traffic.While we do create a lot of content for our restaurant website, it isn't to solely to appease search algorithms: we prioritise user intent. Crafting content that aligns with what our audience seeks, we engage visitors effectively, nurture a positive user experience, and encourage longer stays.To complement our efforts, we adhere to website best practice, including mobile responsiveness, intuitive navigation, and user-friendly layouts. Such optimisations enhance user satisfaction and contribute to improved search engine rankings. In the meantime, we diligently track user behaviour: understanding our customers and interpreting data insights allows us to make more strategic marketing decisions. Optimising for organic rankings, understanding user intent, adhering to best practice, and leveraging data-driven insights has led to significant growth in organic traffic. The organic search volume for our Italian brand Fratelli Fresh has increased over 150% in a BY CINDY LI, HEAD OF MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS, PACIFIC CONCEPTS AND HUNTER ST. HOSPITALITY
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