Digital Marketing Manager

Farnham Castle is 900 years old and is one of the most important historic buildings in Southern England. As a multi-award-winning venue for Weddings, Events and Meetings it has stunning buildings, five acres of grounds and offers world-class dining, as well as 34 bedrooms for overnight guests. Overlooking the beautiful, historic town of Farnham, on the Surrey/Hampshire border, this iconic Castle offers a totally unique venue experience.

Position Title: Digital Marketing Manager

Reports To: Head of Sales and Marketing

Line Management: Management of any external specialist consultants and agencies

Location: The Company’s offices at Farnham Castle

Start Date: ASAP

Salary: Competitive Position

Summary:

The Digital Marketing Manager will be responsible for Farnham Castle’s digital marketing activity and online presence. Acting as the inhouse digital and web expert, they will ensure that the Castle’s digital presence and online campaigns are ‘on brand’ and effective in delivering the Company’s strategic, tactical and operational goals.

The post holder will be responsible for the paid digital marketing strategy, liaising with any external agency to ensure that it is delivered appropriately, and providing the required ‘return on investment’. They will also have responsibility for the overall development, management and optimisation of the Farnham Castle website, including tracking visits and metrics, as well as regularly updating with fresh content. Reporting and budget management responsibilities for digital activity form part of this role.

A key part of the Digital Marketing Manager’s responsibilities is the analytical performance assessment and reporting in relation to all third-party wedding and events’ websites, as well as review sites and visitor feedback opportunities (eg. customer surveys, Tripadvisor and Google). The post holder will be expected to propose strategies for improving ratings.

They will be responsible for Farnham Castle’s ECRM, database growth and its management. This will include optimisation of customer journey touchpoints and reporting tools to improve efficiency and the delivery of any e-campaigns.

In addition to the above, the post holder will be responsible for overseeing all activity on social media so that all digital activity is joined up, aligned and on brand. This includes Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X and Linkedin.

Responsible for:

Advertising campaign support and reporting

• To manage and critique where relevant the delivery of digital advertising, marketing and search plans to build the business; encompassing pay-per-click (PPC), lead generation, display advertising, retargeting, programmatic, social advertising, content marketing and SEO, in regional, national and international markets.
• To develop, deliver, measure, and optimise digital marketing activities to support specific objectives (eg. lead generation and brand awareness to ensure high customer conversion).

Third-party websites, reviews and feedback surveys

• Work with the Head of Sales & Marketing to ensure that the business is presented in the best possible way on third-party wedding and events websites; and monitor the success of those sites in delivering business to Farnham Castle.
• Review third party portal performance on a regular basis and proactively recommend improvements to meet commercial targets.
• Monitor, manage and report on all review sites such as Google and Tripadvisor.
• Proactively propose ways of engaging with review sites and driving more positive reviews in order to climb rankings.
• ECRM
• Be responsible for the management and optimisation of the ECRM capability
• Ongoing review of the ECRM-based customer journey to ensure maximum business efficiency
• Be the designated data controller for Farnham Castle
• Implement and manage customer feedback surveys
• Be responsible for all ECRM reporting to senior management and the wider team.

Website management

• Work with the Head of Sales & Marketing to manage the ongoing development of the Farnham Castle website
• To lead on digital marketing planning and provide expert support to the Head of Sales & Marketing and ensure the integration of digital and web marketing activities into all marketing and brand awareness strategies.
• To work closely with the Head of Sales & Marketing to support the integration of digital, web, campaign and social media marketing into wider plans, including advertising plans, listings and SEO and email marketing.
• To lead on research and user testing to inform the development and launch of new functionality and content and ongoing optimisation of the website.
• Together with the Head of Sales & Marketing, lead on the development of all relevant systems, communication interfaces and plans required to deliver successful customer experience, supporting both customer acquisition and conversion objectives.
• Take overall responsibility for SEO activities for the website, ensuring consistently high natural rankings, and thus reducing reliance on paid search campaigns.
• Ensure all supporting digital platforms (ie. Google Analytics, including Universal Analytics, Meta Platform and social media reporting) are appropriately set up, ensuring colleagues gain real value and actionable insight from those.

Social media and community management

• Overseeing social media activity by working with the Head of Sales & Marketing to develop and deliver the agreed social media plan in conjunction with any external social media resource
• Manage the specialist social media resource to oversee the creation of high-quality and visually excellent content for social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X that reflects our brand and tone of voice, tailormade to the defined audience.
• Work with the social media resource to research social trends and assess competitors on social media platforms.
• Ensure that there is an ongoing calendar of social media content across all key channels, social and business - Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X and Linkedin.
• Oversee the management of all social media platforms.
• Ensure that the specialist social media resource supports with UGC (user generated content) outreach, liaising with creators/ influencers to support the wider social strategy.

Influencer engagement and management

• Work with specialist social media resource to develop a strategy for influencer engagement, to position Farnham Castle as a premium wedding and events venue, and boost bookings.
• Develop and overseeing internal database to track influencer and VIP visits.
• Reporting and tracking of shared content across social channels in conjunction with social media resource

Digital Business intelligence

• Responsible for providing regular business insights on all digital activity including the analysis of data and including proactively making recommendations on how to improve performance to senior management

Line Management

• Management of all related digital-related resources – agencies, freelancers, suppliers. This will include challenging their insights and recommendations from a point of experience.

Qualifications:

Degree in marketing, creative or digital discipline, or equivalent experience.

Experience:

Minimum of 5 years’ experience working in digital marketing, communication or related discipline.

Prerequisites:

• Experience in the planning and delivery of digital marketing/sales campaigns (with a focus on SEO, SEM and paid online advertisement), campaign planning and content creation, with accountability for results.
• Experience of working in a premium online marketing environment, including websites (front and back end), social media channels, and supporting digital platforms.
• Experience of working on (or significantly contributing to the management of) a large corporate website.
• Experience of managing ECRM systems
• Understanding and experience of accessibility and usability issues.
• Experience of commissioning and producing creative content that grabs audience attention and prompts response to calls-for-action.

Desirable experience:

• Experience within a wedding or events venue business.
• Understanding of usability testing to deliver websites which achieve significant results in terms of user engagement and conversion.
• SEO / Google Analytics Certifications.

Competencies:

• High command of Office 365 and applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc).
• Proficient in the use of WordPress and other web-based applications.
• Fluent in English, both oral and written.
• Very well organised and detail oriented.
• Problem solving, analytical skills and decision making.
• Strong communication capability.