Product Overview

Summary: This Hospitality Marketing Standard Operating Procedure provides a clear, repeatable framework for promoting your venue, driving bookings, and building a loyal customer base. Designed specifically for Australian hospitality businesses, it standardises how marketing is planned, executed, and measured so you can grow revenue with confidence and consistency.

The Hospitality Marketing Standard Operating Procedure is a practical, end-to-end framework for how Australian hospitality venues plan, deliver, and review their marketing activities. From local cafés and restaurants to hotels, clubs, pubs, and event venues, this SOP aligns your brand, campaigns, and guest communications so that every promotion is on-message, compliant, and commercially effective. It bridges the gap between day-to-day operations and strategic marketing, ensuring your team knows exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to measure success.

In a competitive market shaped by online reviews, booking platforms, and changing consumer expectations, ad‑hoc or inconsistent marketing can quickly lead to missed revenue, poor brand perception, and wasted budget. This SOP tackles those challenges head-on by setting out standard workflows for campaign planning, content creation, digital and social media activity, promotions, partnerships, and reporting. It also embeds key Australian regulatory considerations such as the Australian Consumer Law, Spam Act, and responsible promotion of alcohol and pricing, helping your venue attract and retain guests while managing legal and reputational risk.

Whether you are formalising marketing in a growing venue or bringing consistency across multiple sites, this SOP gives you a ready-made structure that can be tailored to your brand, location, and target market. It supports clear delegation between managers and frontline staff, improves coordination with external agencies and suppliers, and creates a documented system that can be used for onboarding, audits, and continuous improvement.

Key Benefits

• Standardise all marketing activities across venues, shifts, and teams to ensure a consistent guest experience and brand voice.
• Increase revenue by structuring campaigns around key trading periods, events, and seasonal demand specific to the Australian hospitality market.
• Reduce compliance risk by embedding checks for Australian Consumer Law, responsible alcohol promotion, and digital marketing obligations.
• Streamline collaboration between operations, marketing, and external suppliers with clearly defined roles, approvals, and timelines.
• Improve decision-making by setting clear KPIs and reporting cycles for promotions, digital channels, and guest feedback.

Who is this for?

• Hotel General Managers
• Restaurant Owners
• Hospitality Operations Managers
• Marketing Managers (Hospitality)
• Venue Managers
• Food and Beverage Managers
• Function and Events Managers
• Franchise Managers (Hospitality Chains)
• Marketing Coordinators
• Brand Managers (Hotels and Resorts)

Included Sections

• 1.0 Purpose, Scope and Objectives
• 2.0 Definitions and Key Marketing Terms
• 3.0 Roles, Responsibilities and Approval Authorities
• 4.0 Brand Positioning, Tone of Voice and Visual Identity Guidelines
• 5.0 Market and Customer Segmentation for Hospitality Venues
• 6.0 Annual and Seasonal Marketing Planning Framework
• 7.0 Campaign Development and Approval Workflow
• 8.0 Digital Marketing Procedures (Website, SEO, Social Media, OTAs)
• 9.0 Email and SMS Marketing Procedures (Consent, Content, Unsubscribe)
• 10.0 Promotions, Discounts and Package Design Guidelines
• 11.0 Event and Function Marketing Process
• 12.0 Third-Party Platforms and Partnerships (Delivery Apps, Booking Engines, Local Tourism)
• 13.0 Advertising, Pricing and Offer Compliance Checks
• 14.0 Responsible Alcohol and Sensitive Content Marketing Controls
• 15.0 Customer Data Management and Privacy in Marketing Activities
• 16.0 Online Reviews, Reputation Management and Guest Feedback Response
• 17.0 Marketing Collateral Production and In-Venue Signage Standards
• 18.0 Measurement, KPIs and Reporting (Occupancy, Covers, Spend, ROI)
• 19.0 Continuous Improvement and Campaign Post-Implementation Reviews
• 20.0 Training, Induction and Competency Requirements for Marketing-Related Tasks
• 21.0 Document Control, Review and Version History

Legislation & References

• Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) – including Australian Consumer Law (ACL) for truthful and accurate marketing
• Spam Act 2003 (Cth) – for email, SMS and digital marketing communications
• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) – for handling customer data and marketing lists
• Liquor licensing legislation in relevant Australian States and Territories – for responsible promotion of alcohol (e.g. Liquor Act 2007 (NSW), Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 (VIC))
• AANA Code of Ethics and AANA Code for Advertising and Marketing Communications to Children (where applicable)
• ABAC Responsible Alcohol Marketing Code (where alcoholic beverages are promoted)