EDGEY Echo 010

We’ll be the first to admit, we've been quiet over the last couple of months. Not because we've slowed down, but because Q4 and Christmas demanded full focus. Our eyes had to be on our client campaigns and helping the industry navigate peak trading with tighter budgets and higher expectations. We chose to prioritise client performance over commentary. With the peak behind us, the hottest monthly roundup for all things hospitality is back, and here to stay.

‍

🏆 EDGEY Named Agency Of The Year

From "not a f**cking agency" to Agency of the Year.

We're on cloud nine to be named as Agency of the Year at this year's Restaurant Marketer & Innovator awards.

To be listed in a category with industry-leading agencies was enough for us, but we brought it home.

A true recognition for our incredible team, the short journey we've been on, our commitment to the industry we love, and our fantastic clients whom put their faith in us in our first 18 months.

It all feels a bit surreal 18 months in. We're over the moon and raring to smash 2026.

Fancy joining Team EDGEY this year? We're always on the lookout for our kind of people. If you've experience in hospitality, digital and super-passionate about driving the industry forward, we'll create a role around you. View our current opportunities on LinkedIn, or get in touch to explore.

‍

---

🎯 Nobody Clicks Carousel Ads Anymore

We tested 1,267 Meta ads in Q4 - static images still crush it.

Carousels feel fancy. You can show off your food, drinks, venue, your whole experience in one scrollable strip. But we’ve got news: they’re underperforming.

Across 1,267 ads, for over 20 brands in Q4, static image ads consistently beat carousels on:

👀 Impressions

💬 Engagement

📈 Click-through rate

💸 Cost-per-booking

One recent campaign for a multi-site bar brand showed:

Static image ads → 27% lower CPC

Carousel ads → higher spend, fewer conversions

Why? Carousels make people work. They have to browse. We won't want that, it's all about clicks & conversion. A great static ad, on the other hand, makes them act.

Here’s what working right now:

📷 A clean, clear image (artwork, food, cocktail, crowd shot)

🧠 A direct, smart headline

🔗 A CTA that speaks to intent (“Book your booth”, “Reserve now”, “Get on the list”)

In 2026, don't overcomplicate your creative.

K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid.

‍

---

🔍 Answer Engine Optimisation Is The New SEO

Google’s AI search is changing the rules - ranking alone won’t cut it anymore.‍

Google’s new Search Generative Experience (SGE) is rolling out fast. That means instead of ten blue links, users are more often being served a tidy AI-generated summary right at the top of the results page before they’ve even clicked.

For hospitality brands, this changes everything. Your beautifully optimised homepage might never get seen unless Google’s AI pulls you into its answer box.

Enter: Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)

It’s not just about keywords. It’s about clarity, structure, and authority. To get featured in these AI summaries, your content needs to:

🤖 Answer common questions in plain language

🧱 Use proper heading structure (H1 > H2 > H3)

📊 Include real data, locations, opening hours, and menus

🧭 Reflect genuine expertise (Google’s EEAT signals)

Think about terms your guests are searching, i.e., “best rooftop bar in Manchester”; if your page doesn’t say that clearly and conversationally, you’re invisible in the AI layer.

This is SEO for a post-keyword world. Less about search engines. More about answer engines.

Write like a human. Optimise like a machine.

‍

---

🧼 Your Welcome Journey Still Thinks It’s Christmas

If your CRM flow hasn’t been updated this year, you’re already behind.

We’re still seeing it, brands sending out “Welcome to our world” emails… that reference Christmas bookings, expired menus, or winter offers in January.

It's not just us that notice...

Your welcome journey is the first impression for every new signup. If it’s outdated, irrelevant, or still pushing festive fizz, it screams lazy and kills momentum before you’ve even started building the relationship.

This is your most valuable automation. Here’s how to clean it up:

📆 Remove any expired campaign content (no one wants to “pre-book for Christmas 2025” right now)

📸 Swap out imagery for spring/summer menus or current campaigns

💬 Refresh tone and headlines to match your Q1 priorities

📥 Add smarter segmentation. Daypart, location, visit type, new vs returning, to shape the rest of the journey

Don't set and forget. The best-performing welcome journeys evolve every 2-3 weeks, not once a year.

Your database doesn’t care what you did last December.

‍

---

📊 GA4: Still Confused? You’re Not Alone

GA4 changed everything, but the confusion is still here.

Universal Analytics is long gone. GA4 is here. But while the interface looks clean, the confusion behind the scenes is real, especially in hospitality.

We’ve spoken to marketing managers, founders and operators who all say the same thing:

“We’re in GA4… but we don’t really get it and our data isn't correct.”

Fair. GA4 isn’t just a new dashboard. It’s a whole new data model.

And if you haven’t reconfigured what success looks like, your reports are lying to you.

Do this now to get your data in shape for 2026:

🎯 Set up events properly: GA4 tracks interactions, not just pageviews. You need to define key actions like table bookings, click-to-call, email clicks and menu views.

🧩 Use custom dimensions : Want to know which campaigns drive high-spend covers vs coffee walk-ins? Start tagging.

📅 Switch your date windows: GA4 defaults to 28 days, not month-to-month. That skews your retention + return visit numbers if you’re not careful.

🧠 Build explorations : The real insight lives in the Explore tab. It’s where funnels, paths and cohort analysis actually tell a story.

Relying on default reports is like driving blind. You'll have GA4, but you aren't using it correctly. Better yet, there's now hospitality specific tech which helps consolidate your web, social and first-party data into a single view to make smarter decisions and market better. Big up our friends at Guestwise who are leading the charge on this front.

The brands winning digitally in 2026 won’t just “have” data.

They’ll understand it.

‍