2010 Digimedia.ME Conference Speaker Profile
Kirsten Spence

Kirsten is not only a Digital professional she is a demonstrable online enthusiast. She earned a BA Hons in Marketing and Communication as well as a Masters in TV Journalism at university. Both of these degrees gave her the fundamentals to operate in the extremely fast paced and exciting world of digital marketing, website design and content management.

Her internet based career really took off working with Search Engine Marketing agency, Bigmouthmedia in the highly specialised field of search engine optimisation (SEO). Expanding on her knowledge and experience she worked with small businesses in Edinburgh and Glasgow to help design, build and content manage websites as well as digital marketing campaigns including email marketing, paid search marketing and online advertising.

Moving into a client based role Kirsten worked as the eBusiness Consultant for Resolution Asset Management. Part of this role concentrated on designing and developing the infrastructure of the intranet to streamline business practices, as well training employees in intranet management best practice. Her main focus was however content managing the external facing website and ultimately project managing the redesign and rebuild of the site in order to enhance the sites SEO capabilities, and provide a better experience for both B2C and B2B consumers. In terms of digital marketing activity she introduced and developed online advertising, paid search and email campaigns to drive traffic to the site and improve communication strategies.

Kirsten came to Dubai 2 years ago to work with the Jumeirah Group as the Web Operations Manager. Part of the role was to help develop an internal understanding of the importance for digital marketing and content management within the travel and hospitality industry, and to deliver the expectations and targets for driving revenue online as set forth by the Jumeirah Chief Executive team. During this time she helped to project manage and implement the complete rebuild of Jumeirah.com working directly alongside Jumeirah Group IT and Infusion Development. The new site build also included the implementation of a completely new and far more sophisticated content management system to manage the site.

She continues to manage the Digital Marketing team to drive revenue through Jumeirah.com, and to deliver a seamless brand experience not only through SEO and content management on the website, but also through the key digital marketing channels including search engine marketing, email marketing, social media marketing and online advertising. Her role has since been changed to Digital Brand and Operations Manager to reflect this, incorporating the importance of brand consistency for Jumeirah online.

Kirsten has developed as an industry expert through speaking and panel involvement in global conferences discussing all topics affecting brands online, including how to harness future online innovations and trends to drive revenue and brand loyalty. She has been interviewed by Arabian Travel News, The National and CNBC on subjects ranging from innovation in eCommerce to online revenue driving for the travel and hospitality industry. She is currently a guest lecturer at the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management on the subjects of Web Analytics, Digital Marketing and Web Content Management and will be involved in the undergraduate eCommerce module in 2010.