From today (Wednesday 2 June), we’re asking the most engaged visitors to BigHospitality to register – simply giving their email address and basic industry-specific demographics – and thereby be logged in on each visit.
Consider it more Guardian or Independent access than a Times or Telegraph paywall. All visitors will be asked to register when they consume their third article in a month. The system will remember users and therefore they’ll be automatically logged in on subsequent return visits.
Why now?
After the year we’ve had, everyone is more digital than ever and the breadth and number of frequent visitors to our site has grown phenomenally.
We have been investing in our digital capabilities for a number of years but with the closure of our magazine during the pandemic we decided to double down on our investment digitally to support restaurants, street food businesses, pubs, bars, hotels and suppliers of all shapes and sizes by getting information to them that can be trusted, impartial and interrogated by our team of journalists. This is so our readers can make informed business decisions.
Readers are increasingly expecting their experience to be more tailored and expect advertising to be more relevant.
We are also fully focused on digital as our main channel and regularly have 400,000 users every month. This means that we have a huge responsibility to the on-trade. Not only should we provide all the content we have previously but also showcase what an amazing career it can be for anyone that is showing interest and inevitably comes across our site via Google.
For readers
We understand that every single one of our readers is unique, a CEO of a 500-strong casual dining estate has very different content requirements to a chef-patron of a fine-dining restaurant or the owner of a street food stall.
We want everyone's experience on BigHospitality to be as informative as possible and by gaining a deeper understanding of the news and features our readers are engaging with, it allows us to provide a content experience that is better tailored to their needs going forward.
For advertisers
We will understand your target audience’s needs better, and in turn, we’ll be able to offer more targeted advertising opportunities to connect you with these people at a time when they are looking for a supplier in your area.