About

20 years of growing brands through acquisition.

I'm Matt Burgess. I've spent two decades helping businesses find, convert, and keep customers — and more recently, building the AI tools to do it better.

The short version

I'm a performance marketer who's spent 20 years in the trenches of customer acquisition. I've managed multi-million dollar budgets, built and led marketing teams, and worked across industries from travel and tourism to financial services and comparison.

I started my career in SEO — at Wotif Group, managing organic traffic across some of APAC's largest travel brands. From there I moved into broader digital marketing roles, eventually leading teams that spanned SEO, PPC, content, email, social, and display.

Most recently, I was Head of Marketing at The Motley Fool Australia, where I ran new member acquisition across all channels and built AI-powered marketing systems — compliance checkers, content research tools, copy drafting engines, and workflow automation — from the ground up.

That combination of strategic marketing leadership and hands-on AI system building is what I bring to Conversation Media. The person doing the thinking is the same person doing the building.

What I've done

2019 — 2026

Head of Marketing

The Motley Fool Australia

Led all new customer acquisition — paid search, paid social, email marketing, content, and conversion optimisation. Managed significant ad budgets and a team of marketing specialists. Designed and built AI-powered marketing systems including compliance automation, content intelligence tools, multi-agent copy drafting engines, and workflow automation.

2017 — 2019

Director / Manager, Digital, Brand & Content

Destination Gold Coast

Directed digital activities, brand, and content marketing globally. Managed the consumer-facing digital presence during the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Led a team of 9.

2012 — 2017

SEO Manager → Head of Digital → GM, Digital Marketing

Comparethemarket.com.au

Joined to lead SEO from site launch, grew into overseeing all digital marketing. Led a team of 8 across SEO, PPC, content, email, display, and partnerships. Reported directly to the CEO.

2006 — 2010

SEO Executive → Online Marketing Coordinator

Wotif Group (ASX-listed)

Managed SEO across some of APAC's largest travel aggregators — Wotif.com, Lastminute.com.au, Travel.com.au, and Asiawebdirect.com. Built social media strategies and educated internal teams on best practices.

Qualifications & certifications

  • Mark Ritson Mini MBA in Marketing (2022)
  • Mark Ritson Mini MBA in Brand Management (2023)
  • Mark Ritson Mini MBA in Management (2024)
  • Google Ads Search Certification
  • Kenshoo Search Pro Certification
  • RG146 — Generic Knowledge & Securities (financial services compliance)
  • Honours in English, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Want to talk about your growth?

I'm always happy to have a no-obligation conversation about what you're trying to achieve and whether I can help.

Get In Touch