AI Has Moved Into Utility Mode for Hotels

AI has been steadily weaving its way through digital marketing for a while now, from analytics and measurement to chatbots. But while there has been plenty of excitement around generative AI and ChatGPT, AI has already moved into the wider market.

ChatGPT is on everyone’s lips at the moment and marketing strategists are already using it in many different ways, from  research on certain topics, audience insights and questionnaires to creating a client pitch. The results may not be necessarily innovative or original but they are helping to kick start the ideas process.  The same applies to different forms of digital marketing and we are seeing how the travel industry is applying AI across many disciplines.

SEO continues to be a key marketing tactic for travel businesses and comprehensive travel SEO touches on a wide range of different tactics and strategies. AI is helping SEOs tackle some of the industry’s biggest challenges.

SEO takes time, a lot of resources and consistent effort. With Google’s algorithms continually updating, the job is never really finished. AI is being used to scale growth and outrank competitors faster. Hotels are using AI to automate keyword research and provide analytics.  Content creation is the pillar of SEO, especially as Google gets better at understanding language. High quality content creation that ranks well takes time, but ChatGPT can create content at scale and hotels are using this to their advantage. 

Content tools generate meta tags, sentences, full paragraphs and entire articles with just a few inputs. With AI copywriting tools, writers can multiply their conduct production and draft content in a fraction of the time. We know that the results are not perfect – yet  –  but building upon AI-generated content using tools like CopyAI saves time and scales content creation more quickly.

Helping SEOs generate copy for landing pages is one thing , but blog posts and meta tags, are being driven by AI powered writing tools to help marketers with ad copy, social posts and other types of content.

Producing original content on a daily or weekly basis is an essential part of an effective SEO strategy. 

Affiliate marketers are also exploring how AI can help make life easier and more effective.  An effective affiliate marketer requires communication skills, data analysis and sales knowledge. AI is helping with these tasks , freeing up affiliate marketers to focus on strategic business goals. By analyzing large data sets to find trends AI is improving the effectiveness of affiliate marketing campaigns, boosting conversions by personalizing offers and ads for each individual user. For example, when a user has shown interest in a hotel ad AI can show users similar or related hotels they may be interested in. Affiliate marketers use this information to create better-targeted marketing campaigns.

The four main types of AI useful to affiliate marketing are:

• Machine learning (ML) - a type of AI that can learn from data and improve its performance over time
• Natural language processing (NLP) –  artificial intelligence that understands human language.
• Predictive analytics - AI that examines and interprets historical data.
• Computer vision - analyzing images and videos.

Hospitality marketing is a resource heavy task. Data analysis, content creation, SEO new lead generation are all time-consuming.

AI is automating these repetitive tasks, freeing up teams to focus on strategy. So for example if you had a database of potential customers. Reviewing each record and deciding whether or not they’re a good fit for you takes time. AI will do the job in a fraction of the time, offering recommendations based on your criteria. Tools like Gainsight a B2B sales prospecting platform are being used to drive this.  

Similarly, email marketing tools use AI to set up specific emails based on customer behaviour .

Affiliate marketing keeps changing, so tactics that worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. AI is being used to identify new opportunities for affiliate products and services. Helping hoteliers find innovative ways to reach their target audience. We use AI to analyze relationships and generate high-quality connections with potential partners and new leads. AI provides information on these prospective customers and possible leads that may evolve into sales opportunities. 

The goals for affiliate campaign vary depending on the type of hospitality business but the process is generally the same. Once you’ve decided on an offer, start testing different landing pages. By optimizing your campaign, you’ll be able to generate more sales for your business.  

In summary AI is changing the way marketing operates. It streamlines repetitive resource heavy tasks, identifies new opportunities, and drives sales.  Much the same as the supply of power and water is to the hotel, AI is becoming the next utility for hotel marketers.