Marketing Trends for 2023: AI and Its Implications for Hotels
Photo by Stephen Dawson
In these short couple of weeks of 2023, there has been a rise of brand new marketing trends. These trends are manifesting themselves in innovative ways but are also resulting in dire consequences for businesses, especially those in the hospitality industry. Currently, the hotel industry is suffering from staff shortages – an outcome from the COVID 19 pandemic – which is negatively affecting guest experience and allowing for the rise of cheaper, and more locally owned accommodation like Airbnb. According to Medium, from 2009 there has been a 153% increase in the global growth rate, and 45% of increased Airbnb bookings in the United States. Moreover, Hospitality Net reports that over 94% of hotels remain understaffed while 96% say they want to hire but are unable to do so.
One of the most significant events in AI trends this year is the Microsoft investment of around 10 billion dollars into ChatGPT. Forbes reports that Microsoft is looking to bring AI to the center stage by finding “breakthroughs… to benefit the world.” This new development in AI will help people use the internet and their devices in a “more natural and conversational form than traditional search.” It will make researching and problem solving on the internet much easier and has the potential to “transform search as we know it.”
The functions of ChatGPT are far beyond anything a search can do now. According to CNET, ChatGPT will be able to “answer its users with a single clear response” without any links or individual searching. Moreover, it will be able to “generate new text, explain concepts, have a back-and-forth conversation between the user and the system.” Forbes predicts that there will be a “competitive AI landscape” for companies who will use these tools in order to “optimize business operations.” This will be especially felt between platforms like Google and Microsoft.
In 2023, it is expected that the hotel industry will be faced with new challenges and competition, while the ultimate challenge remaining the new advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Artificial Intelligence is becoming incredibly popular and prominent within society. So far, AI is able to create beautiful art, write eloquently, do research, and so much more. Orotto is predicting that the trends from AI will have positive effects on efficiency, personalization, and customer service; letting companies and their workers have more time to focus on the the larger issues. The most important question is whether the advances in AI can help alleviate the negative aftermath of the pandemic, or will it put the hospitality industry and its workers further in danger of becoming obsolete?
AI Trends
Spiceworks predicts that in AI and its tools will be “take center stage” in the next year. From businesses, to the Metaverse, to online marketing, AI is becoming increasingly more popular for both companies and consumers alike. AI has an incredible amount of potential to help hotel businesses find more efficient ways to market their products and services. This has made it increasingly popular because it will allow marketers to easily identify target audiences, generate content, and create an all around better customer experience. We have collected what we think are the most significant AI marketing trends for 2023 for the hotel industry. This tools can be extremely useful in establishing a better online presence and relating to your target audience.
Collaborative AI is also an emerging trend as AI will not be able to fully function properly without a human perspective. This means that AI will become normalized in the workplace and be part of the normal marketing process. By working together with AI, the hotel industry can create a more structured, safe, and better experience for their customers. By introducing AI systems into your company, IEEE predicts that it will improve business spaces. This means that it will make these spaces “more efficient”, “solve challenges” that your team may not be equipped to solve, “eliminate manuel error”, and “reduce pressure on employees”. Overall, AI will make marketing more exciting, targeted, and efficient.
Easier Content Creation
Generative AI is one of the most critical AI tools that has emerged over the last year. This type of AI is going to be especially popular this year for marketers as it will allow them to create beautiful and trendy art for marketing campaigns. According to Spiceworks, generative AI can “constantly generate quality content that is relative and engaging.” Generative AI also means that content creation has become so much easier. This trend means that AI will be able to generate more unique and original content. Ortto reports that AI content creation “is becoming more and more popular with brands.” They continue to explain that this tool can create article and blog content – both by creating content plans and writing entire posts –, find the best SEO keywords, and create all social media content, “without much human input”. Turner predicts that soon businesses will “rely on it more… for time consuming tasks such as content creation.”
Better Customer Experiences
Another significant trend is using adaptive AI to create better customer experiences. This manifests in the use of AI virtual assistants or chatbots, greater personalization, and even AI in the mundane shopping experience. Using past data and shopping history, AI will be able to create a more seamless shopping experience for each individual customer. This idea can also be used in the hotel industry to recommend similar hotels to the customer’s taste, and help hotels create more immersive and personalized experiences for each customer.
More Valuable Insight
Forbes predicts that AI will generate more data sharing. This will allow companies to better “structure” the data they collect to use it for “valuable insight” which will then “guide” their decision making and marketing processes. AI will essentially make sharing and organizaing data easier and more efficient in order to better analyze it to companies’ advantages.
AI will also enhance security both online and offline. AI can help protect online data and fight back against cyberattacks, meaning that your customers’ data will now be safer and less prone to being leaked. IEEE says that AI for online security will entail tools like “face and voice recognition, video analysis, and biometric authentication.” Offline, AI will create safer environments with strong surveillance systems. According to mobidev, AI will be able to “detect potential threats” as well as better “identify objects”. This will be critical for hotels in order to better protect their guests from any external threats.
AI Tools and What They Do
Looking to utilize these new AI tools in your 2023 marketing strategy? We have identified some of the most new and prominent tools this year which can help you and your team become expert marketers. Marketermilk and Influencer Marketing Hub have more extensive lists of all the best AI marketing tools, and we’ve summarized what we think are the best for hotels looking to use these new tools.
For content creation:
Jasper AI is the perfect tool for copywriting
Surfer SEO helps create SEO content writing
Writer can help with content writing and creation
Phrasee for phrasing, language optimization, and content creation
SEMrush for SEO analysis
MarketMuse helps you create and optimize long-form content
For social media marketing and advertising:
Influencity generates influencer style marketing
Albert.ai helps with digital advertising
Brand24 for monitoring media to create more targeted posts
Seventh Sense for email campaigns
Smartly lets you test and launch advertisements on social media platforms
Other:
Photo by Melanie Deziel.
The Pros and Cons of AI
Despite its popularity, AI marketing does come with pros and cons which are being widely discussed as more companies begin to use the AI tools. For some people, the idea of AI marketing is daunting while others see it as a better way to get the job done. Whether you find it helpful or harmful, we’ve listed some of the best and worst aspects to this new phenomenon.
Pros
Productivity
Starting off strong, Bramework highlights that AI tools can boost productivity by 40%. This is an incredibly statistic and means that businesses can use AI to complete the boring mundane tasks that take forever. Moreover, AI can do a lot of the work humans can do but in a more reliable and efficient way, further increasing productivity. In the end, AI tools give you more efficiency and better use of your time.
2. Trends
AI is also able to predict new trends and consumer behaviors, meaning that you will always be able to give your customers exactly what they want. According to Brainpool, AI can help you “attract new customers and retain old ones” by keeping you up to date with the most popular wants of your customer base. AI can flag patterns in consumer behavior to let you see where your marketing is falling short and how you can improve to reach new and old customers.
3. Personalization and Customer Experiences
Another great thing about the AI tools is that it can help you identify the right message to send to your target audience as well as create content for it. AI tools can show you exactly what and who you need to focus your marketing reach on. By sending the relevant message to your consumers, you have the potential to gain more customers as well as create a better overall experience for your current customers.
Personalization is another aspect to a better customer experience. Current AI tools can aid you in creating a more personalized and individual experience for your customers. By having the AI interact with your customers, it can retain that data and use it to generate targeted content.
4. Cost Saving in the Long Run
Firstly, AI will allow you to “achieve more with less”, according to Bluleadz. Using AI tools you’ll need fewer staff to handle the trivial jobs that AI can manage alone. Moreover, Business Insider reports that 85% of customer interactions will be without a human in the coming years.
5. Sales
Since AI has access to a consumer’s purchase history, it can help you “gain more upsells and cross sells” writes Bluleadz. This will help sales increase, while making the process faster, easier, and more efficient. AI can easily highlight the content consumers want meaning that AI can use your targeted messaging to help you gain more customers.
Cons
The Human Aspect
The most significant downside to AI tools is the human aspect. Firstly, many people are not thrilled about the AI takeover, preferring to interact with humans than with chatboxes – these chatboxes remaining rather unpopular.
Secondly, AI does not have the same human feel to it. While it can basically emulate all human tasks, it leaves out the significant aspect of human emotion. There is no authenticity. As corny as it may sound, love and other human emotions are critical to marketing because you want to make your customer feel with your brand to convince them to support your company over another. Moreover, AI is not yet able to tell a relatable and beautiful story like a human. Time, effort, and emotions go into these marketing campaigns which is what makes them so personal, relatable, and likeable. It is also what makes them so convincing. This human aspect to marketing is something that AI will never be able to emulate. So no matter how many AI tools you implement in your marketing, it will never be the same as coming up with campaigns as a team.
The last significant downside, is that computers need humans to work. So despite the efficiency and productivity that comes with the new AI tools, they still need humans to do the work to run them.
2. Job Loss
Another extremely negative aspect to AI tools is the fact that they will and have contributed to job loss. It is no secret that AI will begin to take over many of the jobs that are unnecessary for humans to complete. These tools will end up making people obsolete as AI can just do it for us.
This also means that marketers will have extra pressure on them to show off their value to those above them in the company, according to Marketing Evolution. With these new content creating and message generating tools, many employees who are perfectly capable and good at their jobs will be let go as it will render them “useless” and is also more cost efficient.
3. The Problem with Alogrithms
Twitter explains that while “mathematically” the algorithm might be right, they may not authentically represent the uniqueness of the individual customer. Likes and dislikes are constantly changing and it may be difficult for a computer to keep up with that. There is not always a clear pattern to what a consumer may want. Twitter highlights the importance of change and outliers that can ultimately cheat the system. Bluleadz writes that even if an algorithm does go wrong, you might not even notice it. They sum that up in one word: scary.
4. Initial High Costs
While AI can be cost efficient, it can come with high costs as well. According to Bluleadz, AI will come with “frequent maintenance” and the need for “upgrades” for your marketing climate. The cost of purchasing the AI tools could outweigh the benefits and revenue received.
Where is it going?
So far, it is clear that AI marketing is becoming increasingly more popular with both businesses and consumers. Creating better experiences for the customer while making your business more efficient is clearly a win-win situation, making this new trend here to stay. Bramework found that 61% of marketers think AI is critical to their data strategy while 80% of business owners say that AI boosts productivity. Only 13% of business leaders have stated that they do not plan to use any AI tools in their marketing. Marketing Evolution report that 33% of data analysts will be replaced by AI. These statistics make it clear that AI marketing is successful and able to bring in results quickly which is a significant gain for businesses.
Although it is incredibly useful and can complete tasks at faster rates than humans, it is still missing that personal element. Do we really want to give up personality and beautiful storytelling from a distinctive and individual angle for efficiency? It is important that we recognize the unique qualities of human storytelling and incorporate the AI tools into our strategy rather than fully handing over the reigns of marketing and creation.
By using collaborative AI, hotel businesses can take their marketing to a new level. Marketing Evolution explains that it will increase “productivity, ROI, and efficiency”, keep your company “ahead of competition”, and help met yearly revenue goals. AI marketing is ultimately here to stay. By using the tools and services AI provides, it can help sustain a thriving and successful business.