Personalize Your Marketing to Win the AI and Generative Engine Game: Four Optimization Strategies for Wedding & Hospitality Brands
Photo by Genevieve Demanio with bridal stylist Maise-Kate Keane, at Hannah Florman Fine Jewelry
The wedding industry is experiencing a digital revolution, and artificial intelligence is at the core. Observing and acknowledging these significant shifts being made is only half of the battle–in order to stay afloat in this change, you have to know how you can leverage it to the advantage of your business.
Today’s up-and-coming couples, particularly those in Generation Z (1997-2012), are turning to AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to streamline their wedding planning process. What once took 500 hours is now taking 50 with the use of AI to generate lists of common and uncommon wedding planning tasks, vendor recommendations, and inquiry letters to potential suppliers.
AI is becoming the new word of mouth, and your digital strategy needs to consider this new way of optimization. To help you stay ahead of the curve and avoid becoming obsolete, we’re sharing our tips to optimize your brand in today’s digital market.
When clients or industry partners use AI tools, they’re searching for vendors through conversational yet detailed queries of exactly what they’re looking for:
“Find me a florist in Austin, Texas who specializes in romantic garden-style arrangements.”
“What photographers in the Boston area have experience with outdoor ceremonies?”
“What should I consider when planning a destination wedding in Italy?”
“Recommend a non-traditional property that can accommodate 125 guests for a private event in Paris.”
AI is the open door to new revenue, network building, and reach. Over half of all website search leads are generated from ChatGPT searches.
Optimize your digital presence for AI search:
As opposed to clunky SEO descriptions stuffed with keywords, competitive brands are structuring content in an easier way to be ‘grabbed’ by these generative engines. Tighten your brand language: clear, specific descriptions of your services and normal, everyday rhetoric. Copy changes on your website, like “creative wedding photography” to“wedding photography specializing in intimate outdoor ceremonies,” can really help.
Show your expertise - be a teacher. These web crawlers are searching for authoritative voices with a perspective. Share your knowledge in a way that feels like a response to an FAQ. Consider the questions your clients ask about your brand or property, and answer them on your website, on discussion boards, and on social media including TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube (AI engines sources information from everywhere).
Your blog is a perfect place to answer common questions that clients may be searching for, with responses that are highly targeted, digestible and clear. If you’re a private property or hotel, infuse more language on the website that pertains to the standout features of your service or property. With the evolving editorial landscape, brands that own their content and publish new material for their audience are outpacing the competition. This is a great time to add a journal where you can educate your clients and showcase standout event projects and the ‘behind the scenes’ knowledge you’d share with them if you were on an inquiry call.
Leverage Reddit and forum presence:
Reddit accounts for 5.9% of ChatGPT sources, with citations up 400% in recent times. Building a presence on wedding and hospitality-focused discussion boards will bring you to the top of mind for couples seeking advice.
Similarly, your Instagram feed appears on Google search, thanks to ChatGPT. A few quick tips to ensure your efforts on Instagram are working hard:
Continue using relevant keywords in your captions
Make sure your bio is up to date and reflects what you want potential clients to know about what you offer (same goes for Google My Business and Pinterest bios)
Make sure your account is public: Go to Settings - Account Privacy - toggle ON for ‘ Allow public photos and videos to appear in search engine results’
Monitor your AI reputation:
Use real-time monitoring tools to track how your brand appears in AI searches. Test your visibility through the new Google URL Inspection Tool or conduct searches as your ideal client would to see what comes up. Toggle to the left and click on ‘Insights’, where you’ll see what pages and queries are up or down based on search trends. This can help you double down on new targeted content using your blog. Likewise, you can click ‘Performance’ and see how your website ranks compared to real-life searches. Take time to upload new visuals of your work or property with optimized file names to help increase your rankings over time.
Invest in your brand visibility with a proactive PR and media placement strategy:
As NY Mag mentions in their article “SEO is Dead, Say Hello to GEO” - mentions, organic media features, sourced commentary on highly visible media sites should not be overlooked. Chatbots can actually be influenced based on the quality, tone and context of these articles your brand is mentioned in - similar to how we develop our own sense of perception as human beings. These generative engines are actually taking interest in quality content from sites they trust, and then serving that up to you and me when we are making a query. They are selecting the best brands, people, places and products - largely based on their understanding of how strong that brand’s reputation is online. The more quality media features you can generate, the stronger that bias becomes - increasing alongside your visibility, share of voice and market positioning.