Ken Countess
Editor’s Note: Ken Countess is an internationally recognized marketing expert and coach. His company, KEN IS EMAIL, a division of The Countess Group, is now in its 23rd year. He is Constant Contact’s top trainer/partner and is an affiliate of Jasper AI. He can be reached at ken@kenisemail.com. Visit Ken’s website: www.KENISEMAIL.com
A day doesn’t go by, it seems, without hearing the term “AI” come up in business conversations. AI has taken the business world by storm, truly captivating us in ways no one could have expected just a few short years ago.
One example of how AI benefits businesses is in the call center industry, where it drives powerful call center scripting. Customer service professionals in a call center now receive intuitive scripts that seamlessly guide conversations with customers. Customer satisfaction increases, revenue increases and turnover is reduced with AI. Talk about a game-changer!
But with all that “buzz”, how can we actually put AI to work in the camping and RV park industry? It’s actually easier than you think.
To back up a step or two, there are many aspects of our industry that really haven’t changed very much over what seems like decades — from how we handle reservations, how we handle utility hookups, laundry services offered, what we offer in campground stores and other service offerings.
More recently, we’ve added things like Wi-Fi, electronic security and other services. All have a cost. This is where automation and AI come in.
AI and other automation tools and services can not only make properties more profitable but enable park owners to expand into other services that they hadn’t previously even had the time to think — or dream — about.
First and foremost, we want to build traffic to our locations, increase the length of stays, increase revenue and increase customer loyalty. By implementing AI and automation in our marketing, we can do all of that.
Here’s how:
Using AI-powered Customer Segmentation
One of the most important aspects of successful marketing is identifying the right target audience. By learning more about our customers — for example, asking the right questions when they book and stay at a park — we can cater much more to their needs, increasing the likelihood they’ll:
- spend more during their stay
- refer their friends and families
- post about the park on social media, and
- return for future visits.
With AI-powered customer segmentation, it is easy to create data-driven customer profiles based on demographic, social and behavioral data. This allows a park to target and personalize its marketing campaigns to specific groups of people, increasing the likelihood of conversion and encouraging greater customer loyalty.
Using AI-powered Email Marketing
Year after year, email marketing has been a proven strategy for engaging with customers and promoting a campground or RV park. However, manually creating and sending emails can be time-consuming and ineffective.
AI-powered email marketing tools can automate this process and provide personalized recommendations for content, subject lines and send times based on customer behaviors and preferences. This can increase open rates, click-through rates and ultimately lead to more bookings and revenue for a park.
Owners/operators may or may not know that many email service providers have upgraded their systems to include AI-powered tools that can handle the heavy lifting. Especially if they find themselves with “writer’s block”, using AI, they can get the job of writing fresh new content handled in seconds, freeing them up to concentrate on other aspects of their business.
Park owners are encouraged to find ways to utilize AI tools to help their businesses.
AI-powered Chatbots
Engaging with customers in real-time can be a challenge for campground and RV park owners who have limited staff. AI-powered chatbots now can assist by providing automated customer service and support through messaging platforms and websites.
Most readers have probably been on websites that have automation greeting them when they visit. These “chatbots” can answer frequently asked questions, direct customers to relevant information and even provide personalized recommendations for activities and amenities based on customer preferences.
AI-powered Data Analysis
Data is king (or queen!) in the marketing industry — but analyzing and interpreting it can be overwhelming and time-consuming. There’s so much data generated each day — in fact, one source estimated over 1.1 billion tall filing cabinets worth of data is generated each day. It’s hard for park owners to get their arms around what data to use and how to use it.
As a result, many campground and RV park owners are unwittingly missing out on valuable opportunities. That’s another place AI can help.
AI-powered data analysis tools can simplify the process of using data by automatically collecting and analyzing data from various sources, such as social media, website traffic and customer reviews.
It can help owners identify trends, understand customer behavior and make data-driven decisions to improve their marketing efforts.
AI-powered Advertising
Another area in which AI can help our industry is in advertising. Advertising can be highly ineffective — and very expensive — if it’s not done correctly.
With the use of AI-powered advertising tools, campgrounds and RV parks can have access to better targeting and optimization options, so that ads are seen by the right people at the right time.
By continually analyzing customer behavior and preferences, these tools can create and optimize advertising campaigns across various platforms, such as social media, search engines and display networks.
Final Thoughts
In short, the adoption of automation and AI-powered marketing tools presents an array of advantages for campground and RV park owners. Those who embrace this game-changing technology will gain a clear competitive edge, by providing personalized and data-driven solutions for customer engagement, advertising and data analysis.
When implemented correctly, automation and AI tools can lead to increased campground and RV park bookings, revenue and customer satisfaction.
Get ahead of the game, and start using AI. Even taking “baby steps” to familiarize yourself with how it works will help a park owner quickly gain a major advantage over those who are resistant to the technology.
