The recent McKinsey report on ‘The promise of travel in the age of AI’, describes a future state where travel companies can talk to their customers on an individual basis, through hyper-segmented targeting.
The report explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the travel industry and could unlock $1 trillion in value for the travel industry by 2030.
One of the ways in which this will be achieved is through the 'audience of one' approach. This concept has long been the dream of marketers but in reality, has always been a challenge without incredibly rich data and the tools to put it to use. These tools may now be coming into existence.
The segment of one concept in travel refers to the idea of personalising the customer experience to the highest degree possible, down to the individual level. This means understanding each customer's unique needs and preferences and then tailoring the products, services, and experiences that you offer accordingly.
The McKinsey report argues that the segment of one approach has a number of benefits for both travel companies and travellers. For travel companies, the segment of one approach can help to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, and build loyalty. For travellers, the segment of one approach can lead to a more personalised and enjoyable travel experience.
AI is essential for enabling the segment of one approach to become a reality. AI can be used to collect and analyse vast amounts of data about each customer, including their travel reasons, their interests, their spending habits and more. This data can then be used to create detailed profiles of each customer, which can then be used to personalise their experience and bring them back.
Outside of travel, some of the world's most innovative companies are also attempting to drill down to the segment-of-one approach; Netflix uses AI to recommend movies and TV shows to viewers based on what they have engaged with previously, Amazon uses AI to recommend products to its customers based on their purchase history and Spotify uses AI to recommend playlists and songs.
The segment of one approach is still in its early stages of development, but it has the potential to revolutionise the way that businesses interact with their customers. As AI technology continues to develop, we can expect to see travel businesses adopting the segment of one approach more and more.
The report also discusses the challenges of implementing the segment of one approach. One challenge is the need to collect and analyse large amounts of data about each customer. Another challenge is the need to develop AI models that can accurately predict customer needs and preferences.
At Obvlo, this makes us even more excited to showcase how our rich guest data is used to drive bookings and reduce marketing costs. Over 80% of guests using Obvlo for personalised recommendations provide data on their trip in order to have a better experience. In turn, this enables their hosts to utilise this data in their own re-marketing campaigns. Increase booking rates and reduce ad costs by more precisely targeting ads to the right guests.
If you have a guest staying with you this month and you know a lot about them, you can bring them back in the future using the audience of one approach.
Get in touch to find out more.