AI is no longer a novelty; it’s a practical operating system for how you design experiences, structure your website, and reclaim your time as a leader. The real leverage comes from pairing AI with deep customer understanding, explicit constraints, and a refusal to chase shallow “hacks.”
- Build every AI project around three non-negotiables: more revenue, more time back, and a better customer experience.
- Stop treating your website like a glossy brochure; turn it into a rich data source that both humans and AI agents can confidently learn from.
- Use AI for genuine market research by having it think as your different buyer personas, then rebuild your messaging around what they actually care about.
- Think beyond tools to custom automations and consulting: your competitive edge lies in connecting AI to your specific workflows and vertical.
- Design AI touchpoints that feel like help, not harassment—no lazy popups, broken chatbots, or irrelevant retargeting.
- Lead with curiosity and experimentation; your ability to test, learn, and adapt will matter more than any single platform or model.
- Invest in real-world relationships and community; as AI scales, human trust and in-person connection only become more valuable.
The Searl 6: A Practical Loop For AI-Driven, Guest-Centric Marketing
Define Non-Negotiables Before You Touch a Tool
Every initiative starts with three questions: will this make the owner more money, save the owner meaningful time, and improve the guest experience? If the answer isn’t “yes” to all three, it doesn’t ship. Those constraints protect you from shiny-object syndrome and keep AI work tightly aligned to business outcomes, not vendor demos.
Let AI Do The Heavy Lifting On Market Research
Instead of guessing what your customers care about, use AI to generate detailed buyer personas, then have the model “think” as each persona. Ask it: what would make you choose this business over alternatives? What objections do you have? What copy would earn your trust? You get research-level insight in hours instead of weeks, at a fraction of the cost.
Rebuild Your Website As A Knowledge Base, Not A Billboard
Most sites represent only a tiny slice of what a business actually knows and delivers. Expand from a thin 5–10 page site to 50–75 pages of specific, practical, non-fluffy information. Think: individual pages for key amenities, use cases, customer types, and scenarios. That depth helps humans decide and gives AI agents enough context to confidently recommend to you.
Deploy High-Integrity Automation At The Edges
Start where the pain is highest: repetitive questions, understaffed phones, after-hours requests, and simple transactions. Use chatbots, callbots, and workflows that don’t pretend to do more than they can. Tie them into your PMS, CRM, or booking engines so they can trigger real actions—like reservations, add-ons, or on-site service—not just canned answers.
Integrate Upsell, Operations, And Experience Without Being Pushy
Great AI doesn’t scream offers; it listens for intent and responds with relevance. If a guest asks about firewood, offer to add a bundle to their reservation and trigger a task for staff to deliver it to their site. The win isn’t just more revenue; it’s less friction, less back-and-forth, and more time for your team to be present with guests instead of stuck behind screens.
Review, Iterate, And Stay Radically Curious
Assume your first version will be the worst one you ever deploy. Watch transcripts, monitor drop-offs, talk to staff, and listen to what guests actually say. Then let curiosity drive the next iteration: what could we automate next, where did the AI overpromise, where can we add nuance? The leaders who win won’t be the ones who “got there first,” but the ones who kept learning.
From Interruptions To Intelligent Help: Rethinking AI Touchpoints
Approach | Old Pattern | AI-Driven Upgrade | Leadership Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
Website Engagement | Generic popups, email grabs on first visit, one-size-fits-all messaging. | Context-aware chatbots that answer real questions, respect intent, and guide to relevant actions. | Design interactions that feel like service, not harassment; test them as if you were the customer. |
Retargeting & Offers | Ads for things the customer already bought or never wanted; blunt frequency. | Personalized follow-up based on real behavior and known preferences, not just page visits. | Use data to narrow offers to what’s truly relevant; stop spending on noise. |
Staffing & Operations | Understaffed phones, inconsistent information, heavy training burden. | AI call agents and chatbots tied to real systems, handling routine volume 24/7. | Redeploy humans to high-touch experiences while AI handles repeatable tasks. |
Leadership Insights: What This Conversation Means For Your Next Move
How should leaders decide where to start with AI in their business?
Begin where the pain and the payoff intersect. List out the tasks that burn staff time, frustrate customers, or stall revenue. Then run each through the three-part filter: can AI here increase revenue, save time, and improve the experience? Start with the first use case that clearly passes all three tests. That might be a booking assistant, an FAQ chatbot, or an internal automation; the “right” first step is the one that actually relieves pressure.
What separates a helpful chatbot from a glorified FAQ widget?
Depth of integration and quality of training. A superficial bot just scrapes a couple of PDFs and guesses at answers. A serious one is connected to your booking system, understands your specific rules, can trigger actions, and has been iterated on with real-world transcripts. It should know when not to promise something, when to escalate, and how to speak in your brand’s voice while still being honest about what it can and can’t do.
How can small or niche businesses compete when big platforms keep absorbing AI features?
You don’t compete with the platform on infrastructure; you compete on specificity and implementation. OpenAI or Google may ship generic call agents, but they don’t know your campground policies, your guest rhythms, or your local realities. Your edge is vertical expertise and custom wiring—how AI connects to your PMS, your operations, your guests, and your team culture. That layer won’t be commoditized anytime soon.
What does “AI-ready” website architecture look like in practice?
It looks like your business, fully expressed. Individual pages for key amenities, detailed descriptions of experiences, clear policies, local nuances, and language that reflects how your guests actually talk. It’s structured so that both humans and AI agents can quickly answer: “Is this the right place for me, given my needs?” The more specific, honest, and complete your content, the more confidently an agent can recommend you over a competitor with thin copy.
What mindset shift do leaders need to make to navigate the next few years of AI change?
Move from “protect what we do” to “reinvent how we serve.” Roles, tools, and even whole categories of work are going to change. What doesn’t change is your responsibility to understand your customers, steward your brand, and build authentic relationships. View AI as leverage on those fundamentals, not a threat to them. Curiosity, experimentation, and human connection become the core leadership skills, not technical wizardry.
Author: Emanuel Rose, Senior Marketing Executive, Strategic eMarketing
Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanuelrose
Last updated:
- Transcript: “Marketing in the Age of AI” podcast conversation with Brian Searl.
- Insider Perks – AI, automation, and marketing services for outdoor hospitality: https://insiderperks.com
- Modern Campground – Industry insights and news for campground operators: https://moderncampground.com
- OpenAI product documentation and public releases (for reference on GPT-based tooling).
- Google Search Central guidance on content quality, structure, and user experience.
About Strategic eMarketing: Strategic eMarketing helps growth-minded organizations turn clear positioning, compelling creative, and practical AI adoption into measurable pipeline and revenue gains.
https://strategicemarketing.com/about
https://www.linkedin.com/company/strategic-emarketing
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-in-the-age-of-ai
https://open.spotify.com/show/marketing-in-the-age-of-ai
https://www.youtube.com/@EmanuelRose
Guest Spotlight
Guest: Brian Searl
Title: Founder & CEO, Insider Perks and Modern Campground
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/insiderperks/
Email: brian@insiderperks.com
Companies: Insider Perks & Modern Campground
Episode: Marketing in the Age of AI with guest Brian Searl, recorded December 1, 2025, 12:30 PM PST.
Brian has spent nearly two decades helping organizations, especially in outdoor hospitality, navigate AI, automation, and digital marketing. Through Insider Perks and Modern Campground, he leads a team that delivers everything from branding and websites to advanced AI chatbots, AI call agents, and other digital workers, while actively exploring future-facing technologies such as robotics and 3D printing.
About the Host
Emanuel Rose is a senior marketing executive and author of “Authentic Marketing in the Age of AI,” helping brands integrate AI while staying grounded in real human connection and nature-based balance. He leads Strategic eMarketing and hosts the “Marketing in the Age of AI” podcast.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emanuelrose
Putting AI To Work: Your Next 7 Days
Pick one friction point in your customer journey and run it through Brian’s three-part test: money, time, and experience. Use an AI model to map your buyer personas, then rewrite a single page on your site to speak directly to one of them. Launch a small, contained AI experiment, review the results with your team, and let that learning guide your next iteration.