Authentic Blog Content ‘Still Drives Results’ Despite Rise of AI

Authentic content and original photographs produced by bloggers will reap better rewards than AI material, according to speakers at World Travel Market London.

Blogger Filipe Gomes, who set up Alma de Viajante 20 years ago, conducted an experiment to compare AI generated content with his own material. He told the WTM London marketing summit: “I decided to create a website with AI generated content. If it works, it’s easy money. If it doesn’t work, perfect. That means I can keep doing my normal travel blogging.

“I generated 30-40, posts, and in the first few days, the articles ranked, but then they disappeared completely, and I was happy about it. I want to believe that good content will always perform better than bad content or AI generated content. I will keep going to places and write about my experiences.”

Malcolm Archer, Head of Sales at Stay22, commented: “It is extremely validating that good content and good contextual content will still continue to drive results.”

One of his top tips for bloggers was about authenticity, adding: “Be yourself, if that’s your brand; stand up for what your brand stands for.”

Cora Harrison, who has blogged at Inside Our Suitcase since 2017, advised delegates to use original images. “Make sure you’re taking your own photos. They don’t have to be the best photos in the world. They can be taken on your iPhone. But original photos really, really matter in a world of AI content,” she said.

When AI was emerging, she decided to diversify, so she developed her social media channels which helped her to build brand partnerships.

“Now I am able to use those social platforms – Instagram, TikTok, Facebook – to push audiences to my website,” she said. “I am now benefiting from a much more diverse traffic source. I’m no longer solely relying on Google, and that means that I have much more stable revenue from my website. I am also getting revenue directly from Facebook.”

The bloggers also offered tips about how to deal with problems caused by Google Core updates, which hit traffic to many websites, pushing them down search rankings.

Julie Falconer, who set up A Lady In London in 2007, said she was lucky that her site was not too badly hit by Google updates. “One of the bonuses of starting way back in 2007 is that I always focused on social media,” she said, pointing out that her blog receives a lot of traffic from Instagram, Pinterest and other platforms.

“I always prioritised affiliate marketing and brand partnerships, and, more recently, monetising directly on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, with earning through advertising, when they invite you into the programme. My Instagram account is my biggest marketing channel for my blog. Captions have clear calls to action.”

She urged bloggers to experiment: “There are many different ways you can monetise. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. What works for me might not work for somebody else.”

However, the panellists agreed that AI does have a role in helping content creators to monetise their blogs. Stay22 has an AI-powered travel affiliate platform, Let Me Allez, which ensures that when visitors click on links, they are shown personalised options which they are more likely to book. It also fixes broken links in affiliate marketing.

Archer said: “This year, we’ve reached one billion users through our platform. We’ve also generated $500 million in bookings. It’s been an absolutely phenomenal journey.”

Gomes said using Stay22’s AI service had been a “game-changer” for him, commenting: “It took me five months to reach the amount of money I made last year.”

Harrison agreed: “I was making a lot of money with booking.com directly. I thought that was the most money I could earn. [With Stay22] I earned a lot more.”

The marketing summit was introduced by Michael Ball, co-founder of Traverse, a content creator community.

He said the organisation will launch a new event in July next year, in London. Called Waypoint, the two-day event will have 150 to 200 handpicked content creators, 40 to 50 brands and destinations, different types of networking, a conference programme and social events.