In the constant pursuit of optimisation and attribution, hotels risk losing sight of what truly drives long-term success: a distinctive brand, strategic clarity, and meaningful guest connection. When everything’s reduced to a metric, the brand starts to lose its edge.
Attribution Is Becoming Less Precise, and That’s OK
For years, digital marketing gave hotels a sense of control. We could track almost every click, every conversion, and every euro spent. Google Analytics showed a seemingly direct line between action and revenue. But those days are fading.
Today, zero-click searches dominate. Google, social platforms, and AI-powered interfaces increasingly keep users within their ecosystems. At the same time, privacy regulations have made it harder to track users across channels and sessions. Attribution is no longer as reliable as it once seemed. Conversions are undercounted. And even though solutions like Server-Side Tagging can improve measurement and attribution, they don’t fully solve it.
In reality, the hotel booking journey is (and always was) multi-layered and fragmented. A guest might be inspired by a magazine, a friend’s story, a TikTok reel, or a glimpse of your hotel in a movie, none of which are directly measurable.
Attribution to upper-funnel activities is fundamentally flawed, and obsessing over granular causation can lead brands down the wrong path.
The Danger of Short-Term Thinking
If everything must prove its worth in immediate ROI, then branding, storytelling, and strategic choices begin to take a back seat. Instead of building distinctive, memorable stories and messaging, hotels begin chasing the same “performance” tactics as everyone else.
This is how commoditisation creeps in.
And when you commoditise, especially in the luxury segment, you lose pricing power, loyalty, and brand equity. Luxury is not a feature list. It’s a feeling, crafted over time, across dozens of touch points, most of which cannot be measured.
Brand Is the Thread That Runs Through Every Touchpoint
A brand doesn’t live in a static document, a logo, or a colour palette. It exists in the collective memory created by consistent, emotionally resonant interactions. These include your digital presence, your guest service, your email tone, your social content, your PR placements, and yes, your paid media too.
Every part of the journey contributes. The problem is that when we only prioritise what we can measure, we stop investing in the very moments that build lasting perception.
So, what should hotels do instead?
1. Accept Imperfect Measurement
You can't measure the ROI of being featured in Condé Nast Traveller, but if your target guest sees it, you know it matters. The same goes for awareness campaigns, strong social visibility, and presence in AI search models. Think in terms of signals, not just attributable revenue:
→ Are you seeing growth in branded search volume or direct bookings?
→ Are more guests returning, or booking without relying on OTAs?
→ Are campaigns leading to increased interest or inquiries?
These metrics reflect the strength and visibility of your brand, even if they can’t be tied to a single campaign or touchpoint.
2. Use your own Data to Connect the Dots
Your own systems (PMS, CRM, Channel Manager) hold the real answers. They can help identify which efforts correlate with booking trends, repeat stays and ancillary spend. Don’t rely solely on third-party platforms that are increasingly limited by privacy regulations.
3. Let AI Assist, Not Define
AI is a powerful enabler. It can automate tasks, suggest optimisations, and save time. But AI lacks judgement, taste, and vision. It outputs what’s statistically likely, leading to a sea of sameness across messaging, visuals, and campaign strategy. Used without strategic oversight, it becomes an amplifier of the obvious.
Use AI to brainstorm, troubleshoot, and accelerate workflows. But let humans lead brand storytelling and guest engagement, because that’s where the magic lives.
4. Focus on Brand and Business Impact, Not Just Channel Metrics
A campaign with a lower CTR might still drive high-quality bookings. A social video might not convert today, but could plant the seed for a future stay. Evaluate your marketing through a brand and business lens, not just campaign metrics.
The Strategic Shift Hotels Need Now
We are entering a new era where precision in digital marketing measurement will continue to decline. But that’s not a loss, it’s a correction. It invites hotels to rediscover what truly builds brand and drives long-term value.
Measurement will remain essential, but it need to evolve. Success must be tracked on multiple levels, using different data points: signals, business outcomes, and brand health indicators, not just last-click conversions.
AI will inevitably become a crucial part of how we operate. But neither AI nor attribution tools should define the brand strategy - they should support it.
The real drivers of successful brands?
→ A meaningful, differentiated brand
→ A clear, consistent story
→ A guest journey that feels intentional, thoughtful, and unmistakably yours
If you're building a hotel brand that lasts, let that be your north star.
