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How to Get More Marketing Done in Less Time With AI
Episode 3 • 8th April 2025 • Let's Talk Northern Ontario Tourism • Tourism Excellence North
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In this episode of Let's Talk Northern Ontario Tourism, host Karen Peacock sits down with digital marketing and AI strategist Emily Bailey. They cover the basics of digital marketing and artificial intelligence before going deeper on the costs, risks, and opportunities of each. Emily offers practical advice about how Northern Ontario businesses and organizations can use AI to save time and improve customer engagement without losing sight of the importance of human interaction. If you think AI is out of reach, Emily says it's never too late to learn new skills and provides lots of resources to help you take advantage of its benefits.

  • 01:11 Emily's Background in Digital Marketing and AI
  • 03:48 High-Level Overview of Digital Marketing
  • 07:15 Cost of Implementing Digital Marketing
  • 10:40 Understanding Data Analytics
  • 13:55 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
  • 15:54 AI Tools and How to Use Them in Tourism
  • 20:40 Things to Watch Out For When Using AI
  • 26:07 Who’s Using AI in Tourism, and How Are They Using It?
  • 31:49 Risks and Ethical Considerations of AI
  • 39:44 Training and Resources for AI
  • 41:28 Final Thoughts and Conclusion
  • 42:41 Next Episode Preview

Featured Resources and Courses

About Emily Baillie 

About the podcast

Let's Talk Northern Ontario Tourism is a podcast for tourism operators and industry stakeholders featuring experts who understand what it means to run a tourism business or organization here in Northern Ontario. Through casual conversations, you’ll learn about cutting edge topics like AI marketing, Cruise Ship Tourism, and trends that are shaking up the industry. Plus, you can tune in  while driving or doing chores.

For even more  insights that’ll help you grow your business, organization, or community, connect with Tourism Excellence North, which is part of Destination Northern Ontario:

If you like podcasts, DNO has another one called Destination: Northern Ontario. Season 1 is for people thinking about buying a tourism business, and Season 2 has helpful advice for new tourism operators. 

 Let's Talk Northern Ontario Tourism is an initiative of Tourism Excellence North and is recorded on the traditional territories of the Anishinaabek and the Mushkegowuk. It is hosted by Karen Peacock and produced by Storied Places Media with support from Erica Richard, Naza Obasi, and Gillian McCullough.

Transcripts

Emily Baillie:

I think the biggest message I'd like to give

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:

to people is it's not too late.

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:

It's not too late to learn a

new skill that maybe you never

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:

thought you were going to learn.

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:

Karen Peacock: Welcome to Let's Talk

Northern Ontario Tourism, a podcast

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:

for tourism operators and industry

stakeholders featuring experts who

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actually understand what it means

to run a tourism business or tourism

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:

organization here in Northern Ontario.

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I'm Karen Peacock.

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In this episode, I'm joined by

Emily Bailey, a digital marketing

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and artificial intelligence

strategist, trainer, and professor.

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We start with some basics on digital

marketing and how it can be done

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with less strain on your time.

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Then we dive into a fascinating discussion

about how tourism businesses can use AI

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tools to save time on marketing, business

planning, and even grant applications.

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We also talk about the risks of using

AI, and how to manage those risks.

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Whether you're holding back on these

tools or you're already experimenting,

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Emily has some great advice to share.

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Emily, I'm so looking

forward to our conversation.

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Maybe we could just start with

a little bit about what your

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background is in artificial

intelligence and digital marketing.

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Emily Baillie: Absolutely.

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Well, thank you so much for

having me, I'm pleased to be here.

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And digital marketing and now

artificial intelligence are really

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changing so quickly and changing

the game for a lot of organizations.

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I've been in the digital marketing

industry for over 15 years.

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I started my career in Toronto

working for various organizations.

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I worked in education.

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I worked in travel and tourism.

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And then I opened my own business about

10 years ago, providing consulting

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and training to other businesses

regarding, um, digital marketing,

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and now artificial intelligence.

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So that's been a really amazing

opportunity to connect with and serve

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Ontario's small business community, a

lot of non profit organizations as well.

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And artificial intelligence has really

just kind of come onto the scene in

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the past couple of years in a big way.

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When it first came out, it was

really just kind of ChatGPT.

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That was the first tool that was becoming

kind of publicly available, and the first

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one that most businesses would have at

their fingertips to experiment with.

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So what I started doing first off was

educating myself on what this technology

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is, how it's going to impact the industry,

and how people who own businesses and

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work in marketing, for example, can

use this technology to amplify the

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great work that they are already doing.

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Now, it's certainly not

perfect by any means.

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There's a lot of challenges that come

along with AI, but it's been by far the

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most requested topic I've been getting

for coaching sessions, for training

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sessions, for workshops, and now for a

lot of sessions, speaking opportunities

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at conferences, and I think that's

because I'm able to break down these

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complex topics, make them a little bit

more approachable perhaps for people that

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don't come from a technical background,

and really focus on, okay, what do we

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truly need to know, and, and what's

going to be useful for a person who,

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say, owns a tourism related business.

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So it's been a lot of fun.

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It's been an evolution, I would say,

but as you know, with this industry,

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there's always something new, and there's

always something exciting to explore.

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Karen Peacock: Amazing that you've

been able to really learn so much

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and then teach others as well.

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Let's start with digital marketing.

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If you can give us a high level overview.

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Emily Baillie: Ooh, great question.

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I haven't been asked this one in a while.

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This is good.

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Uh, so digital marketing is using online

platforms and activities to deliver

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the messages and promote a particular

business or a product or service.

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Digital marketing would

encompass websites.

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It would encompass social media

sites like Facebook, Instagram

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and YouTube, for example.

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It would also include blogs.

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It would include Google ads.

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It would also include some

other activities that take

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place in the virtual space.

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It's very common for businesses to

use digital marketing now, and often

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it's used in combination with what

we call traditional marketing or

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we could call it offline marketing.

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That would be things like in person

events, signage, magazines, print

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ads, or brochures, for example.

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Karen Peacock: So if we take, the

example of a lodge in Northern Ontario

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or an accommodation in Northern

Ontario that has had the same repeat

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visitors for years, how might digital

marketing really be beneficial for them?

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Emily Baillie: I think keeping in touch

with those people throughout the year

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is important, so that you're top of mind

or your business is top of mind when it

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comes time for them to make a booking.

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Now, if you're lucky, they'll book for the

following year, uh, while they're there.

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That's the ultimate goal, but

it doesn't always work that way.

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So we can use things, uh, like

Facebook, for example, to keep

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them engaged and keep our business

top of mind throughout the year.

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Keep in touch with them, so to

speak, tell stories about our

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particular destination and so on.

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I feel myself that email

marketing really is powerful.

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Having a direct line to the inbox of

a previous customer gives you a great

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opportunity to reach out to them again.

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And in Canada, we have something

called anti spam legislation.

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You want to make sure they've sort of

opted in to accept your email marketing

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messages, but giving them a little nudge

from time to time or giving them some

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updates on what's happening at the lodge,

for example, or maybe you've just opened

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up your booking tool or added some new

dates or added some new experiences.

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Those are great opportunities

to reach out with an email and

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let them know what's happening.

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You're not necessarily asking for the sale

in every single email, but you do want

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to make sure that it is easy for them to

take that next step should they wish to.

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So having a strong, what we call, "call

to action," in your email is important.

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Likewise on social media,

making it super easy.

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"Ready to book," for example, "click

here," " get your preferred dates today."

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Those are examples of calls to action.

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You want to make sure you're making it

super easy for that person who's juggling

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multiple tasks perhaps or scrolling on

their mobile phone to take that next

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step, make that click to your website

or your booking tool, or perhaps in

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some cases even pick up the phone and

call and make a reservation that way.

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Karen Peacock: Does it

cost a lot to implement?

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And I know digital marketing is wide

and varied across the spectrum,

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but does it cost a lot to implement

and, when should somebody be

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hiring someone to do this for them?

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Emily Baillie: I think it costs mostly

your time, truly, and that is valuable.

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So if you are, let's say, closed in the

winter, what you might consider is working

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ahead and pre scheduling some social media

or some marketing content ahead of time

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so that when it's your hectic season and

you're out there serving your guests, you

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still have a bit of an automated program,

those posts are still going out, those

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emails are still going out, for example.

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Uh, you can work backwards to

an extent and create a, what

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we call a content calendar.

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That's a good way to do it if

you're doing your own marketing.

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Uh, to your question about how

much does it cost, it can depend.

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You can do all free stuff like Facebook

posts, that doesn't cost anything.

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Email marketing, you're looking

at, uh, maybe $20 a month for

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an email hosting software.

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Website is a no brainer.

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You must have a website at the very least.

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If you don't have one, then get, uh, one

or at least a landing page to start.

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But if you really want to get more

eyeballs on your content, this is where

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folks sometimes decide to run ads.

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Google ads are quite popular.

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Uh, some folks will run ads

on Facebook and Instagram.

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Those would be the, the most popular ads

formats on the digital side of things.

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And that can get costly.

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That can be, you know, anywhere from

let's say $50 a month, $500 a month.

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The, the good news is you get to decide.

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It's up to you how much you want

to spend or how much you can spend.

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And then you can scale up or

scale down, uh, month to month

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depending on seasonality.

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If you want to outsource, that can

be a great way to just sort of get it

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off your plate and say, you know what?

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This is not my forte.

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I'm really good at doing a lot

of things, but digital marketing

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is just not the thing that I

want to be doing day in day out.

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If you're finding you can't keep up with

your digital marketing activities or

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you want to do something new, it may be

time to find someone to outsource to.

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You have a few different options there.

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Some folks will hire a freelancer

to do their social media management.

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That person would create a content

calendar for them, create a bunch of

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posts, and then you get to approve it.

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So you would see everything or you should

see everything before it gets published.

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Another option would be an advertising

agency or a marketing agency.

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Typically you would pay them a monthly

fee for them to basically run all of

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your digital marketing activities for you.

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Depending how many different

channels you have, you're probably

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looking at at least $500 a month.

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Different agencies will have

different rates, but you can

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always inquire and ask for a quote.

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Doesn't mean you necessarily have to

go with them, but they'll probably

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want to know from you, you know, how is

your digital marketing been performing?

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Is it working for you?

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Is it bringing in leads?

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If it's not bringing in leads, then I

would say, okay, let's go back to the

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basics and look a little more closely.

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Where are people finding us?

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And how do people know about us?

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And how can we sort of build on that?

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Karen Peacock: We hear a

lot about data analytics.

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Uh, what is it and how can

it help a tourism business?

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Or even a community organization.

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Like, we have many community

organizations that are focused on

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trails, whether hiking, skiing, etc.

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Or festivals and events.

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How might that help them?

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Emily Baillie: So your data analytics

are the numbers associated with your

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sales and marketing activity, and

there's a number of different data

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points that you would have access

to as the owner of the business or

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as the person, let's say, running a

campaign for a community organization.

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The analytics that most people

might be most familiar with may

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be their digital marketing or

their social media, for example.

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If you have a Facebook page, you

have something called Facebook

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Insights, and Facebook Insights

is included with the page.

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It's your data.

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You own it, and you should be

monitoring it, and taking a peek

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in there every so often to see

how your content is performing.

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Are you getting more engagement, uh,

likes, follows, shares, sends, et cetera?

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that's what you are of course aiming

for with your, with your social media.

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So, um, that's an example

of data analytics.

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You can take that data, you can

analyze it, look for trends.

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If you find, for example, that your

audience is primarily active on

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social media on the weekends, launch

your new updates at the start of

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the weekend because that's when the

most people are going to see it.

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Don't put it on Monday morning

because your audience is not

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online on Monday morning, they're

busy doing something else.

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So you can kind of use that data to

guide your digital marketing activities

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going forward and measure the impact.

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If you are running paid ads, it

cannot be overstated how important

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it is to look at that data.

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Make sure that your ads are performing

for you, meaning they're actually

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driving clicks to your website,

otherwise you're throwing money away.

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What you want to do is sort of

make sure that if an ad that you're

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running, let's say on Facebook, is not

performing well, you can cancel that ad.

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You can stop that ad, and you can save

that money that you had allotted to

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that, and maybe try something else.

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People will often run two or three

ads at the same time to start, and

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they'll monitor the data, and see

which ads are performing well, and

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which ads are not performing well.

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Nine times out of ten, there's

going to be a frontrunner.

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And then there's going to be, uh, let's

call it a tortoise and no offense to

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the tortoise, but maybe the tortoise

has to go and you can cancel that one.

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So all of this to say you're

using that data, which you own,

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to analyze your activities.

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You can also analyze like sales volume,

how much your customers spend and so

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on, their buying habits and seasonality,

and, and that sort of data as well.

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But all of this information belongs to

you and you're, you're getting to know

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that information and using it to guide

and build your business over time.

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Karen Peacock: Wonderful.

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Um, let's just dive into artificial

intelligence here, and can you

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provide us with sort of a high level

definition or overview of what it is.

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Emily Baillie: Yeah, it's a

very new thing for many of us.

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People are still trying to

wrap their heads around it.

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So if you are new to AI, that's okay.

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The technology really is the ability

of a computer to sort of mimic the

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decision making or analysis capabilities

that a human would otherwise have.

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And I know that sounds a bit scary at

times, because we think, oh my gosh,

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are the robots going to replace us?

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Are they going to take over the world?

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That's what we don't want, of course.

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But what we can do with this technology

is, is we can use it to help us analyze

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data, forecast trends, uh, draft

communications for us based on previous

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communications that we've drafted, and

it, I'm not going to say it can predict

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the future, but it can use previous

information to create new materials

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or to analyze and look for patterns.

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So that's kind of the value of AI

in the business sense or in the

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tourism industry, for example.

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It can also work a little bit

faster than humans can in the

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sense of drafting, communications.

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So if you have reports, if you

have grant applications, if you

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have customer communications, email

marketing campaigns, blog posts.

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I'm not saying get AI

to do that all for you.

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In fact, I recommend that you don't

get it to do it all for you, but rather

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use it as a tool to help things along.

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If you're running a tourism business,

chances are you're wearing many hats.

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You're probably a busy person

and your time is valuable.

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People need rest too.

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They need to have a life.

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So if AI can be used to help things

along get more done in less time, I

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think that's where the real value lies.

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Karen Peacock: Wonderful.

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So, looking at some of the more

easily accessible or common AI tools,

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and you mentioned one, ChatGPT.

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Can you tell us what that would be used

for within some of the, the smaller,

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or within tourism businesses, I won't

even say smaller, but what we might be

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able to use them for, and then, do you

need a subscription to use them as well?

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Emily Baillie: Great question.

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So, ChatGPT is still the

most commonly used AI tool.

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It's February 2025.

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If we have this conversation again in a

few months, I might be saying something

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else, but it still is the most commonly

used tool, and it is free to get started.

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What does that mean?

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Well, you can type ChatGPT.com

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into your computer, into your

mobile phone, and you're up

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and running straight away.

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Now, some businesses choose to get a

subscription, and the advantage of getting

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a subscription is you're going to get

slightly better performance, meaning the

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tool is going to be able to, uh, create

some writing for you, let's say, or

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some reporting, or maybe blog posts or

marketing materials for you that's going

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to be a little bit better quality with

the paid version than the free version.

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There's also some additional

features in the paid version.

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I always recommend that folks

experiment a little bit.

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If you've never used ChatGPT before at

all, I would say start with the free

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version, you know, get comfortable

with it by playing around with it.

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Playing, by the way, is learning when it

comes to this stuff, and see how you go.

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You don't want to put any, um, sensitive

information, no client data, no credit

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card numbers, anything like that, into

your tool, uh, whatever AI tool you

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choose, but once you get a feel for

that, you'll have a sense of whether

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or not this is the tool for you.

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Is this the one that you want to use?

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Is this the one that you feel comfortable

paying, you know, it's $20 or $25 U.S.

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per month, so you know, you do

the exchange, it works out maybe

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$30- ish per month Canadian.

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That can go up and down slightly.

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I have the paid version myself.

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I do find it's worthwhile for my business.

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Of course, I'm a little more immersed

in AI and marketing, for sure.

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But there's no rule that says

people have to subscribe.

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I also want to mention that

if you want to subscribe, you

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can cancel your subscription.

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So you don't need to

pay for an entire year.

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You could subscribe for, let's say,

the first month and then go into your

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settings and cancel that subscription.

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Or maybe you're going away on a fabulous

month long holiday, and you want to

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cancel your subscription when you're away.

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There's some flexibility built in there.

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There is a $200 a month version.

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I would say don't get that.

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That's way too much money in my view, and

that's not $200 Canadian, that's $200 U.S.

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So I would say avoid that for now.

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Um, I also want to mention some

other tools that I think are

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worthwhile for folks to explore.

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Depending on your comfort level, you

know, you can start with ChatGPT,

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it's a great place to start.

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There's also a tool called

Claude, C L A U D E.

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It's a good one for writing and editing.

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There is also Microsoft Copilot.

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There's also Google Gemini.

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There's also a tool called Perplexity.ai.

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These work very similarly to ChatGPT,

and there's no right or wrong answer,

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you know, some folks prefer to use

a Google based product, some folks

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are already kind of on the Microsoft

system, so it makes sense for them

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to go with the Microsoft Copilot.

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There's no right or wrong answer, Karen.

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It's really a matter of sort of

choosing one, getting a little bit more

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familiar with it, and then deciding

for yourself, is this the one for me?

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You can try out a few and see if

there's any major differences.

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I suspect that they will all

work fairly well for most.

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Um, and the types of things that you can

start with, perhaps ask it to help you

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come up with some marketing ideas or some

social media posts for your business.

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Perhaps some email marketing subject

lines to boost that open rate, you know,

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getting more people to open your emails.

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Um, other things it could be used

for would be coming up with ideas

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for blog posts, or helping to draft

or edit some of those blog posts.

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Some people use it for grant applications.

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The trick there is making sure that your

grant application doesn't sound like

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someone else's grant application, which

as you can imagine is very important.

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Karen Peacock: Yeah, and as you're

giving us some practical usages or

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applications for AI, I'm thinking, you

know, there's many people who, let's

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say, for a grant application, may not

have the experience in doing that.

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And you might be a small business,

or you might be a larger business.

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If someone uses any of the applications,

whether it be Chat GPT or a Google

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application, what are some of the things

that they would need to watch out for?

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And, you know, not just grant

applications, but blog post content

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or suggestions to come up with.

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Can you tell us a little

bit more about that?

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Emily Baillie: The default writing

style that ChatGPT is going to give

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you if you are brand new to ChatGPT,

it's going to sound very generic.

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It's going to sound a little

bit, how should I say, not like

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:

you, not like your business.

339

:

And that's kind of not a great experience

for your readers, for your followers,

340

:

for your audience, as you can imagine,

your customers, people you want to come

341

:

back to your place year after year.

342

:

You want to keep people engaged and the

digital space is a pretty crowded one.

343

:

Attention spans can be very short and

people are scrolling through their mobile

344

:

phones or scrolling through content on

the internet quite quickly at times.

345

:

It's our job as marketers to grab their

attention with something that's valuable

346

:

and something that's interesting and

something that's relevant to them

347

:

wherever they may be in, in their journey.

348

:

So we want to avoid

what's called "AI Slop."

349

:

This is a brand new term, Karen.

350

:

And it goes to show that there's

just a lot of poorly written

351

:

AI generated content out there.

352

:

And it's sometimes because the user

of the AI is not experienced or is

353

:

using the first draft without editing.

354

:

It may also be because the AI

tool, whether it's ChatGPT or

355

:

Copilot or Gemini or something

else, the tool is not trained.

356

:

And what do I mean by that?

357

:

It doesn't know your business.

358

:

It doesn't know your brand voice.

359

:

It doesn't know how you

normally write or speak.

360

:

It doesn't know your audience.

361

:

It doesn't really know your

services or your products very well.

362

:

So it's taking a bit of a stab in

the dark at crafting content for

363

:

you or writing something for you,

but it's not very good quality.

364

:

And that's what AI Slop is.

365

:

Poorly written AI generated content.

366

:

Sometimes it has some little telltale

signs that it's written by AI.

367

:

If there's a lot of emojis,

sometimes it's a little bit too

368

:

lengthy, sometimes certain words

are used over and over again.

369

:

And people are starting to notice.

370

:

So we really want to make sure that

we can, you know, make use of this

371

:

technology where it makes sense for our

business, but not rely on it too much.

372

:

And certainly not at the expense

of the quality of our marketing

373

:

materials or the quality of our

communications with our guests.

374

:

Karen Peacock: I think that makes complete

sense, and as you talk about customizing

375

:

it, using your own voice, I can't help but

think a typical Northern Ontario lodge,

376

:

a lot of repeat visitors and people really

come to know the owner of the lodge, the

377

:

staff at the lodge and if it's sounding

just like any other place and not like

378

:

the people that they've come to know

and love and come back to every year,

379

:

then that's really going to be noticed.

380

:

Emily Baillie: Absolutely.

381

:

It can't be emphasized too much that the

human part of the equation cannot be lost.

382

:

And I know that sounds crazy

because I'm also saying people

383

:

should use AI, but I think there's

a balance to be struck there.

384

:

I think we can use it and make it work

for us, not the other way around, and

385

:

we can also make sure that we preserve

what's really important, and it's that

386

:

human experience, that's the personal

relationships that are built over

387

:

time, uh, and in person, of course,

and those really can't be outsourced.

388

:

That can't be replaced by

artificial intelligence.

389

:

I think the best approach, and this is

what I recommend when I do one to one

390

:

training with businesses in tourism

and otherwise is spend some time with

391

:

the AI tool and give it some context.

392

:

Let it know who you are as

a business, as a brand.

393

:

And what's the tone of the communications

that you want it to help you to develop?

394

:

Is it humorous, for example?

395

:

Is it serious?

396

:

Is it jovial?

397

:

Is it reliable?

398

:

Is it steadfast?

399

:

You know, you can think of

these different adjectives.

400

:

You have to think about yourself in

a new way, in a way, because you're

401

:

going, okay, what do I sound like?

402

:

What does our brand sort of signify?

403

:

And then you would just type

that in, so that it starts to

404

:

understand some of your preferences.

405

:

And then as you work with it over time,

as long as you're logged in under the

406

:

same login and password each time,

what will happen is it will typically

407

:

sort of save your information, save

those conversations that you have back

408

:

and forth, and learn your preferences.

409

:

So it gets better and

better the more you use it.

410

:

Karen Peacock: It's sounding

great, uh, to be able to use this.

411

:

Is AI already being used within

tourism and can you give us some

412

:

specific examples maybe of people or

businesses that you've even worked with?

413

:

Emily Baillie: That's a great question.

414

:

So what I'm finding with a lot of

businesses and nonprofits is that

415

:

people really are not publicly

saying that they're using AI.

416

:

Karen Peacock: Interesting.

417

:

Emily Baillie: Yes.

418

:

So if you Google, for example,

uh, how many businesses are using

419

:

artificial intelligence, most likely

you're not going to find a lot.

420

:

But I know myself, because I speak

at events and I have, uh, sidebar

421

:

conversations with people, people ask

me lots of questions afterwards and,

422

:

and I do consulting online as well.

423

:

That's when you really get the true story.

424

:

And I can tell you that

organizations across Canada in

425

:

tourism and otherwise certainly

are using artificial intelligence.

426

:

That doesn't mean every single

business out there is using it.

427

:

Some are still not using it,

but a lot of people are already

428

:

embarking on this journey.

429

:

They're using it to help them with perhaps

things that may seem small, but that

430

:

is a start and that really is the best

way to start is giving it some tasks.

431

:

Letting it help you with certain things

relating to your business and giving

432

:

it some of those more lower priority

items to start with until you're feeling

433

:

comfortable and the tool is getting

trained on your preferences as well.

434

:

So certainly like, there are examples

of bigger brands that are doing

435

:

partnerships with, like, AI generated

influencers now, which is really wild.

436

:

It's like Instagram accounts

that are not even real people.

437

:

It's just like an AI generated

character, basically.

438

:

That would be more in the U.S.,

439

:

I would say.

440

:

But, um, certainly a lot of businesses

using ChatGPT for idea generation.

441

:

That's a really good one.

442

:

Brainstorming, editing, uh,

dealing with complaints.

443

:

If you're the owner of the business,

it can feel really tough if you get a

444

:

disgruntled customer or someone saying

that they weren't overly pleased with

445

:

their experience, or they wrote a

review that was less than favorable.

446

:

You can use artificial

intelligence to help you craft

447

:

a polite and professional reply.

448

:

That can be super helpful because you're

taking the emotion out of the equation.

449

:

When one of these reviews is public,

it can be really, really important

450

:

to phrase your response very well, so

that you're, um, putting a positive

451

:

face on your business in an online

forum where anyone can see that.

452

:

So those are some examples of smaller

things, but useful things that people

453

:

are already doing when it comes to AI.

454

:

Karen Peacock: I'm wondering,

how else might it be used

455

:

to improve customer service?

456

:

Emily Baillie: That's a great question.

457

:

I think if you're getting a lot of the

same questions over and over and over

458

:

again, and it's taking up a lot of your

time or your staff's time to answer

459

:

those questions, to me that's sort of

low hanging fruit that could be perhaps

460

:

automated or maybe you craft a template.

461

:

So for example, if you're getting the same

question over and over again, you could

462

:

use AI to draft a template response that

could then be used over and over again,

463

:

only it could just simply be tweaked as

needed, so you're not writing the same

464

:

type of material over and over again.

465

:

it could also be used to make an

FAQ that could live on your website.

466

:

So, let's say you get the same set

of questions over and over again,

467

:

maybe every year, when do we, how

do we know when you're going to open?

468

:

How do we know when the ice is out?

469

:

Like these sorts of things.

470

:

You could use AI to help you draft

an FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions

471

:

section, which you could put on

your website so that at least you're

472

:

getting ahead of it a little bit.

473

:

Some folks may read that

instead of reaching out to you.

474

:

You could also make a fun social

media series about, uh, these types of

475

:

questions, make a little contest, take

bets, when is the ice going to be out,

476

:

like these types of things to make it fun.

477

:

And you can adapt the same content that

you've already worked hard on for let's

478

:

say a blog post or an email campaign,

even if it was from last year, you

479

:

can go back to that content, put it

into ChatGPT or Gemini, whatever you

480

:

choose, and ask it to repurpose it.

481

:

Uh, take that content that you

worked hard on and adapt it for

482

:

use on perhaps, uh, Facebook.

483

:

And what the AI will do is take the

content and the main messages that

484

:

you've already crafted, but reformat

that for delivery on other platforms.

485

:

So you're getting more mileage

out of the content that you've

486

:

drafted or your staff have drafted.

487

:

Um, and then you can push it out again,

push it out again and save some time.

488

:

That's the biggest thing.

489

:

I think with AI, it's the time saving

piece, but also making sure your message

490

:

is being heard across many different

platforms because not everyone's going to

491

:

see your Facebook post for example, not

everyone's going to open your email, not

492

:

everyone's going to visit your website.

493

:

The more different places you can have

it and kind of reiterate your message in

494

:

a fun and creative way, the better odds

you have of engaging your target audience.

495

:

Karen Peacock: Just sounds so

useful and time saving, as you said.

496

:

Do you think that customers or visitors

might be turned off by AI at all?

497

:

Emily Baillie: I do think some are,

yeah, and I'm glad you asked that because

498

:

some people say to me, I don't like it.

499

:

And I understand that because it's

something that takes away a little

500

:

from, uh, the human to human experience.

501

:

Uh, through COVID, we were

isolated from one another.

502

:

I know we're past COVID, but we're

still, you know, perhaps, as a culture

503

:

kind of craving that human connection.

504

:

Some might say, uh, technology,

it's just everywhere now.

505

:

It's just perhaps no going back to the

way things were, but I think some folks

506

:

have some real nostalgia for that.

507

:

Um, I think folks that go to a tourism

experience in Northern Ontario,

508

:

I'm going to go out on a limb here

and say they're probably the types

509

:

that like to disconnect and explore

and absorb the beauty of nature.

510

:

And that's quite the opposite to,

you know, something like AI, so

511

:

I see it really from both sides.

512

:

And, um, I understand how some people

might feel a bit afraid or a little

513

:

bit threatened by this when it comes to

job displacement and things like that.

514

:

There are some ethical challenges.

515

:

And, when I have those sidebar chats

with people, like I said earlier,

516

:

like, that's when people really

tell me what they think, and some

517

:

of them just say, I don't like it.

518

:

I don't like the way that this is going.

519

:

So, I think that as marketers, as

business owners, we really have

520

:

to put the needs and preferences

of our customers at the forefront.

521

:

If that means that you're going to

lose a bunch of people because you used

522

:

AI for your business, that's a risk.

523

:

That's something you have to

really sit down and think about.

524

:

Is it worth it?

525

:

Maybe it's not.

526

:

Or maybe you use AI for some

things, but not other things.

527

:

So you don't have to do necessarily

what the next person is doing.

528

:

We're giving you suggestions of things

that it can do, but that doesn't

529

:

mean that you have to start using

AI for all these different things.

530

:

And certainly if you get the sense

that your guests probably are not

531

:

comfortable with it, then I would

say, you know, proceed with caution.

532

:

You may still want to use it for

ideation, brainstorming, back end

533

:

sort of planning, and so on, but

you may not want to be using it for,

534

:

let's say, all of your social media

posts or your guest communications.

535

:

They may not want to talk to a chatbot,

they want to talk to a real person,

536

:

and it's our job to, you know, keep

them engaged and keep them feeling

537

:

happy with the business so that they

want to come back again and again and

538

:

they want to, better yet, recommend the

experience to others in their circle.

539

:

Karen Peacock: Know your audience, right?

540

:

Know who your customer is.

541

:

Know who that visitor is in order

to be able to reflect on that.

542

:

What are some of the other risks we

need to consider in using AI and maybe

543

:

also, what should we and/or government be

putting in place with regard to regulatory

544

:

policies, just to ensure the safety

and benefits of the technology are met?

545

:

I'm just curious about what

your thoughts are on that.

546

:

Emily Baillie: I think that we're at

a stage now where there's not a lot

547

:

of oversight, there's not a lot of

policy, there's not a lot of governance.

548

:

I think it's coming.

549

:

There was a meeting in Paris on AI,

and a lot of world leaders were there,

550

:

including the Canadian Prime Minister.

551

:

It's on their radar, but

it's not quite here yet.

552

:

So in the absence of any real policy,

organizations are, uh, making their own.

553

:

And I think this is wise, because if

you are, let's say, a manager, you are

554

:

a leader, you are probably pretty busy

doing a lot of different things, and you

555

:

may not know exactly how or when your

staff are using artificial intelligence.

556

:

Now, it's, in my view, okay for them to

use it, but you need to know as their

557

:

manager what they're using it for.

558

:

And I think some staff will need some

support in learning this technology.

559

:

If you're expecting people to, you know,

all of a sudden start using it, some folks

560

:

are not going to know where to start.

561

:

They may need some training.

562

:

They may need a person

they can ask questions to.

563

:

The risk is because these systems

store our information, then

564

:

anything that you put into an AI

tool generally, or a large language

565

:

model, which would be your ChatGPTs,

for example, by default is stored.

566

:

I wouldn't say, in my

view, it's high risk.

567

:

In fact, I've spoken on panels at AI

events where I've seen the guy next

568

:

to me going, put anything in there.

569

:

It's fine, there's no risk.

570

:

I'm a little bit more cautious.

571

:

Like this is your business.

572

:

This is your livelihood.

573

:

I wouldn't risk it.

574

:

It's unlikely that the data would

get leaked, but if it's your beloved

575

:

customers, I think it's just better

not to put anything in there.

576

:

So we're talking about names.

577

:

We're talking about credit card numbers.

578

:

We're talking about any, let's say if

you ask about like medical information,

579

:

anything like that, should it come

up, allergies, things like that.

580

:

Um, definitely any financial data,

I would stay away from inputting.

581

:

But you can scrub some

of that information.

582

:

So let's say you're looking for

analysis on customer feedback.

583

:

You can still input all

the comments that you get.

584

:

Let's say you have a survey or a

mechanism to capture customer feedback.

585

:

You could input all those comments.

586

:

It could be a huge long ream of

comments, every comment you've ever

587

:

got since you've opened, but you don't

have to put their names in there.

588

:

You could use that for, for data analysis,

look for patterns and tell me what I

589

:

can do to improve customer service.

590

:

There's always going to be a few

complainers in the mix as you

591

:

know, uh, those people are just a

fact of life in tourism, but we're

592

:

looking for, for patterns here.

593

:

Karen Peacock: Just going back to

what you said about, you know,

594

:

businesses really should think about

creating their own risk policies.

595

:

Where can we point them

to in order to do that?

596

:

Instead of drafting their own

and maybe they look to AI to

597

:

do that, they can type that in.

598

:

But where can we point them to

from a resource perspective?

599

:

Emily Baillie: I'm so glad

you asked because this was a

600

:

question I was getting a lot.

601

:

I formulated for all of you, all the folks

that want to access it, along with many of

602

:

my other customers as well, an AI policy

template which you're welcome to access.

603

:

I'll send the link and then people can

customize that and make that their own.

604

:

So what that would look like is, uh, a

living document, because these things

605

:

are going to change and going to

need to be updated, um, and basically

606

:

some guidance on what AI can be used

for in your particular business and

607

:

perhaps what AI should not be used for.

608

:

I'll give you an example.

609

:

If you feel strongly that AI should

not be used to create images for your

610

:

marketing materials, then you should

put that in the policy so that any

611

:

employees or folks who work with your

business on a contract basis, or even

612

:

if you have a student helping you in the

summer, for example, they know that, and

613

:

then they're not going to go do that.

614

:

It will also walk you through which

tools, if you want to include like

615

:

a list of tools that you can use

or you don't want people to use,

616

:

you can include that as well.

617

:

Some organizations right now are making

it so that their staff are not allowed

618

:

to use a AI tool called DeepSeek.

619

:

It's a Chinese app that has become

very, very popular, and it's starting

620

:

to get banned in some places because

it doesn't have the same security,

621

:

or it doesn't have perhaps enough

security is how I should phrase it.

622

:

And some people just aren't

comfortable with that.

623

:

Karen Peacock: Great.

624

:

And I suppose one other question to

ask is if, uh, an owner, a manager

625

:

is wanting to then have staff

trained up on AI, where might we

626

:

be pointing them for that training?

627

:

And is it best for them to take

some of that training together?

628

:

And, maybe it's something that Tourism

Excellence North needs to look at in terms

629

:

of having some, some training as well.

630

:

But, for right now, where

could we point them to?

631

:

Emily Baillie: It's a great question.

632

:

So Google offers some

free self serve courses.

633

:

They're online based.

634

:

Some folks like to do it that way.

635

:

Um, LinkedIn learning has some

pretty good videos, if people are

636

:

comfortable with that format and sort

of learning alongside short videos,

637

:

that could be a good option as well.

638

:

I offer training across Canada in virtual

settings and in person, and that's very

639

:

much customized to the needs and the

specifics of the individual or the group.

640

:

So if they're brand

new to AI, that's okay.

641

:

We'll, we'll start where

we're at and work from there.

642

:

Or if they're already kind of

using it and they just want to

643

:

take it to the next level, then

we'll sort of start at that stage.

644

:

I teach an AI micro credential at Humber

College, it's six weeks in length.

645

:

It's in the evenings.

646

:

It's all virtual.

647

:

So you can join anywhere.

648

:

I also developed a beginner AI micro

credential for Georgian College,

649

:

which is only six hours in length.

650

:

So that could be a good one for folks who

are busy or coming into a busy season.

651

:

Uh, so I'll share those links to all of

those and if folks have questions, they're

652

:

more than welcome to, to reach out and

I can point them in the right direction.

653

:

Karen Peacock: Wonderful.

654

:

Emily, as we look to start wrapping

our conversation up, and you've been

655

:

very generous with your time and,

and knowledge and sharing with us.

656

:

Any final thoughts?

657

:

Anything that I missed asking

and that you'd really love

658

:

to share with the audience?

659

:

Emily Baillie: You asked so

many great questions, Karen,

660

:

and I appreciate that so much.

661

:

I think the biggest message I'd like

to give to people is it's not too late.

662

:

It's not too late to do things

a little bit differently.

663

:

It's not too late to pivot.

664

:

It's not too late to learn a

new skill that maybe you never

665

:

thought you were going to learn.

666

:

I, quite frankly, didn't know that AI

was going to, you know, appear on the

667

:

scene a few years ago, and here we are.

668

:

I think we have to sort of embrace change.

669

:

It is challenging for people.

670

:

I understand that absolutely, but

if you're stuck, ask for help.

671

:

There's always resources and folks

out there who are willing to help you.

672

:

And if folks listening today

have any questions or something

673

:

jumps into their mind, they are

absolutely free to reach out.

674

:

I'm always happy to help.

675

:

Karen Peacock: Thank you so

much for your time, Emily, and,

676

:

and sharing those, insights

677

:

Emily Baillie: My pleasure.

678

:

Karen Peacock: Next Time on Let's

Talk Northern Ontario Tourism.

679

:

I chat with Meredith Armstrong, the

Director of Economic Development

680

:

for the City of Greater Sudbury.

681

:

We talk about how the city diversified

its economy with tourism and why

682

:

Shoresy has been so great for Sudbury.

683

:

Follow us on Spotify or Apple Podcast

to make sure you don't miss it.

684

:

Let's Talk Northern Ontario Tourism is an

initiative of Tourism Excellence North and

685

:

recorded on the traditional territories

of the Anishinaabek and the Mushkegowuk.

686

:

It is produced by Storied Places

Media with support from Erica Richard,

687

:

Naza Obasi, and Gillian McCullough.

688

:

I'm Karen Peacock.

689

:

Thanks for listening.

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