Artificial intelligence (AI) is making significant strides in redefining how brands engage with customers. Perplexity, an emerging AI-powered search and answer engine, recently adopted a CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) model, signaling a shift in how high-consideration industries like hospitality should think about marketing and attribution.
While Perplexity primarily uses AI to answer complex questions and curate information for users, its decision to prioritize CPM over traditional click-based models validates something marketers in the hospitality space have long recognized: effective marketing is as much about generating awareness and longer-term demand as it is about driving immediate action.
Understanding Perplexity and the AI Revolution
Perplexity uses AI to anticipate and answer user queries, offering intelligent, contextual responses. This AI-driven approach is part of a movement towards more intuitive user experiences online, where emerging platforms surface information in more natural and relevant ways. This evolution presents both an opportunity and a challenge for hotel brands: how do you capture attention during the exploration phase and hold onto it as customers progress through a much longer decision-making journey?
The CPM model that Perplexity has adopted is all about impressions – getting content and ads in front of the right people at the right time, often during the earlier stages of their research. Instead of solely focusing on the last-click attribution model, which gives credit to the customer’s final action before purchasing, this approach recognizes the value of exposure and brand visibility at the top of the funnel.
The Importance of Upper-Funnel Marketing in Hospitality
The decision to book a hotel is rarely spontaneous. Hotel stays – especially at luxury or high-end properties with $1,000 per night price tags – are high-consideration purchases that can take weeks, if not months, to materialize. A customer might discover a hotel through a travel publication, compare prices, and revisit the property’s blog or social media channels before booking. By the time they click “Book Now,” they’ve likely engaged with numerous touchpoints along the way, many of which fall under the umbrella of upper-funnel marketing.
For years, hotel marketers have struggled with the limitations of traditional attribution windows, which often track customer actions in 7- to 30-day windows. The status quo is problematic for a high-consideration decision that can take months to unfold. By shifting to a CPM model, Perplexity is helping to redefine the value of those upper-funnel interactions – like a customer seeing your hotel featured in a trusted, high-end travel publication – that often go unnoticed in click-based attribution models.
Why Perplexity’s Move is a Good Signal for Hospitality
Perplexity’s decision to adopt a CPM model directly acknowledges that the value of impressions goes beyond clicks. It reminds us that, particularly in the hospitality industry, brands must engage customers early in their journey and invest in marketing that creates lasting impressions. The transition to focusing on views rather than clicks lends credence to the idea that customer interest takes time to build and that upper-funnel marketing—through thoughtful content and brand visibility—is essential for long-tail conversions.
About Curacity
Curacity is the leading media brand network that drives measurable revenue for luxury and lifestyle hotels through brand-elevating exposure to high-value travelers. Leveraging first-party data, proprietary technology and partnerships with AFAR, Travel+Leisure, Shermans Travel, and many more, the platform delivers validated 10-20x ROI. Named among Inc. 5000’s top 20 travel and hospitality companies and Digiday’s Best Content Marketing Platform of 2024, Curacity is headquartered in New York and Stamford, CT. Visit www.curacity.com.
