59: Is The Click Dead? (Diane Charno)
In Stu’s News, Diane brings a New York Times story about AI generated travel influencers and avatars. That sparks a wider conversation on the difference between influencers and true creators, how AI will reshape pricing and value in the creator economy, why celebrity likeness still dominates algorithms, and why authenticity and real human connection are becoming even more valuable as AI content floods the feed.
From there, the group zooms out to the bigger issue behind the headline question, the evolving role of digital display in an era where DMO website traffic is dropping, cookies are fading, and partners are less impressed by raw clicks than ever. Adam introduces his “three legs of the stool” for paid media value, attention, stakeholder value, and targeting, and shows how each has eroded for traditional display. Diane explains how Visit Myrtle Beach is responding by rethinking how display fits in the full journey, layering it with other tactics, and using more sophisticated tools to measure attention and brand lift, not just clicks.
The conversation then stretches into measurement, product, and purpose. The trio wrestle with what DMOs should really optimize for, why optimizing for CPM or raw clicks can lead you in the wrong direction, and how to build a more realistic measurement mix that includes visitation, visitor spend, brand lift, attention metrics, and search lift. They also go straight at the uncomfortable trade off, when is another chunk of media spend less valuable than investing the same dollars in product improvements on the ground, and what role DMOs should play in convening and informing product development rather than just promoting what already exists.
They close by coming back to first principles. If a DMO cannot clearly explain why it exists and how it creates real impact for the economy, visitors, and residents, no amount of click reports will save it. The click is not dead, but lazy display, lazy testing, and lazy measurement should be. The mandate for the next few years, always be testing, obsess over impact, and get much sharper about which KPIs actually signal value for your stakeholders.
In this episode, you will hear:
• A fun opener on BYU vs Clemson and why Stuart is secretly delighted by the outcome
• Diane’s Stu’s News story on AI travel influencers and why virtual avatars are reshaping the influencer debate
• The difference between influencers and true creators, and why creators with real community will be hardest to replace
• How AI generated video and avatars are flooding the feed, and why celebrity likeness still hacks the algorithm
• Diane’s question, “Is the click dead?” and how zero click behavior, AI search, and walled gardens are changing website traffic patterns
• Adam’s three legs of the media stool, attention, stakeholder value, and targeting, and how each is weakening for traditional display
• Why “always be testing” needs to apply across paid, owned, and earned, not just banner creative
• How Visit Myrtle Beach is experimenting with brand lift, attention metrics, and a brand lift index to understand impact across placements
• The danger of optimizing for the wrong KPIs, like cheap CPMs or empty clicks, instead of incremental visitation and real partner value
• The uncomfortable but necessary question, when is a dollar better spent on product improvement than on more media
• Why DMOs need to be at the table for product conversations, using visitor data and insights to guide what gets built next
• A call for every DMO to revisit its core purpose and focus relentlessly on impact, not vanity metrics or legacy habits
Call to action
Have a strong opinion about clicks, display, AI influencers, or what DMOs should be measuring next? Stuart and Adam want to hear from you. Reach out on LinkedIn or by email if you have a topic you think they are missing or a perspective that challenges the echo chamber, and you might be a future guest on Destination Discourse.