The TwoSix team is back and ready to share what’s On Our Radar for September so that you can stay ahead of the always-evolving digital marketing landscape. This month, the TwoSix team discusses new YouTube features, how to optimize for AI search, Pinterest content suggestions, and more! Keep reading to find out what we’re keeping On Our Radar for September 2025.

Are you worried that you will eventually be replaced with AI?  It probably won’t happen soon!

A recent LinkedIn study reveals a significant shift in how professionals seek, consume, and trust information. The research highlights that in an age of information overload and rapidly evolving AI technologies, professional networks are the #1 most trusted source, outranking AI and traditional search engines. Many professionals feel overwhelmed by the pressure to learn and adapt to AI, with some even feeling that it’s like a separate job. This sense of overwhelm drives them to rely on the human connections within their professional circle for guidance and clarity, reinforcing the idea that your network supports what you do more than AI.

This reliance on human connection extends to the tourism marketing field, where a strong network of knowledgeable colleagues and friends increasingly drives success. The study indicates that peers are a primary source of advice and help, enabling professionals to make decisions more confidently. Therefore, a network of credible, knowledgeable professionals can be a powerful asset.

By focusing on fostering and participating in a strong professional network, you can harness the power of trusted voices to influence decisions, attract new clients, and ultimately contribute significantly to your own success and the success of your brand.

We have said it in the past, and we still believe that our ability to reason, along with emotional intelligence, will keep our professional careers safe, at least for the time being.

Recently, YouTube expanded the release of a new “hype” feature that will help smaller channels get noticed faster. If you have less than 500,000 subscribers (which is pretty much all of us) your fans can now hit a dedicated “hype” button that can boost your visibility to grow your exposure. This is actually kind of a big deal, as many smaller channels (like DMO channels) have a hard time competing with established ones. It makes YouTube feel a bit futile sometimes. Hype aims to alleviate that daunting feeling. Now, every YouTube user has three “hypes” that they can give out to smaller channels each week. This makes for a fun engagement opportunity with our audiences and can help to push back against the big creators. The concept is pretty simple. When a video gets hyped, it receives points. The smaller the channel, the more points that channel gets. The most hyped videos each week will appear on a new Explore section on YouTube. All you need to do is motivate your viewers to dedicate their hypes to you! Well, that, and make hype-worthy content, of course.

No doubt, we’ll be hearing creators say things like “don’t forget to hype my video” or “smash that hype button” in the very near future.

Hype is just one of many new features that have been rolled out in 2025 and is now available on all mobile devices in the YouTube App.

If you Google your destination, I guarantee that under “People also ask”, you will see the question, “what is my destination known for?” or “what is my destination famous for?”

I guarantee it.

Unfortunately, it’s a major failing of the DMO community that, when these questions are expanded, our websites are never sited. Either it’s an AI overview that uses information from banks or real estate companies, or it’s a summary from TripAdvisor.

We did see a few DMOs that answered the question directly or were cited in the AI overview, and you might be able to guess how they did it. They had a dedicated page for the destination related to the question. The best way is to have a “What is my destination famous for”? heading on such a page. In the age of AI overviews, the question-and-answer format reigns supreme.

This is critical not just so you get more web traffic, but so that you can control the narrative around your destination. Would it be great if we all had “Why is my destination so special?” under “People also ask”? Well, it starts by DMOs telling people it is.

No. It’s not. Well…maybe. It’s complicated.

According to new data from the World Advertising Research Center (WARC), Gen-Z is using TikTok as a search engine way more than any of their competitors, and nearly as much as traditional search engines. WARC’s study claims that 86% of Gen-Z uses TikTok to search weekly, while only 64% of millennials do. When it comes to traditional search engines, the groups use them at 90% to 94% respectively. While the data shows that this is a uniquely Gen-Z trend, it’s another sign that future generations raised on the internet are going to use it differently, and marketers need to pay attention and adjust.

Does that mean TikTok is “replacing” Google? Not really. But it is reshaping what online discovery feels like, and CVBs are at a perfect place to take advantage of a more visual-focused search. Travel, more than most other industries, relies on video and imagery to communicate to new visitors/customers.

I If you haven’t already, now is the time to invest in vertical video libraries and grow video-first capabilities. Discovery is no longer just about keywords and rankings. It’s about experiences people can see, hear, and imagine themselves in. Short-form, personality-driven content is quickly becoming the language of exploration, and destinations that learn to speak it will be the ones people actually find, save, and share.

Yes, it’s September and 80 degrees but Pinterest says it’s time to start thinking about the holidays. Pinterest has published their new guide to plan for the holidays and it includes getting started early and designing pins for saves.

Pinterest says that someone searches for a gift every 6 seconds in the app between the months of October and December. That’s an audience that could be persuaded into some holiday travel if I do say so myself. Why not get ahead of the game especially if your destination has holiday events and attractions. We’re trying it out with a couple of our clients this year, so we’ll see if getting out in front really pays off.

Now that we’re planning so far ahead, keep in mind others are doing the same. If they see a cute destination that’s perfect for a holiday vacation, they’re going to save it and come back later to plan. So, bookings may not increase immediately but you’re planting the seed early. This may play into the messaging when creating your organic pins as well. Include a call to action to save the pin and if you’re not using Pinterest ads, it might be a good time to start to push your brand presence a little further ahead of the normal holiday push. So throw on your holiday playlist and get to pinning!

AI is making its way into the email marketing space! While some platforms have been implementing AI for writing assistance or scanning for optimization opportunities, Wix is upping the ante with its new feature.

Wix just introduced a new AI-powered Email Marketing Assistant that goes far beyond just copywriting. This new tool does everything from building and writing the campaign, helping with layout, visuals, messaging, and overall design.

It works by starting with a simple chat describing your email’s intent and main topics, then the assistant pulls your business data and begins generating a complete draft of your newsletter. The assistant sticks around to help with any rewrites or design tweaks, until your message is just right. The assistant includes other features like pre-generated design sections, themes that align with your brand colors and fonts, flexible layout controls, and even campaign suggestions.

Photo Courtesy of Wix

If you’re like me, and you don’t currently use Wix, this is still a super important feature to have your eye on. AI is kind of a follow the leader type game and I’d be inclined to believe other platforms will soon be hopping on this new feature. As with all AI tools, I encourage you to proceed with caution and be sure to double and triple check any content written or created by AI. Use AI as inspiration, not as a replacement!

The browser wars are heating up again. OpenAI is preparing to release Aura, a new web browser that integrates directly with ChatGPT and is designed to compete with Google Chrome. Expected to launch in the coming weeks, Aura will feature more conversational browsing. Simultaneously, Perplexity is releasing its AI-powered web browser, Comet, exclusively for Perplexity Max subscribers, and Google is rolling out Gemini Live inside Chrome, giving users AI-assisted page summaries, quick answers to questions, and navigation tools without leaving the browser.

While many alternative browsers and engines have tried (and failed) to shake up the search market (which has been long-dominated by Google), it will be interesting to see where OpenAI’s new browser stands, given ChatGPT’s significant user base. No matter the case, these developments will continue to reshape how people interact with search engines along with both paid and organic search content.

These developments make adaptation more important than ever in both organic and paid search strategies. You may have heard that there’s a new acronym in town: “GEO” (Generative Engine Optimization). This is an evolution of SEO that prioritizes content that is easily digestible for large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Etc. The focus is less about ranking links on a page and more about ensuring content can be easily pulled into high-quality, direct answers. Historically, search was used to find a website that will answer questions. Now, search is being used to answer questions directly.  While many foundational practices will remain the same, it’s clear that the search landscape is moving quickly, and adaptation will be key. 

With the ever-changing digital marketing world, we are here to keep you informed of new digital trends and what we are keeping on our radar each month. Have any questions? Contact us! We’re here to help.

Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter  to receive monthly updates on trends and insights in the digital marketing and tourism industries straight to your inbox!

Click the buttons below to connect with us on social media and stay in the loop on all things TwoSix Digital.