Where AI Marketing Meets Content Marketing
Back in 1950, Alan Turing asked a question that would go on to change the world.
‘Can machines think?’
Three simple words, and it now seems more relevant than ever as we start to rely on artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and computers that are more efficient at problem solving than the human mind could ever be. Although machines are excelling in a number of areas, it seems data processing is perhaps the biggest of all. For marketers especially, machines are processing endless amounts of data in order to provide insights and improve the experience for customers.
When it comes to SEO and boosting awareness and engagement this year, content marketing is key. Providing genuinely useful content to consumers is currently one of the best ways to get noticed both by readers and by Google’s algorithms.
With artificial intelligence and content marketing both getting attention in the marketing sphere, it’s not surprising that the two are becoming connected.
AI for Content Marketing
As time goes on, AI is only playing a larger role in content marketing. While some will think about machine learning and content curation, there’s actually more than one way that AI is helping content marketing, which is why there has been so much attention on this relationship in 2019.
By the end of this guide, you should recognize the help that AI can provide as you strive to meet the demand for content. As you’re looking through the examples below, think about how you could employ them into your own marketing strategy.
Content Curation
When you have a target market, it’s important to find, create, and share content that will resonate and add value to their experience with you as a brand. Considering there are many other brands trying to achieve the same thing as you, this makes your job a little difficult. Starting out, BuzzSumo and similar tools are a great help because they will tell you the trending topics. If you know what people are looking for, the only thing separating you from success is actually creating the content.
Not only is it difficult to stay on top of what people need, it’s all too easy to end up creating content just for the sake of it. Fortunately, AI is providing tremendous value in this very field. As algorithms collect and make sense of data from our target market, we learn:
- Concerns people have about the business
- What people are looking for with content
- Questions they need answering
The more that you know about these three things, the easier content curation becomes. It helps you provide value to the people who actually need your product, which should lead to an increase in engagement as well as conversions.
In years gone by, content curation would require a certain amount of guessing. If the competition guesses right and you don’t, it can have devastating consequences on the business. With AI, the guesswork is taken out of the equation completely.
Content Recommendation and Personalization
If you use Amazon or Netflix, you’ll know all about personalization and recommendation. Not only do we get emails with our names at the top, but the messages also suggest products based on our search and purchase history. Over time, the machine learning algorithms get a better understanding of what we like, and they suggest solutions accordingly (whether a new vacuum cleaner or a recently added movie).
Fortunately, the same sort of system is available for content. After taking a look at the reading habits of website visitors, AI can suggest where they might want to go next. By adding this simple tool to your platform, visitors are more likely to stick around longer because they’re being recommended content that applies to and resonates with them. With any luck, this will lead to a subscription or sale.
Automatically-Generated Content
Did you know that the internet is full of content that has been generated automatically using AI? Of course, artificial intelligence will always have its drawbacks and there are certain types of content that machines will never be able to write. Yet, they are finding a use with sports reports, stock updates, and simple stories.
Just in case you aren’t sure whether or not you want algorithms and technology to be writing your content for you, it’s a technique that has been adopted by the biggest names over the years including Fox, Associated Press, and Yahoo. With sports stories, for example, there’s a set layout for a story and the algorithms simply need to fill in team names, player names, stadium names, and other small details.
At the moment, only short-form content is really possible with AI. Yet, there’s no saying how this could change in the future.
Chatbots
If you’ve ever spoken to a company via live chat, there’s a good chance this was actually powered by artificial intelligence rather than company employees. Because chatbots are less expensive, can work 24/7, and allow employees to work on more important tasks, they’re becoming more popular and have a role to play in content marketing.
While some choose to install chatbots on their website, others use Facebook Messenger bots. For example, Uber currently uses Facebook Messenger as its base for all conversations with customers. We know that chatbots are used so that customers can get answers to questions or even make purchases. For us, we like them for promotional content and data gathering.
In terms of the data, a quick check of the conversation log will tell you what people are asking. If a significant number of people are asking the same questions, perhaps you can answer these questions via an article in your content marketing strategy. Elsewhere, it’s possible to send promotional content and get the ball rolling towards a sale.
Predictive Intelligence (Lead Scoring)
Today, we’re in an age where it’s possible to understand every single customer and their wants or needs. As we’ve seen before, this allows for personalized content. Additionally, it helps with lead scoring (the term used to describe the points system marking the buyer journey and their position in this journey).
With predictive lead scoring, we can gauge the position of every customer and identify those closest to converting. What’s more, we also get more of an idea of the content that will work within each segment of the market. While one type of content will work well with some, different content will be required for others. In no time, you’ll see which audience responds best to which content and this should help with sales and conversions.
All things considered, matching content marketing with machine learning algorithms and AI will bring the following:
- Content personalization and recommendation
- Chatbots for data and assistance
- Predictive intelligence
- Improved customer experience
- Content that’s generated automatically
- Customized news feed algorithms
Real-World Examples
We’ve learned all about the theory behind AI and content marketing, but how does it work in practice? Here are some examples you might want to research for ideas and to get started!
CONCURED
With this platform, they actually show marketers which topics have the most demand. Using AI, they can make predictions and suggestions for topics, so you don’t have to spend hours thinking about it yourself.
MarketMuse
If you’re looking for a whole content-based strategy, something like MarketMuse could be the answer. Powered by AI, it will help you to compete in categories by showing the most important terms to include in the content itself. As long as you follow their advice, you’ll make progress with SEO while also providing content required by your own niche.
Crayon
Do you know what your competitors are doing online? This is easy enough to answer, but it would take time to visit each website and assess their content. With Crayon, all the hard work is done on your behalf and you’ll see every little change they make. Not only does this give ideas for the present, it provides insight into a larger content strategy.
Vennli
Lastly, we have an intelligence platform by the name of Vennli. Over a period of weeks, this platform will measure all content metrics so that you aren’t just producing content and then forgetting about it. As you track performance, you can make your own assessments or listen to the recommendations of the platform itself.
Conclusion
Without AI helping your content marketing strategy, it will be hard to compete. With AI, you’ll have a reliable partner for speaking to readers, generating content, assessing competitors, and much more.
Bonus! Marketing Tools:
2. Bilbi AI: Daily Marketing Campaign Insights
