If you use content to promote your business, you know that the content marketing landscape is ever-changing and increasingly crowded. In this competitive environment, it takes more effort to get in front of your target customers. Content intelligence enables you to work smarter, not harder, so you can improve quality and scale efficiently.
What Is Content Intelligence?
Content intelligence is the practice of using software — typically, programs powered by AI and machine learning — to predict impactful content types and topics, generate optimized content and measure the performance of published pieces. Intelligence insights make it easier to develop a refined, highly targeted content marketing strategy that resonates deeply with your ideal customer. The process also helps you allocate resources effectively, boosting ROI for SEO content writing services, video, social media, influencer marketing and other tactics.
How Can Marketing Firms Use Content Intelligence?
Content plays a vital role in many companies’ marketing strategies. That’s no surprise, given that globally, content marketing brought in $63 billion in revenue in 2022. By 2026, experts believe this figure will reach $107.5 billion.
As more people enter the content space, marketers must step up their games — which is where content intelligence comes in. A data-driven strategy provides critical benefits that give your business a competitive advantage.
Develop More Effective Content Plans
Traditionally, marketers implement content strategies, analyze the results and make adjustments accordingly. Content intelligence tools streamline this process by providing insights up front and eliminating costly, time-consuming trial and error.
The magic lies in the data. Intelligence platforms draw from a vast digital pool of competitor information, behavioral data and market research to help you:
- Identify topics that your audience will respond to
- Predict the most effective channel and type of content
- Choose the best-performing format for any given channel or objective
- Set a competitive publishing schedule
- Create appropriate content for every stage of the customer journey
- Determine when to outsource content to a white paper writer or another freelancer
Create Compelling Content
Content is expensive, and marketing budgets are limited. Content intelligence platforms help creators and content writers get it right on the first try, which minimizes revision requirements and compresses the publishing schedule. As a result, you can produce high-performing content quickly and at scale while keeping labor costs in check.
Many tools go well beyond keyword research; they suggest relevant topics and subheaders, recommend style adjustments and generate click-worthy headlines. If you’re creating videos or podcasts, intelligence software can tell you where to place calls to action to boost conversions. Some programs can even use AI to monitor user behavior and display a call to action when audiences are most receptive.
Analyze Content Performance
Content intelligence tools begin analyzing your content from the moment you hit the publish button. The steady stream of real-time data enables you to change course quickly to maximize performance and improve ROI. When a specific ad performs poorly, you can adjust the wording and see the results immediately.
As your chosen platform learns more about your audience and content performance, it can deliver customized recommendations for each of your marketing objectives.
Consistent analytical data enables more efficient spending, both in the short and long term. If you notice that customers engage with long-form content but ignore social media, for example, you might invest in a professional white paper writer but ease up on Facebook and Instagram.
Personalize Digital Experiences
Personalization is a growing trend among content marketers, and for good reason — McKinsey research shows that 71% of customers expect it. Successful companies tailor the entire customer experience to the user’s needs. This might include:
- Recommending relevant products or content
- Customizing messaging to match the buyer profile
- Offering personalized promotions based on shopping or browsing history
- Sending follow-up communication
The right content intelligence system helps you identify and capitalize on these key opportunities. Many programs use automation to get relevant content in front of customers when they need it most; the system monitors behavioral triggers and initiates a predetermined action on the fly, all with no input from you.
Understand Your Customers
A steady stream of intelligence data gives you a better understanding of the people who are consuming your content. This critical information is essential in developing detailed customer profiles — in fact, some tools can segment the audience for you based on demographics, purchase history or behavioral metrics. To refine each profile, you can run split-tests and content experiments that clarify user preferences and search intent.
A deep understanding of your audience informs every aspect of the marketing process, enabling the team to develop content that fulfills searcher intent. It also provides valuable insights for other aspects of the business, including development and sales.
How to Choose a Content Intelligence Platform
Content intelligence platforms can come with a high price tag and a considerable learning curve; it’s worth your time to research different options to find a solution that works for your business and your budget.
- Identify your goals. Consider your short-term and long-term business objectives. Use them to identify what you need most in a content intelligence tool, both now and in the future. A comprehensive platform might have higher up-front costs, but it will prepare your company to tackle aggressive growth goals.
- Verify data options. A powerful content intelligence program should offer customer, market and competitor data, both historically and in real time. Examine the company’s data-collection practices to ensure that your team has the capacity to manage the process. While you’re at it, look through the available reporting options.
- Check features. Make sure each contender has robust features that can help your company improve and scale content production. Top options include AI-powered content creation tools, automations, experiments and AI-driven insights and optimizations.
- Consider compatibility. Go through the different integrations the platform offers and ensure they’re compatible with your existing tech stack and any planned expansions. You can also check the provider’s other solutions to see how they might suit your growth objectives; programs from the same company are often easier to implement than third-party solutions.
- Test platforms thoroughly. Before you commit, test your chosen platform, paying attention to ease of navigation, the setup process for each feature and day-to-day operation. Try all support channels and ask questions about the initial integration.
If you’re planning to invest heavily in content marketing in the coming years, a content intelligence platform could be a valuable investment. The right program can offer data-driven insights for revenue-boosting content that supports your company’s growth goals.
