The online world...the entire world, for that matter…is overrun with content. Nevertheless, has every problem, every pain point, every consumer’s question been answered? The simple answer is: of course not. If it were, there would be no reason to add more content to the world. We, as marketers, understand that consumers are looking for more detailed answers, and we want to provide them with the information they are seeking. However, with so much out there, they could spend hours, days, or weeks wading through it.
Why not use the information you have access to so you can utilize the content already created, in innovative new ways? This is where content intelligence comes into play. By using systems and software to analyze data regarding your target audience, you can break down content based on audience responses and segmentations. This information can be used to predict future content successes and planning your content strategies.
YOUR AUDIENCE - WHAT THEY KNOW AND HOW YOU CAN USE THE INFORMATION
Today’s prospects have a wealth of information at their fingertips. There was a time when they came to the proverbial table with little more than an inkling of what problem they needed to solve. Content providers followed a traditional sales funnel and buyer journey, and relied on marketers to provide them with every piece of content, guiding them through the process. Now, prospects can come to the table with much of the research already under their belts, fully understanding their problem and a variety of options with which to solve them. This may feel like you’ve already lost the battle, but you need to remember that they have provided a lot of information. Although companies already have a lot of information at their disposal, prospects themselves share what they need, and what they like. Every time your audience members “like,” “share,” or spend more than a few fleeting moments digesting your content, they are confirming what you provide.
NOW WHAT?
You may be offering a plethora of content, much of it high quality, but are you really presenting it efficiently? Is it working for you, and are you converting new prospects based on it? Engagement is one of the best indicators of success, as this provides proof that your audience likes what you are presenting. Content intelligence breaks down that content to find out what details about your audience you can use to reorganize your approach. With this new data (although it is not necessarily new, but simply organized effectively), you can restructure your marketing strategy to offer the right content to the right lead at just the right time. Using content intelligence, you can find the connection between clear metrics and your own creative content strategy.
TOOLS YOU MIGHT USE
The tools necessary for content marketing are successful by eliminating the manual process of studying the data to determine their effectiveness, like conversion rates and social sentiment. Analytics can help you learn your audience’s needs, using automated data and scoring methods. By tracking how leads are engaging with your content, you become more efficient, with less time wasted on ineffective content and making calls to unqualified leads. By understanding the buyer’s journey more explicitly, you can pinpoint your efforts closely. The automation you use with intelligent content allows automation to handle much of the content scheduling and delivery, relieving the need for your team members to manage every aspect. Further, this speeds up the process of content delivery, as you are no longer waiting for manual approval on every individual piece of content for a campaign.
ADVANTAGES TO USING CONTENT INTELLIGENCE
There are numerous benefits to using content intelligence. Reductions in expenses found in development, maintenance, and review of content, combined with increases in content consistency and quality. Your content creators can spend their time focusing on discovering more creative content, adding value to ideas already established, and less time rewriting or re-creating the same old stuff. Additionally, you will get more miles out of your content, as it is delivered to a very specific target audience at the right time, in the right configuration.
When you consider delving into the world of intelligent content, remember what you are concentrating on: the goal is to automate the content process without flooding your audience with a plethora of non-useful, ineffective content which fails to engage them and even potentially drives them away. Your prospects want answers to their problems, not unassociated content. With content intelligence tools, you will identify patterns, analyze data from the content you have, and reduce the clutter of existing content which doesn’t reach your audience.
