Machine learning and AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing how we do digital marketing on all fronts. And that includes content marketing. Content, at its root is still a science with specific structure that defines how the language is used and words combined to form meanings. Anything with a structure can be taught to an AI. Content marketing is a form of language science (linguistics).
There are many ways how AI is applied into content marketing. A survey of 323 top marketers gives us some idea how it is being used. First and foremost, is content personalisation and predictive analytics. Both of which are powerful methods for acquiring and retaining existing customers.
If AI is able to engage website visitors and customers by showing highly personalised content that matches individual audience preference, demographics and intent, it can only mean higher ROI (Return on Investment) for companies.
How Does AI for Content Marketing Work?
And how exactly is this made possible? Again, content is language. Language is an art in how it is composed but a science with strong structuring at its very root. If you were to think semantics, synonyms, contextual meanings of sentences and paragraphs. Or even correlations in the words frequently used by an individual when he/she types into the search bar.
All of this allows the digital marketer to set-up a content plan for a highly personalised experience. Additionally, it gives the content marketer insights into the audience and predictive capability for the autonomous content platform to cater the right content to the right person at the right time. All of this hyper-personalised contextual targeting process yield healthier ROI.
What is Keyword Intent?
Now let’s touch on the concept of Keyword Intent. This has a lot to do with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). But on the topic of AI, deducing keyword intent is about identifying certain patterns related to the behaviour of the website visitors. Such as typing a certain set of words in the search bar, followed by learning what the first 3 search result clicked on were.
This learning, allows the AI to become highly accurate in predicting future patterns and behaviours related to keyword sets, aka. Keyword Intent.
Now imagine if you were to categorise all this information ‘manually’, in order to discover statistical patterns, to predict what type of content to prepare for a specific set of customers. It is impossible to do so reactively and dynamically. This is where technology and AI comes, making hyper-personalisation of content possible.
Several years back, when we talk about media buying, we frequently hear the phrase: targeting ad audience at ‘granular’ level. Today, technology, especially AI has unlocked this for content marketing. And we may very well be just at the beginning of a new content marketing era.