One of the most common phrases heard in modern digital business is ‘content marketing’, and with good reason, because the time when content had wide, organic reach of its own accord is long gone.
Now, strategists must skilfully navigate the marketplace to ensure content reaches as many people as possible. And, with the progress made in artificial intelligence (AI), it’s likely this next-generation technology will soon be widely integrated with advertising strategies.
Though some may fear AI, the concept of using machines to simplify life is nothing new. In fact, there’s evidence that shows that having artificial entities carry out work had been thought of as long ago as the early 14th century.
However, when it comes to harnessing AI to carry out content marketing, there’s still a lot of debate.
Auto-generated content
AI can be utilised to create content that strategists can use in marketing campaigns. In fact, technology research company Gartner suggests almost 20 per cent of all content generated by businesses will be created by machines by 2018. Creating optimised content with AI can speed up processing time and save a lot of money.
Harnessing the power of social media
When it comes to social media, AI is already creating a buzz. Both Instagram and Facebook have bet big on AI, utilising it to change algorithms to optimise user experience. Image and voice recognition and sentiment analysis can further enhance this.
Doing this enables brands to drill down to specific members of their audience, giving them the potential to boost leads, conversions and sales.
Change campaigns in real time
One of the huge benefits of AI is that campaigns can be followed, analysed and changed in real time. Using AI tools, huge chunks of data, such as user behavioural patterns, can be analysed on the go.
However, while there are many benefits to AI in content marketing, there are also several disadvantages, the main ones being lack of creativity, inability to provide content with perspective and the authenticity dilemma.
AI is limited in its creativity. While content can be curated, AI tools are not yet at a level where they can discern good from bad. Similarly, content requires a degree of emotional depth to resonate with an audience, but adding perspective is near impossible with AI at present.
Finally, content marketing strategies work best when brands provide their audience with value and authenticity. Human interaction naturally builds trust, as its far more genuine than interacting with AI.
It’s unlikely AI will replace the humans behind content creation any time soon. There remains a need for perception and an emotional tone, something current AI tools are not able to provide.
However, by optimising the positive aspects of AI, such as target audience analysis, brands can take important insights from campaigns while they’re running. This enables them to maximise the potential of content in terms of positive impact quickly and efficiently.
