Historically, content marketing is a labor-intensive part of any marketer’s job. Content strategy alone is a massive undertaking, with layers of research, planning, and execution that represent tons of hours. Even once you dive into actual writing and promotion of content, you’re still only scratching the surface of all that’s required for successful content marketing.
But AI in content marketing can help make content marketing more profitable by driving costs down and improving performance. Need proof?
Below, we’ve curated research on AI in content marketing. These studies should serve as a helpful benchmark in determining why you should integrate AI into your next content marketing venture.
Content Marketers are Confused About AI, But They Want to Use It
Content Marketing Institute published an article comparing two interesting studies of how marketers are using AI. The key takeaway? Marketers don’t actually know how they’re using AI, if at all.
Salesforce talked to 3,500 marketers and reported that 51% are using AI right now. And 25% of marketers plan to test it out within two years.
Compare that to a study from BrightEdge, which reported that only 4% of marketers have already implemented AI.
Did the two organizations talk to wildly different populations of marketers? Perhaps. But the more likely scenario is that marketers don’t actually know what AI is, and have a really hard time determining whether they’re actually using it.
Plenty of vendors tout their services as being AI-enabled or using AI, but in many cases, they’re just using it as a buzzword—or touting capabilities that are in the works, but haven’t been built yet.
Regardless of the confusion around AI, content marketers still have strong intentions to implement it. The same BrightEdge study found that almost 60% planned to use AI in their content marketing strategies, a statistic that’s increasing year over year.
The BrightEdge report also dives into how AI is enabling marketers to better understand their customers, obstacles organizations are facing with implementation, and more.
AI Can Increase the Odds That Website Visitors Will View Your Content
Content is nothing without views. And artificial intelligence can actually increase the chances of someone on your site consuming more content.
How? Personalization.
Every buyer wants an Amazon-like purchasing experience with super-personalized recommendations tailored to their needs, questions, and stage in the buyer journey. But that type of personalization just isn’t scalable for content marketers without AI.
A study from Uberflip shows that personalized content recommendations increase the odds of someone consuming more content than generic recommendations—by 60%.
AI is capable of processing massive amounts of data, which makes things like content recommendations simple and scalable. And Uberflip proved that it works.
Compared to generic content recommendations based on a website’s most-viewed content, personalized recommendations using AI got much better click-through rates. The generic recommendations garnered about a 1.5% click rate, while AI-powered recommendations outperformed them at a nearly 2.4% click rate, on average.
This and other findings from the report present an encouraging case for content marketers to think about their content experience holistically, and find ways to integrate AI for better performance.
Data-Driven Marketers See Huge Value in AI for Content Marketing
Forward-thinking, data-driven marketers see value in using AI for content marketing. A study of hundreds of marketers we completed here at the Institute asked respondents to score the value of a range of AI use cases.
Many of the highest-rated use cases were related to content marketing.
Based on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being “no value” and 5 being “transformative,” these were the top five use cases:
- (3.88) Analyze existing online content for gaps and opportunities.
- (3.72) Choose keywords and topic clusters for content optimization.
- (3.71) Construct buyer personas based on needs, goals, intent and behavior.
- (3.70) Create data-driven content.
- (3.64) Discover insights into top-performing content and campaigns.
It’s clear that marketers value the impact AI can have on content marketing. And even though the majority of respondents ranked themselves as “Beginners” with AI, to be considering AI for content marketing indicates a forward-thinking mindset.
Integrate AI With Your Content Marketing Today
If you're a content marketer, chances are that AI can help you increase revenue and reduce costs. That means now is the time to get started with AI, no matter your skill or comfort level.
To do so means you build a potentially insurmountable competitive advantage. To delay means you risk getting left behind.
Good news, though:
There are two ways to accelerate AI adoption in your career and your company.
The first is by accessing our free Ultimate Beginner's Guide to AI in Marketing.
The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to AI in Marketing is a free resource with 100+ articles, videos, courses, books, vendors, use cases, and events to dramatically accelerate your AI education. It's based on the years we spent on research and experimentation—and you can access this knowledge in a fraction of the time.
The second is by attending our Marketing AI Conference (MAICON).
MAICON brings together top authors, entrepreneurs, AI researchers, and executives to share case studies, strategies, and technologies that make AI approachable and actionable for marketers.
Last year's event brought together 300+ marketers, including attendees from 12 countries and 28 states. The conference is simply the best way to learn how to adopt AI, straight from marketing leaders already using the technology.
Elizabeth Juran
Elizabeth Juran is Ready North's director of operations. She joined the agency in March 2017 with a background in corporate marketing and communication.