Why Modern Content Strategy Requires Artificial Intelligence to Resonate

Are the words you’re using in your content resonating with your target audience?

Even if your metrics indicate that they are, it’s likely they could improve by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) with your content strategy. While conducting buyer interviews and focus groups provide helpful information about your audience and how they buy, AI-driven data analysis learns from each interaction with your audience. These additional insights provide specifics to develop content that is sure to resonate. This combination of machine learning and human creativity synthesizes to create Intelligent Resonance.

Intelligent Resonance means that the technology you use through your marketing and sales efforts enables you to resonate more effectively with your target audience. Additionally, Intelligent Resonance requires a blend of technology and human skill, execution, and strategy to succeed, ultimately leading to revenue generation.

Many technology companies such as IBM’s Watson and Salesforce’s Einstein apply AI to help marketing and sales connect with buyers more effectively and improve outcomes. Of course, the results vary, and we’re in the very early stages of personalized marketing that truly resonates with buyers without being creepy.

Another company that’s providing technology to help develop more effective content is Persado. Persado’s tagline, “Words Matter,” demonstrates the solution’s focus on effective language and messaging specifically. This level of granular analysis is necessary given the volume of messages bombarding consumers regularly.

Persado’s recent blog post highlights its focus on language with an analysis of words the TSA should use to ensure its target audience, airline passengers, embraces its guidelines to maneuver through airports safely and smoothly. It indicates that many of the phrases that TSA uses to advise passengers are ignored, but based on AI, suggests revised phrases that would do a better job of grabbing attention.

What’s great about this post is that it illustrates how much words matter in order to communicate effectively. If your target audience ignores you, your words are much like the metaphorical tree falling in a forest. If your words are irrelevant, then are they even effectively there?

In the TSA’s case, ignoring its message could actually be fatal. While using the wrong words in business will likely not be as catastrophic, your company may generate less revenue, even reducing profitability and leading to a lower stock price. With stakes this high, how can you afford not to invest in technology to help choose the right words to resonate with buyers? Without both technology and human skill working together, the risk of failure is high. Additionally, when words don’t resonate, they also don’t deliver value, which may either annoy your audience or cause them to ignore you, rendering your messages irrelevant.

To avoid irrelevancy, develop a discipline that effectively blends data analysis and machine learning with human skill, in order to create valuable content that resonates. Human expertise blended with AI is vital; engaging with target buyers through conversations is still highly important for developing relevant and resonant content. However, using AI to analyze the best words to use, including the sequence of words, will only make communications with your target audience better. In fact, AI will likely lead you to ask your buyers different questions that you may have never considered to reveal new insights.

With so many available technology solutions offering AI, it may seem daunting to get started. One way to narrow down your choices is to focus on vendors that put customers and their end users first. While that can be difficult sometimes to discern, a company like Persado demonstrated its focus on using its technology to provide value to end users through its TSA blog post.

Many AI vendors tout their ability to personalize marketing campaigns to target buyers, but neglect to consider how those buyers feel about having their online activities monitored so closely, often without their permission. Some buyers, rightfully so, consider it creepy.

Persado’s TSA post shows their focus on customers and users by concentrating on how using the right words will impact the target audience and make their lives better. Look for vendors that prioritize the value they bring to their customers and end users, and start engaging with them to learn how you can integrate AI into your content creation.

How are you blending AI with your other data-gathering tools to create better content? Are you delivering Intelligent Resonance? Please contact me with your thoughts: bret@kpitarget.com.

(Note: I have not used Persado, so I can’t speak to how effective it is. Please consider this a good example, specifically because its TSA post resonated with me.)