Content Intelligence: How to Use AI to Power Your Content Strategy

If you’re a content marketer, you might be feeling unsure or worried about the fast growth of AI tools. It’s okay to feel confused about how to deal with this new trend. But if you want to keep up and not fall behind, it’s important to learn how to use AI in a smart way in your content work.

You may have seen some bad examples of AI use like blog posts or emails that look like they were made by a robot, with no real human touch.

The trick is to let AI help you do your job faster and better, not to replace your own ideas and skills.

In this post, we’ll explain the real ways to use AI, share helpful tools, and give you a simple guide.

What is Content Intelligence?

Content intelligence means using smart software that includes AI and machine learning to study how well different content works. This helps marketers plan and create content that gets good results and connects with their audience.

Why is Content Intelligence Important?

Many marketers use content to share information and build trust with their audience. So, having a good content plan is very important. To really reach people, you need to share the right content at the right time and in the right way.

This is where content intelligence helps.

Every piece of content is a chance to bring in, interest, and impress your audience. Content intelligence makes this easier and more effective.

These tools can help you create content, but they are best used for planning your strategy. They help with research, studying your competitors, improving your content, and tracking results. This helps you make smart decisions based on real data.

Benefits of Using Content Intelligence Tools

Using these tools can help you create better content that gets more attention, brings in more leads, and improves your sales. Here are some clear benefits:

1. Save Time with Automation:

Like other AI tools, content intelligence can save you time by doing tasks for you. Many marketers say they save over three hours for every piece of content they make with AI help.

Elisa Montanari from Wrike says, “These tools help you come up with new ideas, spot content gaps, and do other tasks faster.”

This doesn’t mean AI will replace people. Instead, it helps with things like idea generation, writing outlines, editing videos, and sharing content. When you let the tool handle the boring parts, your team has more time to focus on creative work.

2. Build a Strategy Based on Data

AI is very good at collecting and studying data. A good content intelligence tool doesn’t just give you data it also gives you tips on what to do with it.

These tools help you learn about:

• Market trends.
• Best keywords and topics.
• What kind of content to create.
• Where to post your content.
• What your competitors are doing.
• How people feel about your brand.
• Who your audience is and where do they come from.

Ron Evan del Rosario from Thrive Digital says this makes your content stronger because the ideas are based on facts. He adds, “These tools help you know exactly what to write about, which keywords to use, and what format to choose.”

3. Get Better Returns on Your Investment:

Content intelligence is a smart investment because it helps improve results. Forbes says companies that use data-driven marketing are six times more likely to make steady profits each year.

Ashot Nanayan adds, “These tools help teams create content faster and get better results because the content matches what people are looking for and follows SEO best practices.”

When you use these tools, your money goes toward creating content that works. This means better results, more sales, and higher profits.

4. Reach More People and Keep Them Interested:

When your content plan is based on real data, you are more likely to reach the right people and keep them engaged. That’s the main goal of content marketing.

Content intelligence can show you what your audience is searching for and what kind of content they like. If you follow this, your content will be more useful and interesting for your audience.

Some tools can even divide your audience into groups based on their actions, interests, or how they interact with your content. Then, you can send them the right content at the right time.

HubSpot found that marketers use AI to:

• Improve content quality (85%).
• Work faster (84%).
• Make more content (82%).
• Personalize content better (77%).

Content Intelligence Tools

You can try doing content intelligence by yourself, but using software makes it faster and easier. Here are some helpful tools you can use to improve your marketing work.

1. HubSpot Breeze:

Best for: Making content that works well online.

Breeze is a smart tool from HubSpot. It helps you with writing blog ideas, outlines, and even full paragraphs using AI. It doesn’t fully replace you, it just helps speed things up.

You can use Breeze to create a blog outline about SEO tools. It can give you a solid structure, which saves you time. It can also help you write emails, web pages, and other content, so you can focus on more creative work.

Key Features:

• Content ideas.
• Writing help.
• SEO tools.
• Better CRM data.
• Lead scoring.
• Finds buyers showing interest.

2. Curata:

Best for: Sharing great content with your audience.

Curata is more about picking and sharing content, not just creating it. You add a keyword, and it shows the most relevant news or blog posts from around the web. It updates every 15 minutes.

You can choose which pieces to share. It learns from your picks to show better suggestions next time. You can use this to build a newsletter or keep your team updated on trends.

Key Features:

• Learns what content fits your needs.
• Finds content from social media.
• Easy browser tool to collect content.
• Filters out old or repeated posts.

3. BuzzSumo:

Best for: Checking what your competitors are doing.

BuzzSumo helps you see what kind of content your audience likes. It checks social media and websites to show you what’s popular, what’s trending, and which topics are worth writing about.

Key Features:

• Content ideas.
• Research on topics and formats.
• See how your content compares.
• Find influencers.
• Watch your brand or competitors.

4. Crayon:

Best for: Learning from your competitors.

Crayon helps you stay updated on what other companies in your space are doing. You tell it who your competitors are, and it shows you important updates.

For example, if I want to know what Salesforce is doing, Crayon sends alerts. It also gives quick summaries, so I don’t need to read everything.

It shows what kind of messages your competitors use, what’s working for them, and how you can improve.

Key Features:

• Tracks competitor moves.
• Gives tips on what to do.
• Adds helpful tools to your CRM.
• Shows win/loss data.

5. Ahrefs:

Best for: Making your content better for search engines.

Ahrefs helps you find the right keywords and improve your content. It also checks your site’s SEO, spots missing content, and finds easy topics to write about.

You can use Ahrefs when writing blog posts. It tells you which keywords are doing well and who you are competing with. It’s a great tool for writers and marketers.

Key Features:

• SEO dashboard (site health, backlinks, keywords).
• Check your competitors’ websites.
• Website scan to find strengths and weak points.
• Find new keywords and topics.

6. Optimizely:

Best for: Getting ideas and writing content.

Optimizely helps you plan, create, and test your content. It’s great for teams that want to make a better website experience.

The tool tracks what works, gives performance reports, and uses AI to help with writing ideas, organizing tasks, and analyzing results.

If your team is already using Optimizely for your website, this tool fits right in. But if you’re not doing much online testing, it may offer more than you need.

Key Features:

• Easy planning, writing, and posting.
• Strong analytics.
• ROI tracking.

7. MarketMuse:

Best for: Planning and building your content strategy.

MarketMuse gives you all the tools to create strong content plans. It starts with checking your competitors and points out what you’re missing. Then it tells you what to write about to do better.

It even gives small tips, like how many subheadings or images you should use. It helps you build content groups so Google can better understand your site.

Key Features:

• Competitor research.
• Ideas for topics, keywords, and layout.
• Smart tools to improve content.

8. Semrush:

Best for: Helping you through the whole content process.

Semrush supports you from start to finish. First, it shows how your business compares with others. Then, it helps you come up with ideas and keywords.

It also helps with writing. Its SEO Writing Assistant gives advice on keyword use, word count, and writing quality.

Key Features:

• Keyword research.
• In-depth competitor checks.
• Site audits.
• Social media planning.
• Full marketing support.

How to Choose the Right Content Intelligence Platform

Now that we’ve looked at some good content intelligence tools, the question is: How do you choose the right one for you? Here’s a simple way to figure out what will work best for your business.

1. Choose the Features Your Team Needs:

Once you know your problems, it’s easier to choose the right features. It takes time to build a content strategy, so your tool should work well with your current way of doing things.

According to Tierney Pretzer from Numeric, beginners should look for features like keyword research, checking out the competition, and content performance tracking. Don’t get too excited about fancy features you may not need. Focus on what gives you the most value.

Also, think beyond your team’s use:

• Can this help meet customer needs?
• Will it support our business goals?
• Can it bring stakeholder ideas to life?

2. Know What Problems You Want to Solve:

Start by asking: What part of your marketing isn’t working well? If you’re looking into content intelligence, it’s likely that your content needs help. Try to list your problems clearly. If you’re not sure where to begin, pick one problem and think about how it happened. Go step by step. Then, write down some possible ways to fix it.

Content intelligence tools offer many features to help your work go smoother. So, knowing where you’re struggling can help you choose the right one.

For example, if you create a lot of content, a tool that saves time or automates steps might be best. Also, remember that these tools help more with strategy than content writing. So focus on where AI can make things easier.

3. Learn How the Tool Uses Data:

Data privacy matters. So make sure the tool uses data in a way that matches your company’s values. Take time to understand how the platform collects and uses data.

Also, think about what kind of data the tool needs. If it needs too much work to prepare the data, it may not be the right fit. Most tools use different data sources to give you insights. But if something breaks in the data flow, the results may be wrong.

4. Try the Platform:

Finally, try out the tools you’re interested in. Articles and websites can only tell you so much. Testing the tool gives you a better idea of how it really works. Check if the features you need are there and working. If you have questions, see if the support team is helpful.

Test the tool with your usual tasks. Take notes as you plan content, track performance, or update your strategy. This will help you spot any problems.

5. Make Sure the Tool Fits Future Plans:

Even if you’re only solving one problem now, choose a tool that can grow with you. AI and machine learning can help you scale later, even if you don’t need it right away.

HubSpot found that 78% of marketers say their industry has changed more in the last 3 years than in the past 50. As things change online, your content will need to change too. That’s why it’s smart to think ahead when picking a tool.

Also, many companies offer more than one tool. If you can, look at the others too it might help you plan your future tech tools.

Conclusion:

Content intelligence is changing the way we do content marketing. In 2023, this market was worth $1.55 billion — and by 2033, it may reach $24.02 billion.

These tools offer many ways to improve your content and strategy. Focus on the parts you want to make better and choose the tool that matches your needs.

No matter what your business is, you can improve your content and build your brand using the right content intelligence tool. Pick the one that works for you and grow your success.