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In the bustling digital realm, growing a blog isn’t just about writing captivating content anymore. The rise of Artificial Intelligence has ushered in a new era of possibilities, redefining the boundaries of what your blog can achieve. But, let’s face it: diving into the world of AI can feel a bit like venturing into an unfamiliar wilderness, can’t it? If you’ve ever thought, “I’m interested in AI but how can I use it to make my blog better?” or “Is there a risk of my content becoming soulless with AI?”, you’re not alone.
Picture this: you’re ready to set out on an exciting journey, packed with promise. Yet, you’re hesitant because the terrain seems challenging and you’re unsure which route to take. That’s precisely where I come in. Having been on this trail myself and aiding content writers to navigate it, I’ve mapped out a clear path for you.
In this guide, you’ll discover how to practically and effectively employ artificial intelligence (AI) to augment and grow your blog, ensuring its heart and soul remain intact. From understanding AI to diving deep into the nuances of Content Hubs, I’ll be your compass, offering clarity, guidance, and tried-and-tested strategies to make your blogging aspirations a reality.
So, let’s embark on this journey together, and by its end, you’ll be empowered to harness the immense potential of AI, amplifying your blog’s reach, resonance, and results.
What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
“AI is the umbrella term for the algorithms, technologies, and techniques that make machines smart and give marketers superhuman capabilities.”
Paul Roetzer, in ‘Marketing Artificial Intelligence’
In the simplest terms, Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to making machines smart. When it comes to marketing, AI is all about making marketing smart.
Think of it as a super-smart assistant who can process vast amounts of data in mere seconds and offer you insights that would otherwise take weeks (even months) to derive.
In other words, AI helps marketers get things done better, and faster.
Blogs vs Content Hubs: Which is Better for Growth?
Imagine you’re in a bustling city, looking for a quaint café you’ve heard about. One route is a winding alleyway, filled with shops and street artists, offering a story at every turn. This path is analogous to traditional blogs – personal, chronological, and filled with a creator’s evolving insights. The journey is beautiful, but it might take you a while to reach your destination.
On the other hand, there’s a well-lit, clearly signposted boulevard that leads you straight to the café. This is your Content Hub – a meticulously organised platform where every piece of content has its dedicated space, easy to locate and consume.
So, which is better for growth?
- User Experience: While blogs provide a deep dive into the creator’s journey, not every reader has the time or inclination to navigate this path. Content Hubs, with their streamlined structure, ensure that your readers can quickly find the information they’re after. This efficiency enhances user experience, leading to longer site visits and increased engagement
- SEO Benefits: Search engines love structure. A well-organised Content Hub, with clearly defined categories and interlinked articles, is a treasure trove for search algorithms. The result? Better rankings and heightened visibility
- Versatility: Content Hubs allow for a broader range of content types – from videos and infographics to podcasts and eBooks. This multimedia approach caters to varied audience preferences, offering something for everyone
- Authority and Credibility: A comprehensive Content Hub positions you as an authority in your niche. When readers see a diverse collection of content on a specific subject, all housed under one roof, your credibility gets a significant boost
While blogs have their unique charm and personal touch, if growth is your goal, Content Hubs are the way forward.
They provide the structure, versatility, and user-friendliness that today’s discerning audience craves. And when combined with the power of AI, they’re an unbeatable formula for success.
Remember, it’s not about leaving the personal touch of blogs behind; it’s about presenting it in a way that resonates with your audience and meets them where they are.
AI Tools for Blogging
In today’s digital landscape, saying that Artificial Intelligence is revolutionising industries might sound clichéd. However, when it comes to blogging and content creation, the impact of AI is undeniably transformative.
You might be thinking, “Isn’t my content personal enough? Why bring in AI?” Remember, AI is a tool to enhance your output, not prevent you from adding that human touch which remains important in content creation.
To quell any doubts and show you the potential, let’s delve into some AI tools that can elevate your blogging game:
Content Generation and Enhancement:
- ChatGPT: This can help you write blog articles, social media captions, strategies, read and organise data in table format, and more. Check out our intro to ChatGPT here. It won’t replace your unique voice, but it can give it a nudge in the right direction
- Anyword: This tool uses models like ChatGPT-3 to create content that sounds human. The biggest difference between this and ChatGPT is that Anyword uses personalised signals to determine how to improve your copy across campaigns or your website. On top of this, Anyword can be easily integrated into your various work tools, such as Notion, Canva, and ChatGPT. Think of it like an overpowered ChatGPT
SEO Optimisation:
- Clearscope: Using AI, Clearscope analyses top-ranking content and provides recommendations on terms and topics you should include
- MarketMuse: This platform predicts content success, optimises content for SEO, and provides research on competitors
Customer Engagement:
- Frase: This tool provides site visitors with answers to their questions using content from your website. It also gives you detailed analytics on which questions users are asking, and then helps you create content around those questions so you can rank higher in search engine
- PathFactory: This tool builds personalised content journeys for each person that visits your site. It uses real data on consumption metrics on your site and uses this to guide users to the content they care about most. This ultimately helps you get more engagement and higher conversion rate
Content Curation and Recommendation:
- Cortex: By analysing trends and audience engagement, it suggests the type of content that will resonate with your audience.
- Curata: Uses AI to discover the best content and helps in curating it for your blog or newsletter.
- Adobe Marketo Engage: This tool analyses various signals like engagement, CRM data and intent to serve up the right content at the right time to every user on your website. It can also provide content recommendations
Understanding these tools is just the beginning. The key lies in integrating them seamlessly into your content strategy. Yes, there might be a learning curve, but remember, these tools are here to aid you, not overshadow your unique voice. The AI world might seem vast, but with the right guidance, it’s an ocean of opportunities waiting to be explored.
The 15 Step AI Framework to Grow Your Content Hub
This framework comes straight of one of the leading books on AI: ‘Marketing Artificial Intelligence’ , by Paul Roetzer.
This framework can be used to accelerate the growth of an existing blog or media site.
1. Conduct a Market Analysis
Use LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Trends, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and North American Industry Classification System codes to determine the size of your market. This will help you determine if a content hub is worth building and give you clues as to how much you should invest to build it.
2. Connect Content to Business Goals
Establish KPIs, including traffic, leads and sales to benchmark content for overall business goals. This ensures you measure and monetise your content appropriately.
3. Evaluate AI Powered Content Tools
Using information from these sources and online research, compile a list of possible tools to evaluate that can automate and scale content marketing. Always ask vendors how their solution is smarter than what you’re doing now.
4. Identify Your Personas and Buyer Journey Stages
AI will allow highly granular targeting of micro-personas, so you don’t need highly detailed stages or personas. You just need a broad definition of your target audience.
5. Create Your Content Mission Statement
Who are you creating content for? Why are you creating it? What are you creating? Distill the answers to these questions in a single sentence. An example: ‘Educate current and future marketers on the present and future potential of AI and connect them with AI powered tech that can drive marketing performance and transform their careers.’
6. Determine the Questions that Matter to Your Audience
Use tools like Buzz Sumo, Answer the Public, Market Muse, and Frase to identify the questions that matter to your audience. Complement your research with Google Search autosuggestions.
7. Conduct a Content Audit
Determine which latent content assets you have that can be repurposed, updated, republished or remixed.
8. Gather Competitive Intelligence and Marketing Inspiration
Leverage MarketMuse, Crayon, and Frase to brainstorm topics that matter to your audience and topics in which competitors rank. Look to your market for inspiration. Evaluate top podcasts, trade publication editorial calendars, and conference speaking topics in your space.
9. Conduct Keyword Research
Translate your core list of topics into actionable keyword research, including keyword phrases, topic clusters, difficulty levels, and search volume.
10. Determine Editorial Focus, Format and Budget
Decide how your content will differ from those of your competitors. What are the three to five core elements that will drive your content strategy? Commit to a core group of formats (long form, list posts, original research, republished, curated, interviews, etc.). Pick five to seven formats, then allocate budget for production.
11. Select your Hooks
Every content hub needs at least one compelling hook to capture email addresses. These hooks can include calculators, digital books, guides, templates, and other highly valuable assets you’ll give away for free.
12. Choose the right domain
Don’t overthink it, but pick a domain that accurately reflects and represents your editorial focus. This may mean the obvious choice of directly integrating a blog into your company website. But putting your content hub on the main domain isn’t always the best choice when you want to build a community and movement around bigger ideas or niche markets.
13. Build the editorial calendar
Translate your core topics, formats, and hooks into a documented editorial calendar, preferable one that can also be built in a team project management system like Asana.
14. Automate Content Reporting
Use Automated Insights or a similar automation tool to automatically produce reports based on analytics data.
15. Create the newsletter plan
A regular newsletter gives you the ability to build deeper relationships with your audience over time while you spin up your content production and promotion machine. Determine the format, frequency, and technology needed to launch your newsletters, then take it live.
So, What’s Next?
In this digital age, the intertwining of AI and blogging isn’t just a passing trend – it’s the inevitable future of content creation.
Remember, integrating AI into your blogging strategy doesn’t mean losing the personal touch or authenticity that makes your content unique. Instead, it’s about harnessing the power of technology to optimise, enhance, and accelerate growth, allowing you to reach your audience more effectively than ever before.
While AI may seem like a vast, intimidating frontier, remember that it’s a tool – and like any tool, its value comes from how you use it. By understanding the distinctions between traditional blogs and content hubs, equipping yourself with the right AI tools, and following the 15-step AI framework, you can elevate your content hub to new heights.
As you journey forward in this AI-augmented landscape, try to remain curious, open-minded, and always prioritise the human connection at the heart of every story you tell.
After all, while machines can provide data and efficiency, it’s the human spirit that infuses our content with meaning and resonance.
If you liked this, you might want to learn about the Best AI Tools for Content Marketers.
