What is an "intelligent" content business?

I posed a single, crucial question to 120 product and business owners across news, information, and magazine websites:

"What does ‘adding intelligence’ mean for your content business?"

Some interesting results

1. Majority Perspective on Innovation: A significant 70% of respondents associate 'adding intelligence' with implementing advanced analytics and AI to personalize content delivery.
2. Prioritizing User Engagement: Nearly 50% of the owners emphasized that 'adding intelligence' means increasing user engagement through smarter content recommendations, highlighting the importance of retaining the audience and signs that publishers see Search Experience and AI platforms as potential threats.
3. Ethical Considerations Emerge: A thoughtful 35% of respondents raised concerns about the ethical implications of AI in journalism, such as bias and misinformation, suggesting that 'adding intelligence' also involves navigating new ethical landscapes.
4. Integration Challenges Highlighted: While most see the value in intelligent technologies, 55% reported challenges in integrating or even identifying the right systems, underlining a significant barrier to tech adoption in the industry.
5. Impact on Revenue Models is critical: 80% said that 'adding intelligence' needs to directly correlate with new revenue opportunities, such as targeted advertising and premium subscription models, reflecting an economic dimension to technological enhancements.

In this edition, I delve into the essence of intelligent information products, explore how to tailor intelligence to various business models and outline actionable steps

Why should your content business be "Intelligent"?

Forbes MFA scandal; The hollowing out of Vice and BuzzFeed - What do they have in common? These companies were dependent on other intelligent systems rather than investing in their intelligence. They made a series of bad decisions to grow their programmatic revenue (Forbes) or use virality and Social Media (BuzzFeed and Vice).

Defining "intelligence"

An intelligent content business strategically uses its resources—data, IT systems, content inventors and human talent—to achieve its vision and business goals. An intelligent system knows the business goals and personalizes the user experience while trying to maximize business goals. Now you can even plug and play intelligence using Media AI agents depending on your goals.

But how does intelligence compare to a subs-driven business vs an events-driven publication? Let's look further into this topic for the top 5 business models

1. Subscription-based

Below is a visual by Mather and Poool

Ask yourself the following questions -

How can you understand which content pieces are paywall candidates? What offer to present at what time? How to tailor content and subscription offers based on user engagement and preferences? Some more thoughts on how to create an intelligent subs business from my previous edition can be found here.

2. Ads-supported

As Ari Rosenberg puts it -

If you don’t sell the ads that run on your site, how do you learn enough to renew and increase ad spending levels? You don’t.

Did you know direct ads give an average of 9X CPM as compared to programmatic? If you don't have a direct ad business, first figure out how you can get direct advertisers. Then think about how you can make progress to

• Use data analytics to optimize direct ad placements and formats without detracting from user experience.
• Implement AI to predict and serve ads that match user interests, increasing click-through rates.

The above might seem open-ended but you will have to make an effort to break this down into smaller milestones (I share some tips in the "Next Steps" section of this newsletter).

3. Events and other premium material (Whitepapers, seminars, etc.)

Most businesses with this model I have met didn't think any intelligence is needed for their business. But that is leaving money on the table

• Leverage customer data to customize and target event invitations and premium content offers.
• Employ predictive analytics to identify potential high-value participants or purchasers.

4. Sponsored Content

Another monetization where intelligence can help publishers differentiate themselves v/s others

• Develop tools to match sponsor content with audience segments most likely to engage.
• Track who is engaging and converting in real-time to provide actionable insights to sponsors, enhancing return on investment and increasing your chance of getting more business

5. Community supported

These types of publishers are most likely to never opt for intelligence but investing in the right intelligence can help them engage their community better and depend less on grants

• Engage with community feedback to tailor content that resonates deeply, fostering stronger community ties.
• Use sentiment analysis to gauge community health and responsiveness to different initiatives.

Next Steps

1. Create a cross-functional task force - Identify at least 3 individuals with a growth mindset from your Editorial, Product, Data / Tech and Commercial team to think about what intelligence is suitable for your org
2. Identify Use Cases and Technologies: [There are solutions in the market that allow you to create custom Media AI agents that could boost this process] Once you know what intelligence makes sense - Identify a clear Proof of concept. Key technologies like Machine Learning analyze audience behaviour, Generative AI automates content creation, and Natural Language Processing manages and interprets human language. Each technology helps enhance user engagement, streamline content production, and deliver personalized content.
3. Evaluate Build vs. Buy: Assess internal capabilities and resources, consider the costs, analyze security needs, and gauge time-to-market requirements, and technical complexity. Decisions here vary based on factors like data sensitivity, regulatory compliance, and the need for custom solutions.
4. Pilot - Measure - Reiterate: Define clear objectives, determine the scope to avoid redundancy, ensure smooth implementation, and train users on AI features. Measuring success involves establishing baseline KPIs, tracking performance in real-time, and conducting comparative analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of AI-enabled content versus traditional methods

You can also check out the AI Playbook in my older edition here.

References

Got great info on the next steps for Gen AI - "How News Publishers Are Using GenAI Right Now", published by the International News Media Association (INMA), author - Sonali Verma

About Me

I am an experienced entrepreneur who has worked in Media and Tech consulting for many years. Apart from being a full-time parent, I am also leading a project that aims to make AI more accessible to restore the balance of power between tech providers and digital publishers in the Media ecosystem. Bridged’s out-of-the-box tools eliminate the need for extensive data processing or dedicated AI resources, making AI adoption accessible and efficient.