Radix Copycast Episode 23: What “intelligent content” means for B2B copywriters

A radical new style of ultra-personalized content delivery is emerging.  We look at what the advent of “intelligent” or “adaptive” content will mean for B2B copywriters.


 

Content marketing is on the move. The next stage in its evolution will be “intelligent” content, according to Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute, and a host of other luminaries slated to speak at next month’s Intelligent Content Conference in San Francisco.

According to Noz Urbina, one of the leading lights of the intelligent content movement:

“We need to think of language at the level of “systems”, not words or pages. Intelligent content is free from format, rich in semantic and structural metadata, and automation-system-ready.”


It seems that intelligent content is content that adapts itself on the fly to the needs and wishes of the person consuming it. It’s guided partly by what the user is doing at the moment of consuming the content, partly by the device they’re using, and partly by what the content delivery platform already ‘knows’ about the user and what they’ve done previously.

What does it mean for writers?

For the people writing content that’s destined to be adaptive, we think it will lead to some big changes in mindset and approach.

As Noz Urbina says above, adaptive content is “free from format”. Writers can no longer assume their words will be consumed in a linear fashion, with the user starting at the beginning and following the writer’s narrative thread to the end. Instead, individual users will take different paths through the content, depending on where they are, what they’re doing and what they’re interested in.

The difference between writing traditional content and writing adaptive content may therefore be like the difference between writing a novel or screenplay, and writing a choose-your-own-adventure book or videogame. In all cases, there is a story, but in the latter formats, the user selects the narrative path, rather than the writer.

For more on the challenges we think intelligent/adaptive content will present for copywriters and B2B marketers, listen to the podcast as we discuss:

  • How copywriting practices and business models will need to change
  • How it will affect collaboration between writers, designers and marketers
  • Whether writing apps like MS Word are still fit for purpose
  • What you can do practise creating non-linear content
  • … and more!

Download the episode here (right-click and “save as” to download). Or listen in the player at the top of the page.

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Music by Industrial and Marine.

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