Whether you blame it on content shock or the fact that 91% of content gets zero traffic from search, there’s a growing “content marketing is dead” bandwagon.

But before you jump on that bandwagon, take a step back and look at the real problem. Content marketing still works — you just need to overcome the engagement challenge.

Content Shock Isn’t the Problem — Engagement Is

In the early days of content marketing, you could follow a “best practices” publishing schedule and generate a consistent flow of inbound leads.

Now, there’s a growing sense that there’s just too much content and resources are being wasted creating more of it. But that’s not exactly the issue.

According to the 2018 Nielsen Total Audience Report, the average American adult spends over 11 hours per day interacting with some form of media content. People clearly aren’t overwhelmed by the amount of content being created — they just have so many options that your content can get lost in the shuffle.

More than anything, the problem with content marketing is that brands are struggling to find ways to sustain engagement with audiences. Creating generic, high-level audience personas and publishing blog posts that readers could find anywhere else won’t fuel your funnel.

Rather than giving up on content marketing and searching for a new way to connect with potential customers, you can take steps to resolve your content engagement problems. And that all starts with better data.

3 Ways Intent Data Solves the Content Engagement Challenge

When content shock first emerged as a reason for engagement challenges, industry leaders popularized the “10x content” approach. The thought was that if you could provide content that’s 10 times better than what your competitors were publishing, you would stand out and reap the benefits of content marketing.

However, creating 10x content is easier said than done. It’s not just about creating content around topics you think your audience cares about — everyone will do that. You have to go a step further and cover topics that you know will engage your target audience.

Buyer intent data is your key to cutting through content shock because of three key benefits:

  • Knowing What to Publish: Intent data gives you deeper insight than keyword research or even customer interviews. Using intent data allows you to recognize behavioral patterns of your most coveted prospects. What content do they engage with most? What stage of the buyer’s journey are they at? What’s their favorite form of content? Answers to all of these questions will help you know exactly what kind of content to create so that you’re perfectly aligned with their needs. Once you know your topic is perfectly chosen, you can invest more confidently in creating 10x content.
  • Identifying Influencer Opportunities: Guest posting and sponsored content have always been mainstays of content marketing. And while there’s always plenty of research into which influencers and websites will get you in front of your target audience, there’s always room for improvement. Intent data gives you greater insight into which opportunities have the greatest chance of delivering results. Taking the guesswork out of guest posting and influencer marketing will help you focus your investments to increase clickthrough rates, boost brand awareness, and maximize ROI.
  • Advertising More Efficiently: Because organic search traffic has grown so competitive, content marketing has become more of a pay-to-play strategy than it once was. But blindly increasing ad spend won’t necessarily deliver content marketing results. Intent data tells you which channels can deliver the best possible results for advertising. When you’re getting content in front of the right people, in the right channel, and at the right time, you’ll see why now is not the time to give up on content marketing.

Many B2B executives lament the fact that content marketing doesn’t deliver ROI. There’s a feeling that helpful, educational, and entertaining content is too far removed from generating revenue.

But when you use intent data in content marketing, you can bridge this gap and ensure that content is delivering real business results.

Intent data tells you who’s in the market for your products, what they think of you, and how they’re interacting with your competitors. It’s an invaluable tool for any content marketer — if you know how to make the most of it.

If you want to learn more about the value of intent data and how to make it work for your marketing activities, download our free report, Demystifying B2B Purchase Intent Data.