The robot writer may be rising, but it’s a long way from the top.
Automated content is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and can now be used as a viable alternative to some basic ghostwriting services. After all, there’s nothing easier than having a robot do your work for you. Automated content is nothing new; content spinning has existed as long as online marketing has. Automated content has become far more advanced in recent years, though there are still some things that it simply cannot achieve.
Automated Data Extrapolation
Automated data really shines in areas that have a specific template that needs to be followed. There are many websites that might call for this type of data: a company that needs population statistics for a list of cities, a company that reports and summarizes news articles or a company that creates reports based on daily stock activity. Anything that needs to convey basic statistics, calculations or facts can usually be easily replicated by a computer, though these services often require custom programming to suit the business.
Automating Shared Content
Sharing content improves your connections within your industry, builds your reputation as an authoritative source and keeps your site active even when you’re not. Shared content is a natural candidate for automation because all the process needs to do is find a piece of content related to your industry and post it for you. The simpler a process is, the more likely it is to go without a hitch. However, there are still some things that could go awry: you could post too often, your content sharing could become too detached and you could lose control over the content being posted.
Automating Cross-Platform Synchronization
Perhaps the simplest, and most useful, form of automation is simply cross-platform synchronization. Cross-platform automation tools distribute content among all of your social platforms, to ensure that nothing is missed and that all of your venues are updated on time. As the amount of social platforms that need to be tracked ever increases, cross-platform automation becomes an essential tool in a marketer’s arsenal.
Automated Content Marketing
Of course, the main goal of content automation is to achieve automated content marketing. Despite many attempts, there still is no way to spin content in a way that sounds natural to a reader. Not only does spun content seem awkward when read, but it can also be easily detected by search engines and will quickly plummet a website’s ranking. For those that want to delve into the content marketing arena, there’s simply no getting around the need for a live writer. However, that does not mean that live content can’t be augmented with automated content for a comprehensive and cost-effective content solution.
Recent years have undoubtedly seen many advances in automated content technology, but it may still be a while before automated content can truly replace ghostwriting services. As for now, some level of automated content can be very useful to a marketing team, but only if it’s carefully monitored and properly curated. The simpler the automation is, the more likely it is to be beneficial.
Jenna I is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
