Forrester has made it official. According to Phyllis Davidson’s  latest report: Content intelligence is essential for marketers who want growth in important business outcomes.

Forrester identifies a major shift that marketers and content teams cannot ignore. Back in 2017, Forrester’s Ryan Skinner called this out:

“Marketers need better intelligence on performance of their content—what it’s about, how it speaks, how effective it is at accomplishing certain goals, what emotions it calls to mind.”

That statement is even more urgent today. Why?

Because while content has become the backbone of digital marketing, most teams still don’t know what’s working, why it’s working, or how to improve it.

Content measurement is reactive

Most marketers still rely on surface-level metrics—page views, clicks, engagement. These may show that people are interacting, but they don’t tell us if content is driving actual business impact:

• Does your content affect the hearts and minds of your audience?
• Are audiences taking action because of your content?
• What’s the ROI of your content efforts?

Right now, most marketers can’t answer these questions. 
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Measuring content is mostly reactive—it tells you what happened after the fact.

Content intelligence is proactive

‍It tells you how to improve in real time. At Knotch, we’ve long championed this shift, and Forrester agrees:

‍“Content measurement provides a metric, but content intelligence reveals the ‘why’ behind it—and, more importantly, guides the next steps.” Andrew Bolton, Knotch

‍Here are the key takeaways from Forrester’s presentation on content intelligence at the recent Content Marketing World conference:

1. Nailing Measurement: Businesses struggle to gauge content performance effectively. While many focus on anonymous engagement, Forrester stressed the need to analyze past content performance from actual customers. A mix of metrics—not just a single “magic bullet”—is key
2. Personalization Push: AI-driven personalization is surging, but it complicates measurement. As AI scales relevance, companies must refine strategies to reduce waste—currently, about 65% of content goes unused. Smarter measurement can turn that around.‍
3. AI in Action: Machine learning and predictive analytics can supercharge content performance. Integrating AI into content management systems helps refine strategies by capturing, analyzing, and linking data across platforms.‍
4. Content Intelligence Loop: Winning content strategies rely on a continuous data cycle. Structuring unstructured content and correlating it with audience interactions fuels smarter personalization and engagement. The key? Let data guide content creation and optimization.‍
5. Breaking Silos: Content teams often struggle to get data and marketing ops teams on board for performance insights. Forrester suggests revenue and business teams own content metrics, ensuring alignment across departments.‍
6. Intent is Everything: With gated content fading, intent data is the new gold. Tracking who engages—even anonymously—helps companies tailor content to the right audiences at the right time.‍
7. Smarter Automation: AI will drive content optimization, but humans still need to steer the ship. Automated experimentation and optimization will refine strategies, ensuring content resonates with the right audience.

Your content intelligence playbook

Forrester’s message is clear: Marketers need to start putting the building blocks of content intelligence in place, and make it part of their strategic and tactical routines.

• Audit your tech stack – Evaluate your content tool kit, engagement systems, and marketing platforms. Do they provide content intelligence capabilities and answer important business questions, or just basic metrics?
• Bridge the data gap – Work cross-functionally to ensure that content teams, data analysts, and revenue teams are aligned on objectives, KPIs and the need for performance insights.
• Use AI to enhance—not replace—your strategy – AI can scale and optimize content, but human decision-making is still essential. Balance automation with strategic oversight.‍
• Plan for the future – Content intelligence should be part of your broader GenAI and content tech roadmap. Make sure it’s built into the solutions you adopt moving forward.

Now’s the time to move from content measurement to content intelligence.

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Published:  January 31, 2025

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