Content Marketing sure ain’t what it used to be.
What started as blog posts and landing pages has morphed and expanded into multi-media and multi-channel campaign strategies. Don’t even get me started on the impact AI and AI-driven this-and-that are having.
When Bill Gates coined the term “content is king” back in 1996, he had a good point. At that time, if you wanted your message to get traction, you needed to be sure it was posted in all the places. Well-written content, posted where your audience would see it, was indeed key to generating traffic and converting browsers to buyers.
But what about in 2025? Where should you put your marketing budget: on blog posts, Instagram reels, LinkedIn ads, or guest spots on industry podcasts?
Would it annoy you if I said the short answer was “Yes”?
Let’s look at some arguments for and against the premise that “content is king,” starting with what may seem like a counterintuitive one—there’s just too much content out there.
Content is dead, long live content
We’ve reached content saturation
It’s estimated that 4.6 billion pieces of content are published every day. Read that number again, and yes, that’s billion with a ‘b.’ We’ve hit saturation and are quickly heading toward complete overload when it comes to content on the internet. And AI tools like ChatGPT are enabling some people to generate that content at a speed heretofore unseen.
Despite that, and despite the sheer overwhelming quantity of information available, efficient, human-written content generates more than 5x the traffic over time. It’s simply being overshadowed by the speed and scale of AI-generated slop.
Search behavior has changed over time
Content marketing guru Neil Patel has declared that SEO now stands for “Search Everywhere Optimization.” With platforms like TikTok and Instagram pushing short-form video to the top of the search engine results pages, many are no longer relying solely on long-form written content like blogs or whitepapers. That’s not to say you should shift your focus entirely over to the currently trending format—rather that you should be aware of where your audience is spending their time online and put yourself in front of them in the right format for each platform.
Content rarely drives purchasing decisions
Content is a long game. The vast majority of consumer purchases aren’t influenced by branded content as these decisions are made in-store and in the moment. The return of brick-and-mortar shopping is having an impact on the content marketing choices many consumer brands are making.
Content is the once and future king
Content is a long game
Most marketing efforts are focused on the moment they’re occurring in. Lines like “Buy now!” or “Don’t miss out!” are all about getting someone to convert and make a purchase—in the moment. Content marketing, on the other hand, is a long-term strategy. By adjusting your keyword use, giving folks insights they won’t get elsewhere, and nurturing your audience relationships, you’re setting yourself and your brand up for years of success, just not necessarily in the next week. Or month, maybe. What you’re building is compounding returns instead of immediate.
Humans like human content
Without going too far into the weeds surrounding the human vs. AI debate, a recent study from the Marketing Insider Group found that human-generated content excelled at the aspects of content that matter here: trustworthiness, authenticity, and creativity. When it comes to tailoring your content to your audience, nothing beats an audience-centric strategy and no one does that better than a human writer.
Trust and authority building, FTW
One of the largest, and least understood, bits of building SEO credibility is trustworthiness and domain authority. Each of these is a large enough topic to warrant separate posts by SEO experts (which I am not)—what’s key is to understand that humans inherently trust other humans. High-quality content like how-to guides, explainers, case studies, and whitepapers all go a long way toward building trust and respect with your audience. And it’s that trust that will keep them coming back to your site, in turn boosting your brand reputation with the search engines.
Content is still king, but it’s sharing the throne with context
Despite changes in technology and user behavior, content remains a cornerstone of digital marketing because it drives organic traffic, builds trust, and positions brands as thought leaders. Search engines still prioritize high-quality content for ranking purposes, making blogs, whitepapers, and case studies essential for SEO.
Furthermore, content serves as the foundation for audience engagement across channels—whether it’s a compelling story shared on social media or an informative video that educates potential customers. As long as businesses aim to solve problems and connect with their audiences, content will continue to play a vital role in achieving those goals.
That said, to stay competitive in 2025 and beyond, organizations of all sizes must adapt their content strategies to emerging trends while staying true to their brand voice. Short-form video content is dominating platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts, while AI tools are enabling faster production of personalized materials at scale. Interactive formats such as quizzes or calculators are gaining popularity for engaging users directly.
Meanwhile, startups should also focus on repurposing pillar content into multiple formats—turning a single whitepaper into blog posts, infographics, videos, and social media snippets—to maximize reach without overextending resources. It’s about finding your audience where they are, then putting the content you want them to see in the right format to hit them where it counts.
By embracing innovation while prioritizing audience needs, you can ensure your content remains impactful in a rapidly changing business environment and consumer landscape.
Reach out to find out how I can help wrangle some context for your content!