State of content in 2026: the early trends [hacked edition]
state of content
An analysis of forward-looking signals in content marketing
Two content marketing firms recently released questionnaires to gather industry data. When I received these surveys asking for my insights, instead of just answering the questions, I considered them data in my own theories and anonymized the firms.
My analysis here combines survey question patterns with publicly available job posting data and original research I performed separately. The net result is five trends in content marketing across multiple channels, examined holistically to pinpoint the most salient shifts.
Key takeaways
Revenue attribution is required to show content value. With AI eroding search share, long-term organic growth is taking a backseat to demonstrating short-term revenue and ROI.
GEO has a new playbook—separate from SEO. Generative engine optimization (GEO) is being treated as a completely separate discipline from traditional SEO, with distinct budgets, strategies, and success metrics.
The martech stack is being replaced with custom tools and automations. As established vendors struggle to meet the AI moment, companies are building internal content operations, working directly with APIs, and focusing on automation.
Content is more immersive, favoring events and tools. Resources are moving away from static content toward interactive experiences like events, calculators, and communities that feel more like tech than marketing.
First-party data is a competitive advantage. A progression from exploratory to leading data strategies is becoming a competitive differentiator, with content serving as the primary vehicle for data collection.
Methodology note
This analysis is based on original research conducted in 2025. The findings are derived from a qualitative review of marketing survey questionnaires from two anonymized firms, cross-referenced with publicly available data on content marketing job postings and a review of current brand strategies.
Trend 1: Revenue attribution becomes mandatory
Market indicators
Detailed attribution model questions (first-touch, multi-touch, time-decay, custom) combined with a focus on predictive input metrics and their correlation to revenue outcomes.
Advanced questions about attribution models signal industry-wide measurement confusion.
Companies are stuck in an “attribution impasse,” caught between models that are either too simple (last-click undervalues organic channels) or too complex (multi-touch attribution with correlation vs. causation problems). Current models aren’t capturing AI-driven discovery paths.
Emphasis on measuring AI referral traffic suggests entirely new attribution frameworks are needed. This attribution challenge is forcing companies to generate their own signals through experiential content (Trend 4) and first-party data collection (Trend 5).
What to expect next
Renewed focus on functional attribution with growing levels of sophistication. Companies are moving away from trying to solve “perfect attribution” toward building practical models that inform decisions. This includes self-attribution (asking customers how they found you) and prioritizing solutions that fix the most critical measurement gaps.
Trend 2: GEO disrupts organic growth
Market indicators
Survey questions asking about $1M+ budget allocations for generative engine optimization.
Companies are finally investing in a systematic approach to AI-powered search rather than relying solely on traditional SEO.
Generative engine optimization (GEO) provides the first coherent framework for the AI-powered search world. Companies are treating getting cited by ChatGPT and Claude as a completely separate discipline from traditional SEO, with distinct budgets, strategies, and success metrics.
Content marketing is evolving from optimizing for search engines to optimizing for AI responses. Content will need to be more factual, structured, and authoritative to get cited by LLMs. This requires writing for AI consumption first, human reading second. As a result, organic growth takes a backseat to both share of search and share of hearts and minds.
What to expect next
A seismic shift as teams unlearn long-held SEO habits. The transition will be challenging—pay-to-play becomes increasingly alluring but stratifies actual results. Once we implement the first fixes, the standards shift again. Significant training is needed to develop playbooks on the frontier.
Trend 3: Martech infrastructure is overdue for a shakeup
Market indicators
Survey questions and job duties focusing on AI tool proficiency and automation capabilities.
Investment priorities are shifting toward tech infrastructure and AI-powered marketing tools for 2026.
Established martech vendors are struggling to meet the AI moment. Bolt-on AI features aren’t enough when companies need a fundamental reimagining of how content operations work, prompting some to question whether the death of SaaS is in sight. New AI-native tools may disrupt established vendors who can’t adapt quickly enough.
What to expect next
Companies are building internal content operations to gain a competitive edge. Content works directly with APIs, data flows while bypassing traditional and off-the-shelf martech. Automation becomes a significant focus for the next wave of content talent.
Trend 4: Experiential content is easier to build
Market indicators
Survey questions distinguish experiential marketing with separate budget line items from traditional content.
Job descriptions seek people who can design experiences, not just write articles.
Content is becoming more immersive and interactive. It can be events. It can be moments. It can be calculators or communities. It’s anything but a PDF. And while you’re creating that, a prototype is born.
Companies are already creating content that feels like tech, not marketing. Target’s donation chooser lets customers feel the values alignment in real-time. Stitch Fix’s design crowdsourcing makes customers part of their curation process, rather than just informing them. Companies are moving resources away from static blogs toward interactive experiences and anything that solves problems in real-time.
What to expect next
Increasing importance of content design as focus shifts to content that drives specific actions and captures behavioral data. The line between content marketing and product development continues to blur as interactive content becomes the primary way companies demonstrate value. Companies need content marketers who can work with their product team to build experiences into their platform.
Trend 5: First-party data is critical
Market indicators
Survey questions treating data strategy as equally important to content strategy.
Both surveys heavily emphasize first-party data collection and governance stages.
Companies are viewing content as a data collection vehicle rather than just an awareness tool. A progression from exploratory to leading data strategies shows this becoming a competitive differentiator.
Instead of a form on a white paper, companies are implementing progressive profiling, where they collect tiny bits of data across multiple touchpoints. With data as content currency, content becomes the primary touchpoint for building rich customer profiles over time.
What to expect next
Companies building sophisticated data governance frameworks to manage the customer intelligence that their content operations generate. Content success metrics expand to include data capture quality and customer profile completeness.
Ultimately, this rich first-party data, gathered through interactive experiences, provides the clear, direct-line revenue attribution (Trend 1) that marketers have been seeking.
Survey implications for content marketing roles
This survey data provides a roadmap for content marketers to create educational content that addresses the specific challenges and maturity gaps revealed in the research.
All the data captures an industry in transition. The role of content marketing has expanded from managing an editorial calendar to architecting the company’s entire information ecosystem. The foundational responsibilities now include:
Driving the growth engine: Directly influencing pipeline at every stage, moving beyond top-of-funnel metrics to accountable revenue impact.
Owning next-gen discovery: Navigating the most significant shift in search in 20 years by writing the new GEO playbook from scratch.
Acting as product designer: Designing experiences, not just articles. This means everything from information architecture to interactive tool prototypes that become real product features.
Serving as a data broker: Becoming one of the enterprise’s most advanced brokers of first-party data and privacy, using content as the primary vehicle for ethical customer intelligence.
Functioning as an engineer: Building operational leverage through everything from sophisticated prompt libraries to custom API automations that connect the entire martech stack.
Navigating the squeeze
This transformation is happening under immense pressure from all sides:
The AI disruption: With AI automating the “low-hanging fruit“ (basic articles, summaries), the demand is for strategic work that AI can’t do: creating novel insights, building community, and defining brand voice.
The economic climate: In an era of stagflation, every dollar must be justified. This makes the ability to prove attribution and ROI non-negotiable.
The internal role: Content leaders often become the “proverbial slack-takers“—the central knowledge hub that absorbs complexity from product, sales, and engineering and translates it into clear, valuable information for the market.
For leaders who understand this massive shift, it’s an incredibly challenging moment, but it’s also why there has never been a more exciting or more important time to lead content.
About the author
Kristin P.S. Molina is a marketing consultant who helps tech companies tell stories that resonate in the AI era. Her work focuses on turning content into a critical part of the revenue engine by “Making Art a Science.” You can read more about her approach at kristinmolina.com/about and connect with her on linkedin.com/in/kristinpaige.
