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The Content Strategist

The Content Strategist Blog

Social Listening as Your Brand’s Secret Performance Tool

The half-life of online culture is shrinking, and marketing teams stuck on quarterly calendars are struggling to keep up. Case in point: A random audio clip on TikTok goes from niche ditty to global meme in two days flat. The brand that shows up two weeks later with the snippet in the soundtrack of a… 

September 25, 2025 · Stephanie Walden

‘Destination Content’ Is a Lifeboat In the Google Zero Era

Remember when the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button was Google’s biggest gamble? Now, it’s their entire business model, and your traffic is the casino’s take. Your best-performing article still ranks #1, but traffic’s down 30%. Search your primary keyword and there it is: a Google AI Overview perfectly summarizing your content. No click required. Welcome to… 

September 5, 2025 · Uba Alintah

Reddit’s Resurgence: How the Internet’s Toughest Crowd Became AI’s Favorite Source

It usually starts the same way: A well-meaning marketing manager thinks they’ve found the perfect audience for their new product launch on Reddit. Brimming with hubris and optimism, they publish a post that’s equal parts jargon and manufactured hype. Five minutes later, the post is buried in downvotes and snark. It’s a cautionary tale replayed… 

August 25, 2025 · Stephanie Walden

Strategy, Experience, Design: The Roles Redefining Content in 2025

When I first started working in content marketing 15 years ago, the scope of what that work entailed was relatively narrow: blog posts, website copy, email newsletters, and the occasional e-book or oddball infographic. With the TikTok-ification of the internet, short-form video became a table-stakes part of the mix. Most of these assets lived squarely… 

August 18, 2025 · Stephanie Walden

The Most Effective Ways to Tie Content to Revenue in 2025

There’s nothing quite like being asked to “prove content ROI” when you’re smack in the middle of presenting next quarter’s campaign roadmap. You scramble to explain how that blog series probably helped a few deals move forward. You gesture vaguely at that product explainer video that likely nudged some prospects along. You say “engagement” a… 

August 7, 2025 · Ajith Babu

Are Human Bylines Content Marketing’s New Trust Currency?

You’re researching enterprise security solutions and stumble upon two articles. One’s bylined by “AcmeCorp Marketing Team.” The other’s authored by a CISO at a Fortune 500 company with 25 years of cybersecurity experience. Which one gets your click? If you’re like many B2B buyers in 2025, it’s not even a close competition: The human byline… 

July 26, 2025 · Uba Alintah

How to Train AI for Bulletproof Brand Voice: Top Tips and Tricks

In late 2023, Sports Illustrated became ensnared in the editorial version of a doping scandal — the outlet was caught publishing dozens of AI-generated articles under fake bylines. The fallout was swift. Within days, the editor-in-chief was fired and the brand’s credibility took a beating. Though the SI snafu occurred in the early, Wild West… 

July 11, 2025 · Uba Alintah

What Does AI Search Mean for the Future of Longform Content?

RIP, Google’s ten blue links. You weren’t perfect, but at least you were predictable. Google’s new AI Mode, currently in the midst of a phased rollout, is likely the beginning of the end of the SERP’s 20-year reign. In general, this new era of AI Search is nothing short of — to borrow a phrase… 

June 30, 2025 · Stephanie Walden

The End of SEO as We Know It

Is SEO dead? In March, I argued it was dying. Now leading VC firms like a16z are making the same case. The foundation of the $80 billion SEO market is cracking and something new is being born: LLM Optimization (LLMO). And the companies that understand this shift first will own a massive competitive advantage. The… 

June 21, 2025 · Brandon Pizzacalla, CEO