Content marketing is an industry in complete flux right now. We can all feel it. Every day I hear about another content marketing agency struggling, or a media company downsizing.

We still don’t know the full effect of the new Google search landscape, and AI is getting better every day.

I feel an immense pressure to keep up with it all. But, I also feel that there are some amazing opportunities for publishers and content creators that can figure this out.

I’m not alone. I can feel the shift all around me. This past week, I attended a seminar online about using AI for content creation. While publishers are worried about the impact the new generative AI search has on our traffic, we are also trying to figure out new ways to take advantage of and use this technology in our workflows.

The good news — we’re all learning to crawl, aka, use AI in our workflows together. We’re all responding to these shifts together, so the ones who will survive are the ones who can quickly adapt and figure this out.

We’re all learning, iterating, and figuring out this new world together.

And, that’s something I know I can do. As marketers and content professionals, we have built some strong ‘iteration’ muscles and now is the time to keep flexing those muscles.

Finding our place in this world is going to take some scrappiness, that’s for sure. This week, Narcity Media issued a press release on their go-forward plan in media and it got me thinking… what is the best go-forward plan for us? Where do writers and content creators fit into this new reality?

I love that Narcity Media is going to focus on the ‘real human experience’ in their reporting. I think that will be a great differentiator moving forward, and I will be watching from the sidelines to see if they really deliver on that, because that is much tougher to implement and scale. But looks like they are going for quality over the velocity of content in this case.

I’m not one to jump on a bandwagon or listen to the hype. I try to keep my head down most days and just get shit done. But AI is changing things. Search is changing. The monetization of publications is changing and we have to respond.

In the past 20 years or so, I’ve been a part of content in some form. As a writer, an agency owner, a digital media company owner, a Corporate Communications Manager, an editor, and now a COO.

I’ve figured out a lot of things over the years. Here are some things I believe to be true in this new content landscape:

Typical Content Marketing companies are going to struggle.

The typical model of charging premium costs to clients and trying to make margins by having generalists, and less expensive writers will not be a great business model moving forward. We’ve seen this business model crumbling for a while and I predict we see more companies implode before they can figure this out.

This past week the CMO of Animalz resigned and it doesn’t take much to figure out that there are some operational, managerial, and editorial challenges going on there. And, I get this. The goalpost for quality content is constantly moving, editorial teams need to be able to do more extensive developmental edits and clients are expecting more. With the additional pressure from the macroeconomic conditions (budgets are being slashed, and clients are demanding more), it is a tough business to be in.

Media companies are going to struggle as well.

It’s been tough to make money and scale media companies for a while. That is not new, but we will see more media companies downsize and scale down as traffic declines continue. There is a much bigger gap between what worked in content last year and what we need to do this year to succeed — budgets are being squeezed and companies cannot keep up.

I’ve been watching the case of Scribe Media, which was once a juggernaut in the book publishing biz. Now, after more layoffs and mismanagement, struggling to fulfill client orders, they are selling what’s left of their assets.

Publishers are going to have to find new traffic and monetization channels.

When we were experiencing the Covid bump in traffic and online spending, I thought those days would last forever, and I’m not the only one.

I mean, I figured if people suddenly discovered how easy it was to do all their shopping online, they wouldn’t want to abandon that once things went back to ‘normal’ but these bumps didn’t last. It was really more like a bubble.

There are no easy answers. As publishers, there are still a lot of things we cannot control, but there are a few things I think we can do and should do to figure this out:

1. Build better content teams

2. Use AI to amplify and scale content processes

3. Continue to find new ways to monetize publications

We have a lot of work to do, but I really do believe we can figure this out and I’m excited to see what emerges from the rubble in the next few years.

But let’s talk about content teams. Over the past few years, my team and I have hired hundreds of writers and built a more robust editorial process for our content. That has come with tons of learning and iterating as well.

So, where do I think are the main roles of the content team of the future?

The Content Team of the Future

I still talk to people every day that want to build solid content teams. Even teams that use AI in their content workflows are looking for real humans to help build their content. That’s the good news!

The bad news — publishers, marketing professionals, and companies are downsizing these teams and trying to do more with less. And, there are a lot of writers, and editors competing for the same role. Buffer just opened up a content writing role and got over 1500 applications (you can see the feedback they have for applicants below).

So, where do I think are the most important content roles right now (from my personal experience)? Here they are:

1. The Subject Matter Expert Writer

The days of hiring generalist writers are done. I’ve said that before and I will say it again. AI can now produce a pretty decent piece of generalist content, with some iterations and updates. But, there are still many things AI cannot do, and that’s where a human expert writer is needed.

We only hire SME writers for our publications because we really want to bring unique, authentic experiences to our publications. Our writers help build the collective voice of each publication as well. That is a super valuable moat to have!

2. The Subject Matter Expert Editor

Editorial is becoming an increasingly important part of any content creation workflow, and SME editors are going to be in high demand. SME editors can do a lot to improve content quality and bring another layer of specialty and expertise when publishing content.

Our SME editors look for several E-E-A-T signals in the content we publish and can push back, with specific advice, details, and help for writers who do not deliver. That is something no AI tool can do just yet.

3. The Content Manager (Who Knows Content)

Any company that wants to scale their content efforts is going to have a strong Content Manager, or Managing Editor that can implement and that knows what quality content looks like for each publication.

Scaling content is getting easier, but scaling quality content is really, really tough. A lot of people lose the battle in the management of the content creation workflows, so having a solid manager is key. For me, the content manager has to be equally good at managing creatives as they are at QAing the overall content production.

Everyone on the content team needs to know ‘good content’ - I cannot stress that enough. At Venture 4th Media, we publish thousands of pieces of content and we’ve learned that it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure we’re keeping up our standards.

Some Things to Read and Ponder

Here are some dig-in resources that I hope you’ll love!

Buffer had over 1500 applications for a content writer role and since so many applicants wanted feedback on their applications, they wrote a blog post. Some great insights here!

While I still think Grammarly has its uses, it can be buggy, intrusive and is expensive. Here are some great Grammarly Alternatives if you’re looking for something new.

My Favorite Tweets of the Week

I have so much fun writing these newsletters and I’m happy to have you all here. Please share if you find this helpful and follow me on Twitter! Would love to connect!

I’m thinking of keeping this Monday publishing schedule as well as my weeks are getting busier as well.

Amy

Some Bonus Newsletters You’ll Love

If you really want to get into the weeds on these topics, here are a couple of newsletters to subscribe to.