The Path Forward for Content Marketing: Human Connection
Summary: The content explosion of the last two years is eerily similar to the explosion that accompanied the emergence of blogs and social media, and not in a good way. In this article, I explain why brands that win with content marketing will focus on creating moments of human connection based on what matters most to their audience.
I have to admit that the content marketing landscape had me feeling a little deflated this year.
First, let's rewind about 15 years when the emergence of blogs gave everyone access to their own publishing platform. Social media provided a powerful new distribution channel.
Then we were flooded with templated, keyword-stuffed content created for search algorithms and supplied by content writing mills.
“Getting found is great,” I said at the time. “But what happens when people actually click through and find low-quality, low-value drivel? How does that serve your audience or your brand?
Fast forward to today, as the emergence of AI allows anyone to enter a few words into a little white box and magically create content in a matter of seconds.
Today’s flood is exponentially larger and deeper. Machines use what others have already published to generate content with no distinctive voice, no real-world stories, and no unique insights.
“Creating a lot of content quickly and inexpensively is great,” I say. “But what happens when people actually see that your generic content sounds like everyone else? How does that serve your audience or your brand?”
You know what they say about the more things change. Sigh.
Then I read these two articles within 24 hours. Both energized me.
In many ways, they reinforce exactly what I’ve been saying for the last two years to anyone who would listen.
I wanted to share them here and offer my own take on what it takes to win with content marketing.
Moments of Insight and Inspiration
The first is an article by Robert Rose for Content Marketing Institute: These 3 Rs Will Define Marketing in 2026.
Here are excerpts that made me high five my laptop.
“Many marketers tell themselves a story about why the work isn’t landing the way it used to. They say it’s a measurement or a technology problem…
Despite all the dashboards, algorithms, and generative AI hype, the emotional center of marketing has moved to something most brands still treat as a side project: people…
…we must rehumanize the practice of marketing. That won’t happen by abandoning the tools that make us effective (or more efficient), but by redirecting those tools to help people focus on resonance, realness, and relationships — in other words, the things that matter now.
Those three Rs are a reminder that the future of marketing will belong to organizations that invest in people who know how to connect and that design for humanity rather than merely for efficiency.
Marketing must become more human because the world now requires it.”
The second is an article by Geoff Thomas for Marketing Profs (free subscription required): Five Shifts to Help B2B Marketers Stop Marketing Like a Machine.
Here are a few excerpts that made me say, “Yes! What he said!”
“A lot of B2B marketing these days feels like it's coming off an assembly line: launch a campaign, push out necessary emails, track clicks, and hope something useful shakes loose.
But your buyers are not data points. They're people with goals, anxieties, ambitions, and careers on the line.
The future of B2B marketing is not about scaling faster; it's about connecting deeper. Buyers want more than messages – they want meaning…
When you stop marketing like a machine and start showing up like a human, prospects stop seeing you as just another vendor. They start seeing you as someone they can trust.
And trust closes deals.”
Cheap and Easy Doesn’t Make It Right
Too many organizations and individuals have jumped on the content marketing bandwagon because it’s never been cheaper and easier to crank out content.
There may not be a clear business objective or strategy, a defined brand voice, a core messaging framework, or structured content development and distribution plans, but who cares?
There may not be anything unique or insightful, but who cares?
It’s cheap and easy, and everyone else is doing it. All we need to be content creators is a free app!
For the Sake of Humanity
Brands that win in this new reality won’t focus on volume. They won’t get bogged down with the mechanics of the old-school SEO playbook. They won’t waste time with vanity metrics like clicks and traffic.
They’ll focus on what really matters to the people they want to do business with.
What matters more than anything is the feeling that someone gets them.
People want:
- Challenges understood. Concerns heard.
- Core values shared. Priorities aligned.
- Capabilities validated. Value substantiated.
- Doubt removed. Trust earned.
- Problems solved. Impact demonstrated.
How do you show your ideal client that you truly get them?
With human storytelling. Real human experiences. Human insights. Human emotion. Human empathy. Human, everyday language.
Show that you respect humans – those who work with you and for you, and those who you expect to give you money for your product or service.
Instead of cranking out as much content as possible as quickly as possible, focus on content that creates moments of human connection.
These moments then blossom into meaningful human relationships that – wait for it – lead to sustainable growth and profitability.
Not because you tried to force-feed them an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of content. Not because you tried to sell them something. Not because you “drove traffic.”
You build human relationships by delivering value and substance. Speaking directly to the wants, needs, and aspirations of your audience. Telling your story in a way that’s real.
When content marketing focuses on human connection, people will choose to work with you not only because it’s the logical choice, but because it feels right.
Because it makes sense.
Because you get them.
Because they don’t just believe you. They’ll believe in you. That’s the ultimate competitive differentiator in a sea of brands that seem to be satisfied with sameness.
By all means, use technology to work smarter and more efficiently. But not at the expense of human connection.
When you seek connections, not transactions, you win business and loyalty for all the right reasons.
That’s the choice you have to make.
Your move.
