The percentage of people using AI for brainstorming and outlining fell from 72% in 2025 to 61% in 2026, and the percentage of people using it to draft content fell from 57% to 44%. While teams with tight budgets often outsource work to relatively affordable freelancers, some of this growth can be attributed to people with larger budgets who need more hands to help them fulfill deadlines. Across the board, teams are investing more funds into content and bringing in more resources to meet their needs. This event will provide you with the latest insights, practical advice, and networking opportunities with top content marketing professionals across the world. They offer a powerful way to drive traffic, generate leads, and establish authority in your industry.

Our agile and collaborative team stayed in constant communication with Mentimeter as we introduced new bottom-funnel content to cement Mentimeter as an authority in this competitive space. As more marketers tailor their content to AI results and track their brands’ LLM performance, we noticed there’s no industry standard regarding terminology. When asked, a roughly equal percentage of people say they either call optimizing their content for LLMs “GEO,” or Generative Engine Optimization (43%), or simply “SEO for AI” (44%).

If your strategy stops evolving, you’re already behind. Continuous review and refinement ensure your strategy keeps pace and content stays relevant. As tech increasingly powers marketing, these marketers face double exposure.

While a lack of guidelines may deter some B2B marketers from using generative AI tools, other reasons include accuracy concerns (36%), lack of training (27%), and lack of understanding (27%). Twenty-two percent cite copyright concerns, and 19% have corporate mandates not to use them. Asked if their organizations have guidelines for using generative AI tools, 31% say yes, 61% say no, and 8% are unsure. Most Americans have tried it, and more than half listened recently.

Thirty-one percent say they have no structured content production process, and 29% say they lack an editorial calendar with clear deadlines. When marketers pay to promote content, which channels do they invest in? Eighty-six percent use paid content distribution channels. For the past couple of years, I’ve surveyed Ahrefs’ audience on X about their use of AI in content marketing. Last time, almost everyone was already using AI or planning to. Without skilled, empowered marketers, all AI can do is make mediocrity faster, louder, and more efficient.

In crowded B2B markets, your ability to create a unique point of view, put your people out front, and build communities keeps you from sounding like everybody else. But pacesetters turn that oxygen into endurance — building systems where agents, predictive tools, https://facebook.com/BravoneticLtd/ and content creation aren’t just faster but smarter. But looking at the deeper measures — creativity, content quality, and performance — the numbers drop. In fact, 12% say the quality of their content decreased with AI. Success in marketing isn’t about talent or technology.

They aren’t doing more things; they’re making the things they do matter. They’re not gating more PDFs; they’re expanding how they collect and connect data, such as deeper CRM use, more behavioral signals, and smarter incremental collection. They’re also admitting that complexity increases with maturity.

During our outreach, I connected with PostEx, a leading logistics company in the country with an estimated 1.45 million shipments per month. For example, I used Semrush to get traffic data on the biggest ecommerce platforms. The traffic data was then provided in an easy-to-read table. Typically, I start by reviewing what competitors have already published. This helps me understand the landscape and identify gaps. In the case of my report, we were breaking new ground.

• When audiences see original insights backed by research, they’re more likely to view your brand as a credible authority in the space.
• About half (51%) say they strongly or somewhat agree.
• To maximize the impact of your infographics, focus on clarity to ensure the information is easily understandable and use professional design to enhance credibility.
• But today, we’re increasingly seeing brands track their LLM performance, too.

I want to know my users’ initial questions and their follow-ups. And in the process, I can uncover additional questions they may be searching for but haven’t yet articulated. Unlike LinkedIn, individual users remain anonymous and aren’t easily citable. But, the platform still offers valuable insights into public opinion and trending perspectives, helping you understand the general feeling surrounding a subject.

Source Industry Experts

It brings me back to the beginning of this year’s research analysis when it comes to the factors that improved technology marketers’ effectiveness. The three most popular elements were content relevance and quality, alignment with sales, and team skills and capabilities. Top performers also set goals that align with their organization’s objectives (68%), effectively measure and demonstrate content performance (61%), and show thought leadership (60%). Collaboration with other teams (55%) and a documented strategy (53%) also help top performers reach high levels of content marketing success. Global brands turn to CMI for strategic consultation, training, and research. Organizations from around the world send teams to Content Marketing World, the largest content marketing-focused event, and CMI virtual events.

Big companies have platforms, audiences, internal experts, and distribution engines that most B2B organizations dream about. In theory, scale should give them altitude — an automatic lift above the noise. The data is clear; all these new technologies are only as good as our ability to turn advanced functionality into effective strategies that can be implemented in practical ways. These are technology challenges that need human solutions.

Popular Paid Content Channels

Keep in mind that not everyone has the time to sift through all the information and data you share. That’s why I included a concise TL;DR section highlighting the key takeaways and most important data points. For this report, I analyzed the traffic of the top five ecommerce stores. The aim was to rank the country’s leading ecommerce players and categorize them by whether they’re digitally native or focus on an offline presence.

Let’s unpack the most valuable insights shaping how content drives leads, boosts traffic, and builds trust in 2026. When companies match their expectations with their budget and available resources, content teams can thrive. Effective content marketing has always been about creating original and useful content. Advertising can help you attract customers, improve brand awareness, and generate revenue. The statistics below will help you understand how consumers view paid media today and what advertising tactics work for businesses looking to attract new customers. Overall, the aforementioned findings are important giving the centrality of empirical insights regarding the optimal design and implementation of content marketing initiatives to current academic interest 3, 5, 8.

When you let real people be the face of your brand, you open the door to more engaging conversations. The personal touch and everyday expertise they bring can significantly increase awareness. To be honest, it’s one of the key sources of educational content for me too. This shift is especially clear on platforms like LinkedIn, where users can learn new insights directly from real people. I also recommend being proactive and analyzing your AI brand visibility. Check what exactly people are searching for, how you appear in the AI mentions, how your competitors are featured, etc.

ON24 provides industry-leading companies with a valuable source of first-party data to drive sales and marketing innovation, improve efficiency, and increase business results. To build an effective personalization strategy, you must first have a strong marketing data strategy. You must have the ability to capture the right data to tell you who your best customers are, what they care about, and what touchpoints help them convert and/or become brand loyal. Many organizations think that data is a given in today’s digital-first age. If there’s one place where the gravity of scale works in enterprise marketers’ favor, it’s the opportunity for effectiveness.

Forty-one percent say they have issues with workflow/content approval, and 39% say they have difficulty accessing subject matter experts. Thirty-four percent say it is difficult to keep up with new technologies/tools (e.g., AI). Only 25% cite a lack of strategy as a challenge, 19% say keeping up with privacy rules, and 15% point to tech integration issues. About half (51%) use generative AI to brainstorm new topics. Many use the tools to research headlines and keywords (45%) and write drafts (45%).