The evolution of content marketing

Content marketers have a choice: evolve or get left behind

👋 Hey, I’m George Chasiotis. Welcome to GrowthWaves, your weekly dose of B2B growth insights—featuring powerful case studies, emerging trends, and unconventional strategies you won’t find anywhere else.

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I started my career in content marketing.

I spent a lot of time building and executing content strategies for B2B SaaS companies at my first agency, Minuttia.

Eventually, I became interested in areas beyond content and expanded my skillset.

The more I dive into other aspects of marketing and growth, the more I realize that for most companies without a clear, defensible moat, content marketing is still one of their best marketing channels—even with volatility in organic search and shifting perceptions of cost and execution.

And that’s not just for acquisition.

So, this note is going to be about content marketing.

How we got here, and how companies can come out on the other side.

The evolution graph

Here’s a graph that captures the different stages of content marketing from its early days (circa 2000) to today:

I came into the game in the third period, “Maturity & Operationalization.”

In my early days, many things were already established.

There was enough knowledge out there.

Websites like HubSpot, Backlinko, Neil Patel, and CoSchedule were dominating search engines, and were also my go-to learning resources.

Organic search was one of the best channels for many B2B SaaS companies (regardless of the growth motion), and except for a few hick-ups, it was consistent and low-maintenance.

There were a few things that characterized that period:

• Content Ops: Content marketing is operationalized, processes and workflows are established, and new tools are popping up.

• Content Velocity: Velocity and publishing frequency are the name of the game; HubSpot is everyone’s favorite example.

• Vendor Business Model: Agencies and freelancers push for volume or longer content since it’s tied to their business model. (I'm not judging anyone; I’m on the agencies’ side, plus that was the key to growth in many cases.)

• Commoditization: Early signs of commoditization emerge (e.g., in content briefing), though few were willing to slow down.

• Content Marketing = SEO: For most companies (exceptions apply), content marketing means content for SEO.

• Outputs vs Outcomes: Instead of tying inputs to outcomes (e.g., pipeline generated), most in-house employees and vendors alike focus on outputs or vanity outcomes such as traffic increase.

There were many good things about that period.

Many great businesses were built, people built great careers, and the internet improved in many respects.

One of the main issues I used to see back then was the fact that content marketing mainly focused on (to put it mildly) SEO.

In several cases, a company’s whole content marketing program was its SEO program.

And of course, that’s something content marketers ‘paid’ later on, when the perception of SEO as a marketing channel started to change.

Essentially, that prevented content marketing (for most SaaS companies) from having an entity independent of SEO.

There were exceptions of companies with clear content marketing programs that weren’t focused on organic search (e.g., Gong), but the general rule was that content marketing = SEO.

And that had a spillover across almost every point outlined above.

For example, content ops were mostly focused on content for a search audience (AKA SEO content, even though I don’t subscribe to the term).

It was a heck of a ride!

But, of course, at some point the music stopped, and we entered a new era, the one we’re in right now.

As I told my friend Emilia in an interview a while back, “it was a good run while it lasted.”

Things started to change—even though it wasn’t as clear to most of us back then—in late 2022.

A quick timeline

I created this timeline with specific timestamps/events I believe are/were significant in the context of what we’re discussing.

The reason why things started changing in late 2022 is because that’s when ChatGPT launched.

In 2023, ChatGPT (and as an extension, AI) came into the mainstream.

That’s when things *really* started to change for content marketing.

For better or worse, I don’t know.

Time will tell.

A few noteworthy events:

ChatGPT Launches (Nov 30, 2022): That’s when the changes began, though it took time for most content marketers to notice.

Perplexity Launches (Dec 7, 2022): An answer engine comes to the mainstream and tries to take away market share from Google.

LinkedIn Algorithm Update (Jun 13, 2023): LinkedIn performs an algorithm update and gradually decreases organic reach.

LinkedIn Introduces Thought Leader Ads (Jul 10, 2023): LinkedIn introduces thought leader ads as an answer to decreased organic reach and as an extra advertising product.

Google x Reddit Agreement (Feb 21, 2024): Google signs an agreement with Reddit for using its content and starts surfacing Reddit in its search results more and more.

Google Rolls Out AI Overviews (May 14, 2024): Google performs one of the most significant UI/UX changes in organic search for many years (maybe even ever).

ChatGPT Rolls Out SearchGPT (Jul 25, 2024): ChatGPT shows its intention to enter the (web) search category.

After all these changes and events, content marketers are faced with a new reality:

• The Content Marketing = SEO paradigm starts to shift, and content marketers are looking for new ways of driving and communicating their impact.

• Even though many content marketers are still behind the curve, AI and the promise of efficiency should be mastered and realized.

• Most organic channels (including social media like LinkedIn) decrease reach and quickly become pay-to-play.

• Audience attention is fractured across channels, making it harder to focus on any single one.

• The promise of new channels such as Substack or Reddit is there, but content marketers don’t have enough bandwidth to have a solid presence in all these channels.

• Companies have moved to a sustainable, profitable growth model, which brings increased scrutiny on ROI and attribution.

• The discussion over ‘brand’ is getting louder, even though most content marketers still don’t know what to do about it.

Additionally, inspired by companies like Clay and Hockeystack, marketers feel more pressure to be creative.

(Something that’s long overdue, and sits at the core of content marketing’s identity.)

Image Source: LinkedIn

It’s a complicated, multi-faceted, and fully dynamic environment.

The role of content marketing has changed forever.

Where are we going from here?

Each of the four periods I outlined in the evolution graph has distinct characteristics, such as the tech stack marketers use.

To be clear, tools from earlier periods are still relevant.

What I’m saying is that new tools enter the market and earn their spot in the tech stack.

Similarly, how content marketers approach strategy should change.

Even though I don’t have a crystal ball, It seems we’re entering an era where automation and personalization are central to content marketing.

Mastering AI and building powerful workflows will become key, too.

Here are some core characteristics for how content marketers should approach content marketing strategy in this current environment:

• Human-first, assisted by AI

• Distribution-first (e.g., LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, newsletters)

• Creator-brand hybrid voices

• Short-form repurposing becomes core workflow

• Human-led + AI-scaled editorial vision

• High-quality, low-volume content wins

• Hybrid Attribution

• Audience-first over keyword-first ideation

• Narrative differentiation over volume

• Content as product: newsletters, courses, and media brands

• Hardcore creativity and brand moment creation

If all that sounds like too much, it’s because it is.

Instead of things getting simpler, they get more complicated.

But content marketers still have a seat at the table.

Even as budgets tighten, companies are doubling down on areas that feel hot right now.

And, yeah, there are companies that will keep doing 100-page eBooks and write cookie-cutter blog posts like it's 2018.

But it isn’t.

Content marketing has changed.

And content marketers will either get the memo or won’t make it to the next phase.

Final thoughts

Just two months ago, I announced the launch of a new agency.

It’s fascinating to see the difference between selling something that people want (and feel they need) and something that they no longer want.

The couple of years leading up to Restartt’s launch were frustrating.

Great service. Solid reputation. Strong client portfolio. And work that still drives value.

Why are companies no longer interested?

Well, it’s because we’ve entered a new era that’s fundamentally different than the previous one.

Interestingly, many of the changes that took work away from content marketers are now bringing it back.

Eventually, I believe that changes first happen on an individual level.

Some will adapt. Most will fall behind.

The decision is theirs to make.

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