No ranking, the first is just as good as the last.

September’s book of the month: 'The Choice Factory: 25 Behavioural Biases That Influence What We Buy' by Richard Shotton

We think our choices are rational. They rarely are. If your job is to influence decisions and behavior, this is the book for you.

You thought you knew a thing or two about marketing and biases. Then you read this. Twenty-five biases, each one tested with original research, and paired with the decision it changes. Social proof, the pratfall effect, distinction bias, and more. Read it, and you'll never brief a campaign the same way again.

Marketing and Strategy books

1. ‘Alchemy’ by Rory Sutherland
[June 2025 book of the month]
2. 'The Choice Factory: 25 Behavioural Biases That Influence What We Buy' by Richard Shotton
[September 2026 book of the month]
3. ‘No Bullsh*t Strategy’ by Alex M H Smith
[February 2024 book of the month]
4. 'Chaz's 100 Things a Planner Should Know' by Charles Wigley
[October 2025 book of the month]
5. ‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller

6. ‘Obvious Adams’ by Robert R. Updegraff
[January 2026 book of the month]
7. 'Insanely Simple' by Ken Segal
8. ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ by Will Guidara

9. ‘They Ask, You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan

10. 'Influence' by Robert B. Cialdini
[November 2024 book of the month]
11. 'How Big Things Get Done' by Bent Flyvbjerg, Dan Gardner
12. 'Reinventing the store', ‘Het geheim van bol.com’ by Michael Schaeffer
[December 2023 book of the month]
13. ‘How not to Plan: 66 ways to screw it up’ by Les Binet and Sarah Carter

14. ‘Leaders eat last’ by Simon Sinek
15. 'Measure What Matters' by John Doerr
16. 'Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek
17. ‘Let my people go surfing’ by Yvon Chouinard
18. 'Good Strategy, bad strategy' by Richard P. Rumelt
19. 'Epic Content Marketing' by Joe Pulizzi
20. 'The Infinite Game' by Simon Sinek
21. 'Leading the Starbucks Way,' by Joseph A. Michelli
22. ‘Eat your Greens’ by Wiemer Snijders
23. ‘Nudge' by Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein
[May 2024 book of the month]

Content and copywriting books

24. ‘Very Good Copy’ by Eddie Shleyner
[August 2024 book of the month]
25. ‘A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters’ by Dan Nelken

26. ‘Writing for Busy Readers’ by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink
27. ‘Simply said’ by Jay Sullivan
28. 'Creativity. A Short and Cheerful Guide' by John Cleese
[July 2024, October 2025 book of the month]
29. ‘The Copywriter's Handbook’ by Robert W. Bly

30. ‘Copywriting Secrets’ by Alan Sharpe
31. 'TED Talks Storytelling' by Akash Karia
32. 'Everybody writes' by Ann Handley
33. 'Advertising for skeptics' by Bob Hoffman
34. 'Make Your Idea Matter: Stand out with a better story' by Bernadette Jiwa

Mindset and Psychology books

35. 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' by Dale Carnegie
36. ‘Barking Up the Wrong Tree’ by Eric Barker
[June 2026 book of the month]
37. ‘Pitlane Lessons’ by Marc Priestley
[May 2026 book of the month]
38. ‘Learning to Learn’ by Barbara Oakley
[October 2024 book of the month]
39. ‘Thinking Clearly’ by Rolf Dobelli
40. ‘The Let Them Theory’ by Mell Robins
[February and March 2025 book of the month]
41. 'Think Faster, Talk Smarter' by Matt Abrahams
42. 'The Power of Vulnerability' by Brene Brown
[September 2024 book of the month]
43. ‘Comfort Crisis’ by Michael Easter
[August 2024 book of the month]
44. ‘Slow Productivity’ by Cal Newport
[April 2024 book of the month]
45. 'The Art of Gathering' by Priya Parker
46. ‘Invisible Women. Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’ by Caroline Criado-Perez
[June 2024 book of the month]
47. ‘Body language’ by Vanessa Van Edwards in Dairy of a CEO
[January 2025 podcast of the month]
48. 'Get Your Sh*t Together’ by Sarah Knight
49. “The ONE Thing” by Gary Kelly and Jay Papasan
50. 'Thrive' by Arianna Huffington
51. 'If I Could Tell You Just One Thing' by Richard Reed
52. 'Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People' by Stephen R. Covey

53. ‘Don't Sweat the Small Stuff' by Richard Carlson

54. 'The Ideal Team Player' by Patrick M. Lencioni
55. 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear

56. 'Mindset' by Carol S. Dweck
57. 'Living with a SEAL:' by Jesse Itzler
58. 'The 5 Second Rule' by Mel Robbins
[March 2026 book of the month]
59. ‘Unmasked’ by Ellie Middleton

(Auto)biographies

60. ‘Careless People’ by Sarah Wynn-Williams
[July 2025 book of the month]
61. ‘Be Useful’ by Arnold Schwarzenegger
[January 2024, November 2025 book of the month]
62. ‘Kitchen Confidential’ by Anthony Bourdain

63. ‘Before & Laughter’ by Jimmy Carr
[August 2025 book of the month]
64. ‘Screw it, Let’s Do It' by Richard Branson
[December 2024 book of the month]
65. ‘The Art of Resilience’ by Ross Edgley

66. ‘The story of Lululemon' by Chip Wilson

67. 'Can't Hurt Me:' by David Goggins



1. ‘Alchemy. The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life’ by Rory Sutherland

Initially, I was skeptical about this book. But, man, it didn't disappoint, and I've already listened to it. Twice.

A combination of Kahneman's ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ and ‘Creativity’ by Cleese. ‘Alchemy’ is about logic and reason, written and read by a Brit, including the accent.

This should be on every marketer's reading list. It's about how embracing irrationality can lead to innovative solutions, emphasizing understanding human psychology over pure logic to influence behavior and create impactful ideas.

2. ‘The Choice Factory: 25 Behavioural Biases That Influence What We Buy' by Richard Shotton

We think our choices are rational. They rarely are. If your job is to influence decisions and behavior, this is the book for you.

You thought you knew a thing or two about marketing and biases. Then you read this. Twenty-five biases, each one tested with original research, and paired with the decision it changes. Social proof, the pratfall effect, distinction bias, and more. Read it, and you'll never brief a campaign the same way again.

3. ‘No Bullsh*t Strategy’ by Alex M H Smith

Mandatory reading for every marketer and (self-proclaimed) strategist. In "No Bullsh*t Strategy," Alex M H Smith gives you a simple but powerful line to define strategy: 'You are the only X that does Y.'

This is the unique value your business brings to the market with the strategic philosophy ‘Only is better than best.’

A well-written strategy brings razor-sharp focus by making decisions on what to do and, above all, what not to do.

If Alex doesn't ignite your mind in the first chapter, this is not a book for you, and you'll never get it.

For the lazy ones, here's a 🎙️ great podcast hosting Alex and his ‘No BS Strategy.’

4. 'Chaz's 100 Things a Planner Should Know' by Charles Wigley

This sweet, short little book is the kick in the but you sometimes need to get unstuck and gain new inspiration. It's written for planners on the agency side, but equally, if not more, important to marketers at the client side.

His book costs about as much as your over-foamed oat milk macchiato. But it lasts longer.

5. ‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller

One of the best books on content and storytelling I have read in recent years. Learn how to build your story with your customer in mind.

→ It's not about you; it's about how your brand solves your customers' problem(s).

Once you know this trick, you will recognize it in every great Hollywood movie. Your message will change for the better.

“The first campaign he released went from nine pages in the New York Times to just two words on billboards all over America: Think Different. When Apple began filtering their communication to make it simple and relevant, they actually stopped featuring computers in most of their advertising. Instead, they understood their customers were all living, breathing heroes, and they tapped into their stories.

They did this by (1) identifying what their customers wanted (to be seen and heard), (2) defining their customers’ challenge (that people didn’t recognize their hidden genius), and (3) offering their customers a tool they could use to express themselves (computers and smartphones). Each of these realizations are pillars in ancient storytelling and critical for connecting with customers.”

6. ‘Obvious Adams. The Story of a Successful Businessman’ by Robert R. Updegraff

Written in 1916. Still sharper than most marketing today. This short, powerful book should be mandatory reading for anyone in marketing or communications. It will completely rewire how you think.

A quick 40-minute listen on Audible, you'll never regret.

7. 'Insanely Simple. The Obsession that drives Apple's Success' by Ken Segal

Keeping things simple and keep your focus, are two of the most underestimated success factors in business. We want everything for everybody. Almost out of a fear of missing out on customers or business. By making it over-complicated -- you achieve the opposite. Great in combination with 'Good Strategy, Bad Strategy' by Richard P. Rumelt.

This is my go-to book for most of my clients. With my humble advice 'Better whole-ass one thing that half-ass everything'.

8. ‘Unreasonable Hospitality’ by Will Guidara

A gem of a book. ‘It’s about how you make people feel' and challenging the status quo to do better. It not only applies to the hospitality industry. Also very relevant for brands, marketers, agencies, and employers. A very nice read or listen, with great insights.

Such as the 95-5 rule. 95% frugal and splurge insanely on the 5% in the details that matter, and create an unforgettable experience.

9. 'They Ask You Answer: A Revolutionary Approach to Inbound Sales, Content Marketing, and Today's Digital Consumer' by Marcus Sheridan

This book is mandatory reading for everyone working in marketing and or content. The ‘They Ask, You Answer’ is the way to create content to align with your (potential) customer's needs.

SEO and AI search ranking
A great way to rank high in SEO and attract organic traffic. It’s also AI search-friendly because it prioritizes your customer. I take it further by writing FAQs based on customer prompts, resulting in ChatGPT and Perplexity frequently appearing in my web traffic analytics.

10. 'Influence, New and Expanded. The Psychology of Persuasion' by Robert B. Cialdini

This is an updated classic. Three reasons why you should read it

First, it explains how Booking.com realized +700% conversion by introducing social proof and scarcity in their booking process with ‘XX other people booked this accommodation today’ and ‘only 2 rooms left’.

Second, the reason why waiters give you a sweet when they hand the check is not because it's a custom; it's because of the small gift they get up to 21% more tips.

Third, in this update, Cialdini adds the new ‘unity’ principle.

Cialdini's Principles of Persuasion:

• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social Proof
• Liking
• Authority
• Scarcity
• Unity, the newest principle for this edition

11. 'How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything In Between' by Bent Flyvbjerg, Dan Gardner

What I love the most about this book is the 'think slow, act fast' principle. Always take your time to think, plan, create space in your project planning for iterations to learn and improve and if needed, create mockups to test and refine. However tempting it is, never start immediately in the action modus; that is a guarantee for failure.

The second thing I love is the 'start with the end in mind' principle. This is the same principle that Amazon applies: write the press release before you create a project plan. What's in it for the end-user? How can they benefit from your product or service? Only when you have that crystal clear, you work your way backward to the beginning, the project plan.

12. 'Reinventing the store', ‘Het geheim van bol.com’ by Michael Schaeffer

This book is a little gem. Breaking the rules, challenging the status quo, David versus Goliath. A look behind the scenes at how bol.com succeeded and challenged Amazon. How to nail e-commerce, get inventory, and test with concepts, products, and categories. Fail fast, learn faster. All are based on data. And with real customer-centricity.

Even though the book can also be seen as one brilliant big commercial for bol.com, I'm still inspired.

UK version ‘Reinventing the store’

Dutch ‘Het geheim van bol.com’, also available as an audiobook on Podimo. My affiliate link (you get a free month and 10h audiobooks, and I get a free month)

13. ‘How not to Plan: 66 ways to screw it up’ by Les Binet and Sarah Carter

f*ckin' brilliant... No brainer. Just read. “Digital data is often daily of hourly, making it easier to measure short-term marketing effect. But much hard to measure long-term effects. They get lost in the noise.” “Get it right, and you can move from Big Data to Big Insights, Big brands, and Big Profits” (in the chapter 'How not to see the wood for the trees'.)

Mandatory for everyone who works in advertising, marketing and or communications: client and agency. The reviews speak for themselves.

14. ‘Leaders eat last’ by Simon Sinek

What I took away from this book and my reasons why you should read this.

Honestly, the book was not what I expected it to be. It's not a book on ‘how-to’ leadership, it's different; pleasantly surprised by the socioeconomic background and explanations of why we need leadership.

1. Explanation of how we got where we are as a society. From the roaring ‘20 to the depression, to WOII, to baby-boom, to materialistic egocentric 80 into the now. Simon explains the social circumstances, technology, and innovations that caused our current egocentric, materialistic society; and how we got from a human-focused to a money-focused world, including the first mass layoffs in the 70s. Read part 4 ’How we got there'
2. Why we have a maximum span of 150 friends or people around us. If it are more, you need a middle layer in the hierarchy at the office. Or you need to ditch some friends ;)
3. It's about balance. Nature and we humans, we always strive for balance. The more extreme the event, the more equally extreme the counter-reaction to create a new balance.

15. 'Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs' by John Doerr

Mind-blowing easy to keep track of why and what you do. Measure what matters. Love this, from KPI to OKR: 'the Objective is simply what is to be achieved', Key Results' benchmark and monitor how we get to the objective. Effective KRs are specific and time-bound, aggressive yet realistic. Most of all, they are measurable and verifiable.'

A tangible example by Intel. Objective: 'Demonstrate the 8080’s superior performance as compared to the Motorola 6800.' Key Results: 1. Deliver five benchmarks. 2. Develop a demo. 3. Develop sales training materials for the field force. 4. Call on three customers to prove the material works.' (p27)

https://www.whatmatters.com/

16. 'Start with Why’ by Simon Sinek

This is a classic. ‘No brainer, just read it. Even better than his TED talk. “Is a customer who buys your product for a second time a loyal customer or just plain lazy?” and more of this ‘food for thought’. Simon Sinek is straight to the point and inspiring.

“Some in management positions operate as if they are in a tree of monkeys. The make sure that everyone at the top of the tree looking down sees only smiles. But all too often, those at the bottom looking up see only asses.” (page 113)

17. ‘Let my people go surfing’ by Yvon Chouinard

How to apply your purpose to your brand, explained by Patagonia and do some storytelling along the way. Amazing example in the book ‘Let my people go surfing’ by Yvon Chouinard.

N=1, first part, grab a bottle of wine and just read it, the second part gets really interesting how their (initial) mission statement “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” is applied to all aspects of their business: from marketing to HR and finance.

18. 'Good Strategy, Bad Strategy' by Richard P. Rumelt

Good strategy is creating focus and making choices.

"A good strategy does more than urge us forward toward a goal or vision. A good strategy honestly acknowledges the challenges being faced and provides an approach to overcoming them."

"The core of strategy work is always the same: discovering the critical factors in a situation and designing a way of coordinating and focusing actions to deal with those factors."

19. 'Epic Content Marketing' by Joe Pulizzi

One of the best books on content, 7 years old and still relevant in this fast-paced industry.

'You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership' quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower (p3)

'Remember, customers don't care about you; they care about themselves and their problems. We often forget that point when we describe how wonderful our widget is (that no one cares about).' (p75)

The ***** reviews on Amazon speak for themselves.

20. 'The Infinite Game' by Simon Sinek

"Do you know the game you are playing?" An infinite game with a finite mindset is to set up for failure.

"The motivation to play in an infinite game is completely different—the goal is not to win, but to keep playing. It is to advance something bigger than ourselves or our organizations. (p. 32)"

"Where a finite-minded player makes products they think they can sell to people, the infinite-minded player makes products that people want to buy. (p. 10)"

Any leader who wants to adopt an infinite mindset must follow five essential practices: Advance a Just Cause, Build Trusting Teams, Study your Worthy Rivals, Prepare for Existential Flexibility, Demonstrate the Courage to Lead (pp. 24-25)

https://simonsinek.com/the-infinite-game

21. 'Leading the Starbucks Way, 5 Principles for Connecting with Your Customers, Your Products, and Your People' by Joseph A. Michelli

Be inspired by how Starbucks grew its business. Amongst others, involving the people on the work floor in the decision-making that impacts their daily work. Light and easy to read.

22. ‘Eat your Greens’ by Wiemer Snijders

'Razor-sharp overview of the marketing myths, misconceptions, dubious metrics and tactics that bear little relation to our actual buying behavior'.

Again... absolutely love this book: crap-cutting nonsense eliminating inspiration, no-brainers, and opening doors at the same excellent level as the 'How not to plan' by Les Binet.

Cherry-pick the chapters that are relevant to you and your job, industry, or profession. To be honest and speaking for me, myself and I: not every page of this book was equally interesting ... and I skipped a few of them due to the subject or the way the chapter was written.

"First, we diagnose the situation of the brand via consumer research and understand just what is going on. Secondly, we use that diagnosis to build a clear and simple marketing strategy. Finally, with that strategy in place, we select the appropriate tactics to deliver the strategy and win the day. Strategy is a very complicated thing to work out, but should be a very simple thing to eventually explain."

"Who am I targeting? What is my position to that target? What are my strategic objectives for that target market? My current estimate is that around 20% of brands could adequately or semi-adequately pass this test, and the rest have not the faintest clue how to even approach these questions."

"Talk to agencies about the quality of the briefs they currently receive from clients, and you will get the kind of hard stare usually reserved for the most outrageous agency gossip." (all three quotes in Chapter 3 Mortification, Tactification, Communification and digitization by Mark Ritson)

Get this brilliant collection by Wiemer Snijders with great minds like Mark Ritson, Peter Field, Eaon Pritchard, Robert van Osnabruggen, Phil Barden, Bob Hoffman, Tom Goodwin, and many many more:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eat-Your-Greens-Wiemer-Snijders/dp/1789016754

23. ‘Nudge' by Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein

It's not often that I recommend a book for just 2 chapters. This is one of them. How to nudge people in the direction you want them to… reading these chapters is like kicking in an open door and refreshing your mind on what you already know – good to get nudged yourself.

• Chapter 1, ‘Biases and Blunders’: about how we have a pre-trained and preset mind
• Chapter 5, ‘Choice Architecture’ → how you can influence the choices your customers make by presenting your product or the options

After Part I, honestly, I tuned out and skipped the rest. Like many books, a very strong opening, a less strong middle, and a moah end.

24. ‘Very Good Copy’ by Eddie Shleyner

‘This book gives you more sound, simple copywriting advice per page than anything I read’ (Drayton Bird, Ogilvy). I second this. I ate the book for breakfast on a Saturday morning.

You will be inspired.

Read it.

25. 'A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters: A resource for writing headlines and building creative confidence' by Dan Nelken

Another gem on copywriting. If you want to be inspired and know all the tricks for great headlines, don't look any further.

Dan teaches you how to think in buckets, how to fill these buckets, and let your creativity flow.

For me, the most valuable was ‘the benefit of the benefit’ to get your headline. If you think about the benefit of your product, what's the benefit of that benefit?

• If you buy a playhouse for your kids, the benefit is they'll have fun with it; the benefit of the benefit is that you'll have some rest when your kids are playing.
• If you buy a new bed for your dog, the benefit is that your dog will love it and sleep in (on?) it; the benefit of the benefit is that the hairy scruffy dog will not sleep on your bed anymore. ‘all you buy is more space in your bed’

26. ‘Writing for Busy Readers’ by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink

You have to simplify your writing to get busy readers to read. In this book, you'll learn how to write better to communicate more effectively. Todd explains it all by 6 princpiples.

• Less is more
• Make reading easy
• Design for easy navigation
• Use enough formatting, but no more
• Tell readers why they should care
• Make responding easy

This book is a must-read for everyone. From the CMO and senior marketing manager to the content producer and intern. It's so good that I even dedicated a page to it: ‘Writing for busy readers; simplify your writing to make reading easy’.

27. ‘Simply said’ by Jay Sullivan

I thought I knew quite some tips and tricks on presenting, writing and how to behave in meetings… this book taught me some new sh*t. Again. And again. And again. A must-read for anyone who can put their ego to the side and wants to improve their communication skills. A few highlights on how to put and keep your audience in the first place.

• Persuasive format: a very simple and effective ppt template to get your audience into action within 8 slides (p28)
• Knowledge pyramid: ‘you don’t know what you don't know' is the greatest information out there (p73). And how to get this unknown information to the table by asking closed or open questions
• How to tell your story and keep your audiences' attention with a graph or chart without overwhelming them: RIDE. Read the headline, Identify the graph, Define the parameters and main points, and Explain why you are showing your audience this information (p104)
• Amazing tips for better and clearer writing
• And much much more

28. 'Creativity. A Short and Cheerful Guide' by John Cleese

A sweet and short book on how you can provoke creativity, why the best ideas become even better after a night of sleep, when and why panicking has value, and how to kill your darlings for brevity and soul for not boring people.

On Audible, it's an entertaining and fast listen of just 60 minutes -- the best 60 minutes you can spend.

29. ‘The Copywriter's Handbook’ by Robert W. Bly.

‘A copywriter is a salesperson behind a typewriter.’ This sums up the main reason why you should read ‘The Copywriter's Handbook’ by Robert W. Bly.

What works for great headlines in content can also work for your social copy: writing to get the attention, that selects an audience, delivering a complete message, and drawing the reader into the body copy (or to click through).

‘But the goal of advertising is not to be liked, to entertain, or to win advertising awards; it is to sell products. The advertiser, if he is smart, doesn’t care whether people like his commercials or are entertained or amused by them. If they are, fine. But commercials are a means to an end, and the end is increased sales—and profits—for the advertiser. This is a simple and obvious thing, but the majority of copywriters and advertising professionals seem to ignore it.’

30. ‘Copywriting Secrets’ by Alan Sharpe

Absolutely love this. The proven copy rules: old school advertising print craft by DDB for Volkswagen, can also be applied for social, content, digital, and more these days. Please, read and learn.

"Before you can write great copy, you need to have a big idea, and before you can have a big idea, you need to have a great insight, and before you can have a great insight, you need to do lots of research." (chapter 1)

"One of your main jobs as a copywriter is to translate product features into benefits. People buy benefits, not features. Just so we’re clear: a feature is what a product does, and a benefit is what that feature does for me. How do you communicate that benefit in an original way? With a headline that states the feature and a photo that communicates the benefit." (secret 10)

Or take the video class:https://www.skillshare.com/classes/30-Copywriting-Secrets-from-the-Best-Ad-Campaign-of-All-Time/1238746914/reviews

31. 'TED Talks Storytelling: 23 Storytelling Techniques from the Best TED Talks' by Akash Karia

Checklist for every speaker, steal those cherries with pride to refine your own non-TED deck.

"The word “you” is regarded as one of the most powerful words in the English language. Why? Because people are interested in themselves!" (p. 47)

32. 'Everbody writes' by Ann Handley

Stuck in writing? or producing content? Just read this book to get started. With 11 hands-on tips and tricks. One of the very few books I have in paper and do not loan without a significant deposit ;)

“Giving your audience a gift, how can you best serve them, with a mindset of generosity?” (p29)

“Produce The Ugly First Draft: that’s basically where you show up and throw up. Write badly. Write as if never one will ever read it.” (p30)

“Start with ‘dear mom’ and keep a real person in mind. Someone you like, because you want to help this person.’ (p55)

33. 'Advertising for skeptics' by Bob Hoffman

"Advertising has gotten worse, not better. Rather than creating advertising that is “more relevant, more timely and more likable” we are creating advertising that is more annoying, more disliked, and more avoided."

"One study showed that of all forms of advertising, the eight types most disliked by consumers were all forms of online advertising."

For the necessary critical view on online advertising by Bob Hoffman -- Advertising For Skeptics

Must read book to broaden your horizon with a different perspective.

34. 'Make Your Idea Matter: Stand out with a better story' by Bernadette Jiwa

Great no-nonsense checklist to make your idea, brand, product or whatever you are doing, sparkle. A few quotes:

• The story makes the product better.
• No matter what you’re pitching, selling or talking about, talk to one person. You might want to appeal to.
• Most companies wonder how they will get their product noticed, before thinking about why on earth it will matter to customers.
• What makes anything you do unique is your voice. The story that only you can tell, from a perspective that nobody else can have. There is more than one way to say something important that needs to be said, and there are a million ways to bring ideas that matter to the world.
• Unsubscribers, critics and naysayers are a gift. Say a mental thanks to them for saving you the job of working out who your right people are. Then go out and do everything in your power to woo the people who matter.
• What you want your website to do is probably very different from what your customers want it to do. The trick (as with most elements of your business) is to build for customers and community first so you can realize the benefits later.

35. 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' by Dale Carnegie

One of the best books ever. Loved and love it. Written in 1938 and still amazingly relevant. The best-kept secret in people and expectations management.

36. ‘Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong' by Eric Barker

Everything others tell you about success? Some of it is wrong. Most of it is incomplete. All of it is worth questioning.

Eric Barker backs that up with research. How schools reward conformity, not potential. And that context is everything for qualities that make people wildly successful or sometimes destroy them.

Each chapter flips a conventional belief on its head. Then gives you the science to back it up.

The most important decision you can make is figuring out what the right game is for you. Read it before someone else defines your line of success for you.

37. ‘Pitlane Lessons: What F1 Can Teach You About Life and Work' by Marc Priestley

F1 runs on individual glory, but it is built on collective performance. Priestley writes from the inside — the pitlane, not the podium.

Chapter two hit hardest: innovation isn't what you do, it's how you think. The rest follows from there; teamwork, how to celebrate properly, why failure is as essential as winning, how to stay humble when everything is on fire. Simple ideas. Harder to execute than they sound.

If you think you already know how to work well with others, this book will quietly prove otherwise.

38. 'Learning How to Learn' by Barbara Oakley PhD

If you want to improve and speed up your learning skills, this book is for you. Barbara explains why your mind needs to wander to be able to focus, how your brain makes connections, and how you can learn better by using metaphors. Also, how to tackle procrastination effectively and much more.

I had the pleasure of meeting Barbara in person; I have no words for such an amazing, lovely lady who blows you away with her knowledge and explains in great detail how your brain works and how you can let your brain work for you.

Initially, this book is for children, but don't let that fool you. Anyone can use a little help learning to learn.

'Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens' by Barbara Oakley PhD, Terrence Sejnowski, PhD, Alistair McConville

39. ‘The Art of Thinking Clearly’ Paperback by Rolf Dobelli

It is 99 sweet and short chapters with wisdom and things you already knew yet forgot. Some common sense about confirmation bias, prejudices, and false truths.

A dear friend recommended this book, and as soon as I started to listen on Audible, I realized I already read it on my Kindle. Hence, if I have it double, for sure, it's worth the read. Everybody can learn something from this book.

40. ‘The Let Them Theory, A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About’ by Mel Robbins

How do you let go of the need to control or overreact to others’ behavior? And instead of getting frustrated or trying to change people, you can ‘let them’. While you let others act as they will, you also say, ‘Let me,’ and focus on what you can control.

An excellent, inspiring read with recognizable examples and frustrations we all encounter daily with coworkers, family, and friends. Also available as 🎙️ podcast.

Highly recommend. Small personal note: don't listen to the audiobook in one go; her high energy can be a bit overwhelming and a bit too much for us Europeans.

41. 'Think Faster, Talk Smarter' by Matt Abrahams

This book is more than about ' how to speak successfully when you're put on the spot'. I'm blown away by the simple insights, from common sense and wisdom, sanity checking the reality (and yourself), to how to calm your nerves. In the meanwhile, it's putting things in perspective and emphasizing having joy in what you do.

It is a unique and inspiring combination of ‘How to win friends and influence people' by Dale Carnegie and the TED talks and public speaking books. If you're presenting or speaking or just want to improve your communication skills in business and personal life, read this book.

42. ‘The power of vulnerability’ by Brene Brown

This is one of the books I listen to and re-listen. At least twice a year, if not more often.

It's about daring to show your strength by daring to show your weakness. It's about not taking things overly seriously. It's about not giving a f*ck what others think as long as they are not in your shoes. This made me a different woman.

'It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;

who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.' [Theodore Roosevelt]

Next to that, how Brene tells her story on stage is contagious and inspires me to do better. To be vulnerable and have fun at the same time.

43. ‘Comfort Crisis’ by Michael Easter

‘Today’s comfort is tomorrow's discomfort'. This book is all about how we continuously move our goalposts. When we reach our desired goal, we're happy and content for a brief moment, and almost immediately, we strive for the next better, more, richer goal.

Pretty relevant for today's fast-moving, over-consuming, high-self-expecting, crazy-driving society.

A very nice, light, and easy read on a heavy topic.

Highly recommend, I loved every moment of it. In an entertaining story of a freezing and starving backcountry 30-day adventure in arctic Alaska where he needs to shoot wildlife to get food, Michael taps into topics that f*ck up today's society and human mankind.

44. ‘Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout’ by Cal Newport

According to Carl, we achieve more by doing less. I fell in love with this philosophy, and it makes total sense.

1. Do fewer things.
2. Work at a natural pace.
3. Obsess over quality.

If you focus on one thing at a time, when you are most productive, and obsess about quality, you'll produce great work. For me, it works: doing fewer things in the early morning and only publishing what makes me tick.

Give it a try. The audiobook can be quite a tough, monotonous listen from time to time; stick to it, and you'll not be disappointed.

45. 'The Art of Gathering' by Priya Parker

‘An exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond.’ The 4,6 rating on Amazon speaks for itself.

It makes you rethink how we meet and gather and how our choices can influence the outcome. If you want to have more effective meetings and better meetups and improve your hosting skills, this book is for you.

Just to be clear, Priya writes about purpose on a very abstract level while feeding your brain with daily examples. This book is not a to-do list or checklist for improving your meetings, it makes you think and do better.

46. ‘Invisible Women. Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’ by Caroline Criado-Perez

This eye-opener on how the world is biased for men is underpinned by data and research. Caroline spoons up all the stories, which can be a bit much and overwhelming. If you get angry easily, my advice is not to binge the book from cover to cover.

• Crash test dummies: Car safety tests use male dummies, which makes vehicles less safe for women, who are 47% more likely to be seriously injured in crashes. Volvo changed this in 1995, and only in 2019 did it launch an initiative for equal representation in crash test dummies.
• Medical research: Women are underrepresented in clinical trials, resulting in misdiagnoses and ineffective treatments, as female-specific symptoms and responses are often overlooked. This underrepresentation is caused by historical bias, hormone variability, and lack of awareness.
• Public transport: Public transport systems favor male commuting patterns, from A to B and B to A, neglecting women's 'trip-chaining A-B-C-D-A' needs. This makes it less convenient, more expensive, and more time-consuming for women.

47. ‘Body Language' with Vanessa Van Edwards in ‘Dairy of a CEO’ podcast

This month, it's not a book; it's a podcast that blew my mind. An interview with Vanessa Van Edwards about how body language and voice are important for good communication.

• 82% of first impressions come from warmth and competence. Research shows that sitting within 25 feet of a high performer can improve your own performance by 15%. TED Talks that went viral often had speakers using more gestures.
  
• Gestures matter: Gestures add power to your story. When your hand movements align with your words, they create a sense of trust and honesty that resonates. Our brains are hardwired to notice gestures because they reveal real emotions and intentions. For example, when someone emphasizes a big point with big natural gestures, it makes the message clearer and more engaging.
  
  It’s also incredibly hard to lie with gestures—our hands rarely betray us. When what you say matches how you express it, it reinforces your authenticity and credibility.
  
• Confidence in speech: Vocal variety is about changing your tone, pitch, and volume to make your message clear and interesting. For example, using a "Ted Talk voice" can show importance and make your audience pay attention.
  
  Switching your voice style, like using a "numbers voice" for statistics, helps organize your ideas and makes key points easier to remember.
  
  How you finish your sentences also matters. Speaking with a downward tone shows confidence, but an upward tone can sound unsure and hurt your credibility.

📺 'Diary of a CEO’ on YouTube

🎙️ ‘Diary of a CEO’ on Apple podcasts or Spotify

48. 'Get Your Sh*t Together’ by Sarah Knight

“But the mental clutter was slowly taking up residence in my brain the way my extra luggage was taking up space in my friend’s basement” (page 264)

Ever felt like being ‘stuck’ and not moving forward in work and or life? Then this is the book for you, read her hands-on tips and tricks on how to get your mental sh*t together and do get those things done. Rereading this every few months when I start procrastinating ;)

49. 'The ONE Thing' by Gary Kelly and Jay Papasan

Ever felt being stuck and procrastinating? Get that sh*t done by "creating your own strategy is to focus and to make a choice. You simply cannot do everything simultaneously."

"… the quality of the answer is directly determined by the quality of the question.

• Ask the wrong question, get the wrong answer.
• Ask the right question, get the right answer.
• Ask the most powerful question possible, and the answer can be life alternating." (chapter 10 The Focusing Question)

50. ‘Thrive’ by Arianna Huffington

Redefining success and adding the third metric to 'money' and 'power'. Fell in luv with especially the first half of the book. Could feel a bit feminine for some of the men, shuffle your ego dudes and get to her point on success and how to thrive in life.

"Lacking a line of royalty in America, (..) one gains today's throne not by fortune of birth but by visible markers of success, money and power."

"... over the long term, money and power are like a two-legged stool - you can balance on them for a while, but eventually you're going to topple over.'

51. 'If I Could Tell You Just One Thing…: Encounters with Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice' by Richard Reed

"If I could tell you just one thing"… it is to read this book.

Great for inspiration and insights. The * reviews on Amazon speak for themselves.

52. 'Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People: Living the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Every Day' by Stephen R. Covey

Love Stephen Coveys' daily no-brainers' advice.

"Most people say their main fault is a lack of discipline. On deeper thought, I believe that the basic problem is that their priorities have not become deeply planted in their hearts and minds. They attempt to give priority to important but not urgent activities and integrate them into their lives through self-discipline along." Long story short: it is not the lack of discipline, it is a matter of choice.

53. ‘Don't Sweat the Small Stuff' by Richard Carlson

'There are two rules for living in harmony. 1) Don’t sweat the small stuff and 2) It’s all small stuff. (p. 3)'

Great quote for that often much-needed reality check :) in ‘Don't Sweat the Small Stuff' by Richard Carlson.

'Turn Your Melodrama into a Mellow-Drama, (...) we blow things out of proportion and make a big deal out of little things. (...) When I get too worked up or start taking myself too seriously (which happens more than I like to admit), I say to myself something like, “Here I go again. My soap opera is starting.” (p. 147)'

54. 'The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues' by Patrick M. Lencioni

Not often that I am blown away by a book, inhaling the words cover to cover in less than 24h. Complicated stuff explained in a simple way. How to find the ideal team player: humble hungry and smart,

55. 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear

How to get long term gain? In Atomic Habit James Clear explains the science of forming habits with hands-on tips and tricks. Must read!

"Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient."

"We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, “The best is the enemy of the good.” "We do not change by snapping our fingers and deciding to be someone entirely new. We change bit by bit, day by day, habit by habit."

56. 'Mindset: The New Psychology of Success' by Carol S. Dweck

Never stop learning. How to get a growth mindset: to learn, to thrive, to fuel yourself with feedback.

In 'Mindset' Carol Dweck explains the power of mindset. 'In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed.'

Note: the second visual is stolen with pride from Google, not directly related to Dwecks' book.

57. 'Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet' by Jesse Itzler

Dare to challenge yourself. As we all know, out of your comfort zone is where the magic happens. If you dare to push your (physical) limits, you'll grow mentally. Jesse takes you on his journey.

Be inspired; that's all I can say. Even better if you read 'Can't hurt me' by David Goggins first.

58. 'The 5 Second Rule. Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage' by Mel Robbins

What if the biggest thing holding you back is the five seconds between having an idea and talking yourself out of it?

Mel Robbins’ simple rule is this: the moment you feel the impulse to act, count 5-4-3-2-1… GO and move before your brain starts inventing excuses.

It’s a small trick with a surprisingly big impact. It helps you stop procrastinating, start the thing you’ve been avoiding, and break the endless doom-scroll loop.

From personal experience: it actually works.

59. 'Unmasked. The Ultimate Guide to ADHD, Autism, and Neurodivergence' by Ellie Middleton

Struggling with why you do certain things or have typical habits? This is for you. Ellie is an autistic and ADHD creator, writer, and consultant. She unveils how and why autistic, ADHD, and ADD function at their best.

Sounds a bit fuzzy, yet this book brought me so much insight to understand why I need my morning run to clear my mind, why I hyperfocus and can't let go of things, or why I like to be alone after social events.

And most importantly, I learned to embrace these odd, quirky behaviors of mine and thrive, not despite them but because of them.

60. ‘Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism’ by Sarah Wynn-Williams

This is a behind-the-scenes look at Meta, which has been much discussed and controversial. Sarah critiques the company's internal culture, leadership decisions, and ethical lapses, highlighting its global sociopolitical impact.

It reads a bit like a thriller from a different, greedy world, yet it is an autobiography. It fits very well in our current (April 2025) unstable geopolitical climate.

Warning, this is not a light read.

61. ‘Be Useful’ by Arnold Schwarzenegger

‘Arnold’s stratospheric success happened as part of a process. As the result of clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and a commitment to giving back. All of it guided by the one lesson Arnold’s father hammered into him above all: be useful. As Arnold conquered every realm he entered, he kept his father’s adage close to his heart.’

‘Too many of us struggle to disconnect from our self-pity and connect to our purpose. At an early age, Arnold forged the mental tools to build the ladder out of the poverty and narrow-mindedness of his rural Austrian hometown, tools he used to add rung after rung from there. Now he shares that wisdom with all of us. As he puts it, no one is going to come rescue you—you only have yourself. The good news, it turns out, is that you are all you need.’ (Audible)

62. ‘Kitchen Confidential' by Anthony Bourdain

Just because there's nothing wrong with a biography from such greatness that shakes up kitchen and displays the other side. With lots and lots of love for food.

What I learned from his book… always be honest. Even if it's the ugly truth, as long as you're honest, you can always be proud and look at yourself in the mirror.

63. ‘Before & Laughter' by Jimmy Carr

What stuck with me most and made the biggest impression from his book is how comedians are most successful when they're brutally honest. They say the things no one else dares to say, but wrapped in humor, they get away with it. Marketers could really learn from that. I know I certainly did.

It’s a sweet, honest must-read for anyone who wants to improve themselves and their communications.

64. ‘Screw It Let’s Do It. Lessons in Life and Business' by Richard Branson

If you ever are looking for a nudge to start your own business or take that leap? This book is for you.

No more words needed; just read it and let me know if it sparked to change your life and work.

65. ‘The Art of Resilience: Strategies for an Unbreakable Mind and Body’ by Ross Edgley

Wow. In one word. From the stoic to the smile to get through the pain. Inspirational. And makes you stop whining and complaining. You always can do better and realize you have an unmet potential that will surprise you.

66. ‘The story of Lululemon: the stretch black pants’ by Chip Wilson

All about market insights, strategy, and marketing. Chip Wilson tells the story behind the brand and the business. Along the way, he explains how he uses trends in society and innovation to thrive in business.

67. 'Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds' by David Goggins

It's almost scary what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it. And if you're willing to go deep. David takes you into his darkest place. Weirdly reading him suffer makes me dig deeper to achieve my own goals.

More posts. More formats. More channels. More output. AI made it cheaper, so the assumption became: produce more, reach more, grow more.

→ But volume was never the problem to solve. And ‘more’ has never been the answer.

After 25 years and 50+ brands, I keep seeing the same pattern. Marketing on autopilot. Teams producing content because the calendar says so, not because there's something worth saying. Output optimized, thinking outsourced, results disappointing.

That's not an AI problem. That's a leadership problem. Yours.

1. AI is a mirror, not a solution

AI didn't create mediocre content. It just made it faster and cheaper to scale.

If your thinking was shallow before, AI gives you shallow at volume. If your brand voice was vague, AI makes it consistently vague. The slop problem isn't in the tool — it's in what you feed it, and who you hired to run it.

→ The risk isn't AI replacing humans. It's humans outsourcing their judgment to AI and calling it efficiency.

Bad thinking at scale is still bad thinking. The brands winning with AI figured out what they wanted to say first — and use AI to say it better, not instead of thinking.

2. Craftsmanship is the actual competitive advantage

In a market flooded with technically correct, perfectly formatted, instantly forgettable content, the differentiator is perspective. Voice. Editorial courage.

Not production capacity.

Most marketing departments have quietly swapped senior thinkers for mid-level project managers. Cheaper to hire, easier to manage, better at keeping the machine running. And the machine produces content that looks polished, says nothing, connects with no one, and slowly hollows out your brand.

→ If your content offends no one, it reaches no one.

Judgment, taste, and a real point of view are still entirely human. You can't prompt your way to them.

3. Strategy means saying no

Most content exists to satisfy internal egos, not audience needs. Someone wants a case study. Someone else wants a thought leadership piece. The LinkedIn calendar needs filling. And so the machine keeps running, and no one asks whether any of it matters.

Saying no is the highest strategic act available to a content leader. And it starts at the top.

→ Fewer pieces, better maintained, for a precisely defined audience, beats an always-on production machine every time.

About 10% of your content drives 90% of your results. The other 90% is largely noise — expensive, time-consuming, brand-diluting noise that your team is burning out to produce.

The bottom line

You don't have a content problem. You have a prioritization problem.

The brands that win won't be the ones publishing more. They'll be the ones willing to invest in senior thinking, say no to calendar-driven output, and build content that is accountable to a real business outcome — not just a weekly slot.

→ Marketing on autopilot is a leadership choice. So is turning it off.

Over to you. And don't say I didn't warn you.

About my confessions

More about me and my confessions. Why I hold content to a higher standard. And why I write what most people in this industry won't say out loud.

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology. I've worked in this industry for 25+ years and for 50+ global brands and agencies. 

I've seen a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this to inspire everyone working in marketing and communication to more accountable work. There's already too much crappy content out there; no need to add to it.

Join 2,500+ professionals

Most content advice tells you what to do. This tells you how to think. For marketers and communicators who want the difference. 

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Here's the hard truth: AI isn’t the problem. You are. 

AI is simply responding to your prompts. So, before we freak out on the mediocre AI-generated content, let’s take a long look in the marketing mirror first. 

→ The problem isn’t AI. It’s how we’re using it.

• We’re treating AI like a cheap production engine, driven by bad prompts, no creative standards, and far too much confidence.
   
• We’ve replaced experienced marketers with mid-level project managers and lost the craft that gives content real brand value.
   
• The result? A flood of AI slop: content that looks polished but says nothing, connects with no one, and weakens your brand.

And remember, it's for a reason that we re-appreciate human and handmade things with craftsmanship, as seen in the new Apple TV logo.

1. What is AI slop?

AI slop is junk. Content that looks sleek on the surface but is creatively bankrupt underneath. Technically impressive, but lacks connection.

→ It has no personality. No identity.

You just feel something is missing. And if you strip your logo, nothing remains.

Why it matters

AI slop doesn’t hurt your brand because it’s wrong. It hurts because it's empty.

→ And above all, it's not doing its job as a marketing tool. 

The brands that win aren’t the ones publishing the most or scaling the fastest.

To win today, your identity and personality, backed by strategy and executed with craft, make the difference. 

2. Why it’s happening: obsession with scale and lack of seniority

Two causes for this fast growth of AI slop. 

• First, everyone’s chasing scale. However, we're scaling the wrong thing. We’re rushing to produce more with less, not investing enough in the strategic and creative part. 
  
  We’re misusing AI as a cheap, fast production engine.

• Second, we stopped investing in craftsmanship. You can't outsource a deep understanding of proven marketing and advertising theories to AI. And most marketers and content creators lack the proven psychology and essential design principles needed to produce great work that does the marketing job. 
  
  Think of Robert B. Cialdini, Malcolm Gladwell, Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Daniel Kahneman, Steve Krug, David Ogilvy, Byron Sharp, and Philip Kotler.
  
  And from the Golden Ratio to kerning, contrast, and word widows, we’ve forgotten the rules for design.

Don’t shoot the messenger, but more often than not, the marketing department now consists of marketers who are better trained in project management than in marketing and advertising.

How come? The leadership team wants to scale with AI and do it as cheaply as possible. Junior and mid-level hires are still cheaper than seasoned seniors

3. What to do about it

This is on you, as a CMO or CEO. If you're leading a brand, AI slop is your problem, not your teams. Here’s how to stop slop:

• Hire senior thinkers, not just mid-level doers
• Always audit all your content for brand distinctiveness
• Use AI to amplify, not replace your voice

Summary

AI slop isn’t a tech problem; it’s a you problem. 

→ The flood of generic, over-polished, emotionally empty content isn’t AI’s fault; it’s the result of how marketing is using it: bad prompts, no taste, and far too much confidence, combined with a lack of real marketing craft. 

→ AI slop happens when we treat AI as a production machine. We're scaling the output, but we're losing our voice. 

→ The root cause is filling marketing teams with mid-level project managers instead of seasoned marketers obsessed with craft. 

To fix it, brands need to hire thinkers, not just doers, be meticulous about your brand’s identity and audit continuously, and lastly, use AI in partnership with human creativity, not in place of it.

The brands that will win with AI aren’t the ones that publish the most, but the brands that dare to invest in the seniors. 

Over to you. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.

About my confessions

More about me and my confessions. Why I hold content to a higher standard. And why I write what most people in this industry won't say out loud.

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology. I've worked in this industry for 25+ years and for 50+ global brands and agencies. 

I've seen a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this to inspire everyone working in marketing and communication to more accountable work. There's already too much crappy content out there; no need to add to it.

Join 2,500+ professionals

Most content advice tells you what to do. This tells you how to think. For marketers and communicators who want the difference. 

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

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3 things that matter in B2B marketing.

𝟭. ‘𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴’

‘There has long been a gap between B2C and B2B marketing. (…) And the bar in B2B marketing is so low. B2B marketing traditionally gets mired in features and benefits, missing the actual people involved in the buying process.’

→ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: we tend to forget that people working in B2B are still people

All credits to Marketoonist, the copy above is an edit from his full post. 

𝟮. 𝗗𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗼𝗻; 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗴, 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀

B1 is clear, simple language everyone easily understands. No jargon.

• 𝗕𝟭 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝟮𝗕 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗽. Because if you can’t explain complex ideas simply, you probably don’t understand them that well.
   

• 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. And nothing says ‘I’m bluffing’ like a wall of jargon and buzzwords.
   

• The real experts know that 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁, and most effective, thing you can do.

→ 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: respects your reader’s time, their brain, and their inbox.

🔗 ‘Writing for busy readers; simplify your writing to make reading easy’
🔗 ‘For authentic content and to increase engagement, you write as you speak’

𝟯. 𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁

Nothing kills interest faster than gated content. Seriously, nobody wants this, except marketers who love collecting (fake) email addresses to bombard them with HubSpot email flows to make people hate you a little.

If you gate content, you’re not capturing leads, you’re collecting resentment.

→ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱: In 2026, give your knowledge and information away for free. And let them pay for the implementation of it.

Interesting read: 🔗 How help content can boost sales and build trust

About my confessions

More about me and my confessions. Why I hold content to a higher standard. And why I write what most people in this industry won't say out loud.

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology. I've worked in this industry for 25+ years and for 50+ global brands and agencies. 

I've seen a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this to inspire everyone working in marketing and communication to more accountable work. There's already too much crappy content out there; no need to add to it.

Join 2,500+ professionals

Most content advice tells you what to do. This tells you how to think. For marketers and communicators who want the difference. 

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

→ Subscribe

→ 2026 is the year of unplugging. 

For brands, this is the time to edit ruthlessly. To make less, but mean more. To swap the dopamine hit for long-term trust. 

The unplugging is entirely in line with the marketing and content trends 2026: 'Unshittification’, intentionality, and escapism. 

Starting with Gen Alpha, which is an indicator for every generation. They are ‘tech-empowered but not tech-dependent,’ nearly 75% of 8-10 year-olds prefer to go outside and use technology less to manage their mental health and disconnect.

→ This digital detox trend is already visible in Gen Z, and other generations will follow.

Young people are prioritizing mental wellness by reclaiming time from screens. This reflects a real cultural craving for time offline, hands-on living, tactile hobbies, and simplicity. All as a roadmap back to an analog connection.

See the last paragraph for all sources, fact-checking, and more details. 

What's happening in 2026

You’ll see people are choosing to unplug and re-value offline time. 

• Offline is the new online, hiking, walking vacations, and weekend hangouts with friends are on the rise. Searches for ‘nature getaways’ are up 72%.
   
• Experiential is on the rise: 74% of Alphas prefer to go outside, exercise, or use tech less to manage their mental health and disconnect.
   
• Board gaming popularity is up by 8% since 2023, showing a renewed appreciation for offline play. There’s been a 16% increase in kids adding physical toys to their wishlists since 2023.
   
• The ‘Martha Stewart aesthetic’ is experiencing a massive surge: searches are up 2,889%. And the 'rustic farmhouse' or ‘farmhouse cottage interiors’ trend is also booming: searches for ‘farm cottage aesthetic’ rose 911%, and for ‘thrifted home decor’ jumped 488%.
   
• Book-related retreats and communities are gaining traction: searches for 'book club retreat ideas' surged 265%, while 'book retreats' broadly went up 103%.

This is also confirmed by the Financial Times (read more, watch more). Small side note: I read that TikTok wasn't included in this data, but I'm not sure, since I don't have access to the original research. 

• Average time spent on social media of  2h20 minutes a day is still considerable, but down 10% from the peak in 2022. The steepest decline amongst the heaviest users: the 16 to 24-year-olds.
   
• Social has become less social. From a place to connect to, it's now social is a place to fill spare time with mindless browsing.
   
• This trend is also visible in the declining engagement on your posts and algorithms that continuously adapt, balancing between your social connections and the relevance of the content and their own commercial objectives.

Why it matters

Unplugging is more than a trend. It shows that people want less noise and more real life. Gen Alpha and Gen Z are leading the way. They choose nature, hobbies, and time with friends over screens.

→ This is part of a bigger shift: a move away from fast, fake, and flashy (and from AI).

People want brands that help them slow down and feel good again. The ones that do will stand out because they make life better, not busier.

What to do as a brand, what this means for your content

Create calm, not clutter. People are tired of being chased by content, HubSpot email flows, or highly targeted and hyper-personalized paid social advertising.

Your audience want fewer messages, more meaning, and space to breathe. Use content to add value, not volume. Think simple formats, slower storytelling, and a real human tone, less AI.

→ The future of content isn’t about being louder; it’s about helping people feel more human again.

Besides all of this, we’re in a bizarre era with tension between what brands do and what consumers want. 

• Brands are cranking out AI-generated content, slapping a ‘next-gen’ label on it, and calling it evolution. 
   
• While consumers are in the comments screaming, 'This is slop.' (Because it is.) Slop = AI junk content. Content that looks sleek on the surface but is creatively bankrupt underneath. Technically impressive, but lacks any real creative or human value.

If you want your brand to appear human, make a mistake (on purpose). We are tired of the perfect, polished AI content.

Check out the New York Giants ‘mistake’ keyboard slamming post below. 7.8M views and counting. 

My advice for your content in 2026: invest in strategy and expect lower ROI

For the C-suite, this means declining ROI from social, rising consumer demand for physical experiences, and a renewed push to cut content bloat. Many brands will use AI to chase speed. Smart ones will use it to deepen their thinking, not replace it.

→ Invest in and obsess on your strategy and identity. Think and write by hand. And improve all of that with AI. Not vice versa. 

Or think different, don't use AI, and make that one of your USPs. 

Like Aerie, they stopped retouching in 2014 and are now committed to no AI-generated people or bodies in their content and campaigns. 

Wrapping it up

2026 marks a shift back to what feels real. People are tired of filters, noise, and fake perfection. They want quiet confidence, real connection, and moments that don’t need to be posted. 

Unplugging isn’t about rejecting technology; it’s about rebalancing it.

For brands, this is the time to edit ruthlessly. 

To make less, but mean more. To swap the dopamine hit for long-term trust. 

The future of relevance won’t come from algorithms or reach—it’ll come from resonance.

Are you ready? 

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Sources

Pinterest Summer Report  

Gary Vee

GWI 7, Gen Alpha characteristics to know for 2025 

Razorfish Study Unveils Generation Alpha Insights, Preparing Brands for the Next Consumer Cohort

Marketing and content trends 2026: ‘Unshittification’, intentionality and escapism

Social media fatigue is real, here’s what actually helps

Ogilvy, ‘Vive la Créativité’

The Drum, Cannes Lions 2025: View all the Grand Prix-winning ads 

WARC, Creative Impact unpacked 

WARC feed 

WARC, Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions 2025

WARC, Creative Impact Unpacked: What we learned at Cannes Lions 2025

WARC, How to achieve the multiplier effect in China 

WARC Consumer Trends 2025: Five shifts shaping consumer spending

Kantar, Cannes in a can: Refresh yourself with the top 5 takeaways from Cannes 2025 

Ipsos @Cannes  2025

Nielsen, Conversations from Cannes

Cannes Lions

Cannes Lions, Need-to-know numbers 

Cannes Lions, the official Cannes Lions wrap-up 2025

Love The Work 

Love the work, Winners and Shortlists 

Adweek, The Cannes Lions 2025 Controversies Casting a Shadow Over Big Awards  

The New Yorker: Are You Experiencing Posting Ennui? 

The New Yorker: Why posting on social media has become something of the past

Pinterest Summer 2025 Trends

Tracksuit, The Emotion Effect

Tracksuit, Make Waves in the Sea of Sameness

Tracksuit, From Awareness to Effectiveness

Tracksuit, Track the Field Report

The Philosophy of Online Manipulation

When Good Algorithms Go Sexist: Why and How to Advance AI Gender Equity 

Evaluating Gender Bias in Large Language Models in Long-term Care,

Stuff About Advertising

Uncensored CMO

Callum McCahon

Eugbrandstat 

Jarned Carneson 

Paul Evans 

I’ve unapologetically stolen and remixed insights from Charles Wigley’s book ‘Chaz’s 100 Things a Planner Should Know’, blended with my own 25 years on the client side, working with marketers who were often inspiring... and often stubborn, old-school, or just stuck.

So, I put together the top 10 list for you.

1. ‘Your definition of the problem is likely to be more important than your definition of the answer.’
    
2. ‘Being fashionable is different from being right’, and ‘If it’s already best practice, then lots of other people are already doing it.’
    
3. ‘Don’t ever say ‘this brief is about starting a movement’. You will look like a fool for vastly overestimating the power of what we do.’
    
4. 'There is nothing wrong with repetition, people need to get the message.'
    
5. ‘There is nothing wrong with repetition, people need to get the message.’
    
6. ‘Three points are better than four. Five than Six. It’s just an odd numbers thing. Trust me.’
    
7. ‘If it isn’t interesting to you, it’s unlikely it will be to anyone else.’
    
8. ‘Be honest and simple wins.’
    
9. ‘Read.’
    
10. ‘Walk. Walking is like taking a shower. It frees the mind.’

Do you want more? 

Buy his book; it costs about as much as your over-foamed oat milk macchiato. But it lasts longer.

Why it matters

In a world where AI can create a planning and strategy in seconds, it’s tempting to do it all yourself. But, if you're relying on the same tools as everyone else, don’t be surprised when your brand starts sounding like everyone else.

 → Strategy and planning are still a craft; it’s about making the unexpected connections that AI can’t.

If you want to stand out and can’t hire an agency, an independent planner like Charles, or an interim content strategist like me, at least you can read ‘Chaz’s 100 Things a Planner Should Know’ and listen to the WARC podcast.

Let's connect

If this helped you think differently and you're looking for someone to help you, I’d love to connect.

About my confessions

More about me and my confessions. Why I hold content to a higher standard. And why I write what most people in this industry won't say out loud.

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology. I've worked in this industry for 25+ years and for 50+ global brands and agencies. 

I've seen a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this to inspire everyone working in marketing and communication to more accountable work. There's already too much crappy content out there; no need to add to it.

Join 2,500+ professionals

Most content advice tells you what to do. This tells you how to think. For marketers and communicators who want the difference. 

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1. Workshops and masterclasses 

We keep it simple to start. A short session is enough to kick off the process; no big investment is needed. 

Usually, I hear that people enjoy a workshop, but have no clue how to get started. Either it's too inspirational and abstract, or it's too basic. That's why I do bespoke workshops only. 

Based on feedback, I recommend at least two sessions:
1️⃣ First: theory plus quick wins you can use right away
2️⃣ Second: a deeper dive and a check-in on progress

There’s no one-size-fits-all workshop. Each is tailored to your team’s needs, which is why I always do an upfront check-in and connect with participants. The closer it fits your context, the more you learn and the more lasting the change.

Budget

Depending on your needs, the ballpark is €2,500 for a 3-hour workshop. I break the work down by hours, so you see exactly how the time is spent. 

For example, one workshop requires a full day of preparation, half a day to host, and additional time for follow-up. Estimates are always based on actual hours. That way, it’s fully transparent and easy to scope to your budget.

2. Content strategy and operations, including ethics and brand and data safety

You bring me in 3 or 4 days a week for a few weeks or months. I embed with your team, working inside the operations to fully understand your ways of working. At the same time, we review your content strategy and data. Everything is tailored to your culture, scale, and team needs.

Deliverables

• Content operations: Implement AI, update processes, and streamline workflows to lower costs, speed production, and improve quality, while giving your team more breathing room to stay creative
• Content strategy: Updated and aligned with your brand and marketing strategy; feasible, measurable, and accountable
• Accountability: Define clear KPIs and ROI so marketing proves its business value
• Governance: AI ethics and data safety guidelines built into your operations
• Consistency: Reliable, on-brand output that makes a measurable impact

Budget

I work on a daily fee. The more days you book, the more flexible we can be on pricing.

In most cases, it can be completed within 4 days a week for 4 to 6 weeks to get the job done. For more complex businesses with numerous stakeholders, it typically takes longer; however, most of the time, 3 days a week is sufficient.

3. AI collaboration and ethics; brand and data safety

This is more of a permanent role on a senior level. I am open to a permanent role if it’s the right fit with purposeful work, an innovative team, and the kind of problems that make me tick.

Roles like this are already emerging at corporates such as Disney and New Balance, which are serious about scaling content with AI. To take AI seriously and optimize costs and efficiency, you need oversight of investments and collaboration, plus clear guardrails for ethics and data safety.

Responsibilities in a nutshell

• Stay ahead of laws: track AI and privacy regulations, e.g., GDPR, EU AI Act, and turn them into clear, actionable rules
• Translate risks into action: explain AI and data risks in plain language for both C-suite, stakeholders, marketing and technical teams
• Embed governance in the work: partner with marketing, tech, and business teams to build AI and ethics into content operations
• Design responsible adoption: create processes for safe AI use, covering data pipelines, accountability, bias checks, and compliance
• Review and improve: run assessments and audits to spot risks, close gaps, and update workflows
• Set the guardrails: keep policies current on AI use, data safety, and content standards
• Enable your people: deliver training and tools so teams know how to use AI responsibly
• Measure impact: link AI projects to KPIs and ROI, so ethics and value go hand in hand

And that's where I come in. 

Let's connect

If this resonates and you’d like to explore working together, just reach out. 

I’d love to connect.

• fleurwillemijnvanbeinum@gmail.com
• LinkedIn

Recommendations

Don't just take my word for it; check out what my clients say in the reviews and recommendations section on LinkedIn.

• ‘She is the best thing to happen to GOTO conferences.’ [Trine M., Trifork]

• If you’re lucky enough to work with Fleur Willemijn, prepare to leave every conversation smarter, clearer, and somehow inspired. She blends strategic sharpness with real empathy, knows how to challenge with care, and always brings fresh thinking—whether it’s branding, AI, or life in general. Also? She’s a joy to be around. That counts. A lot [Charlotte t’ Sas., Heineken]

• ‘Fleur played a key role in the content development as part of the team. Fleur excels in strategic thinking—she elevated the content to a higher level and developed the entire framework for the membership program across European countries. She had an exceptional ability to connect with people and was always helpful. She often surprised us with insights and ideas that hadn’t even been considered. Fleur is incredibly proactive and truly knowledgeable— while many claim to know everything, Fleur is someone who can actually back it up.’ [Carolien H., C&A]

→ We're done with the AI and the fake; we become more intentional, and from time to time, we escape

→ More than ever, we want the real and authentic, with meaning

→ It needs to feel seamless and effortless, thanks to modern technology

This post breaks down the key trends and what they mean for you. I’ve included all sources at the end, give credit where it’s due, and check out the originals for all details.

The trend for 2026: ‘Unshittification’, intentionality, and escapism

Building on 2025’s ‘being human’ momentum, we continue. For 2026, it's the ‘unshittification’. We're done. We're fed up with the AI-generated and automated fakeness. We're numbed by the algorithm fixing that results in more of the same content. We're tired of the fast-paced microtrends. 

More than ever, we move toward ‘intentional’. We want to escape the fake and polished, and go ‘back’ to the ‘old school’ real, authentic, personal attention, human connection, and meaning. 

Yet, all needs to feel seamless and effortless, thanks to modern technology. 

This is brand marketing at its best. And it's powered by the bold, simple ideas that truly stand out. Just show up, consistently, frequently, and with a long-term mindset. 

For marketing and content strategists, this isn’t just inspiration; it’s the new standard. And the bar is not just raised, but redefined.

What you need to know:

1. Social tiredness: brands need to behave like creators
2. Brand building is (again) the most important: long-term consistency
3. In the age of technology, it’s creativity and trust that set you apart
4. Great ideas are singular (as in ‘simple’)
5. Wear out of website content by AI search, zero-click content, and social search
6. The gap is growing fast: traditional and tech-driven marketing

Let’s dive in.

What's happening right here and now

1. Social tiredness: brands need to behave like creators

There’s a huge wearout of being social on social. This is what you need to know:

• Lower engagement. We’re tired of commenting, liking, and sharing. We’re not tired of (brand) content, though. Actually, 71% of TikTokers want brands to be on TikTok, and on Instagram, only 15% of the feed is from friends.  
  
  We view the content in a glance of 1.3 seconds. If we like what we see, we spend a bit more time, but after a few seconds, we’re off to the next, without leaving a visible sign of engagement. However, we do trigger the algorithm to show more of this type of content.
   
• Algorithm fixing. We get bored really fast. The algorithm feeds us more of the same, and we create content that fits what the algorithm wants to push. Within a short time, we hit overload, bored with the format, tired of the trend, and just like that, we move on to the next content micro trend.
   
• Social channels become publication channels. Nowadays, social is like watching TV with a chat function. TikTok (and Instagram) are about consuming content, it's about entertainment, it's not about connecting with your friends and family. And it's about content that's really entertaining, and that teaches you something. 

What to do: behave like a creator

Brands need to behave like creators, producing content that adds value. Because people want to be entertained, inspired, and informed, they don't want ads. 

Rule of thumb: the more professionally pixel-perfect polished your content is, the more it appears like an ad. Not to say you shouldn't produce high-quality content, I'm saying that not every piece of content has to be 100% perfect. A little real, raw, unpolished, unedited edge gives personality. Just like creators do. 

There's a huge difference between creating an ad and creating content for entertainment. As soon as content starts to smell like commerce, people tune out. Nobody wants to be marketed to. And it's good to realize that 61% of consumers trust creator content, while 38% trust brand content. (Cannes Lions). So if you behave more like a creator, you'll also gain more trust. 

Example: ‘Vaseline Verified’ 

Vaseline becomes the voice of reason in a world of viral beauty hacks. They add value by verifying and debunking myths in UGC, making the brand a cheeky authority. (case description)

2. Brand building is (again) the most important: long-term consistency

As said, people want content, not ads. That means for brands, a shift from performance focus to brand building. Being there, consistently. It is not the one-off big, bold campaigns that make an impact. It's the always-on content that ‘feeds’ the consumer by giving value in the form of entertainment, inspiration, or education. 

Brands (still) need to build trust and credibility. And that pays off, seeing the Cannes Lions this year:

• ‘Dove Real Beauty,' how a soap brand created a global self-esteem movement for 20 years
   
• ‘L’Oreal', the final copy of Ilon Specht was a feminist breakthrough (1971)

What to do: 60-40 rule

The 60-40 rule still holds: balance your budget with 60% for brand building and 40% for performance marketing.

In this brand building, it’s about consistency. Showing up and doing that frequently, and recognizably. Not a short and fast campaign, but year after year. 

It’s also about the long-term trust and reciprocation, not immediately wanting to close a sale, but to really help your customer, even if that means they don’t buy directly from you. After all, only 5% of (B2B) customers are ready to buy, and the best metric of success is retention: customers who repeat the purchase.

But consistency without meaning is just noise

No need to tell you that you need a bigger idea, a structure, and a storyline. Right? 

Posting for the sake of posting is not how to build your brand. My advice in a nutshell: stick to a maximum of 3 topics per (half) year, don't spread yourself too thin, and try to tick all the content marketing and customer journey boxes in one go. Better whole ass one thing than half ass everything – especially if you're tight on budget. 

Did you know you have to repeat yourself at least 7 times to make your message stick? 

B2B is finally catching up

The new kid on the block: B2B. It looks like B2B is becoming sexy and the new playground for marketers. And I get it. Where B2B was still rather traditional, now it’s time to apply lessons from B2C to B2B. Don't think that because you're in B2B, the basic rules of attraction suddenly don’t apply.

Ultimately, we communicate with humans, and in B2B, this interaction is even more personal than in B2C, as the buying journey is longer, more intense, and more personalized.

→ B2B Cannes Lions winner shows how it's done: GoDaddy AI software to launch your website and socials

Example: ‘Dove Real Beauty,' how a soap brand created a global self-esteem movement for 20 years

It began in 2004 with a bold insight: only 2% of women considered themselves beautiful. Dove challenged the industry’s narrow ideals by celebrating confidence over perfection, sparking one of the first viral marketing movements.

Reaching millions of young people. Dove didn’t stop at ads; it backed real change, supporting laws like the Crown Act against hair discrimination, and fighting toxic beauty standards on social media. (case description)

3. In the age of technology, it’s creativity and trust that set you apart

We’ve moved past the novelty of AI hype. We still use it, of course, but AI is no longer a differentiator. It’s a commodity. Now, creating content has never been easier, but the result often feels like more of the same. And that's not how you build your brand. 

What to do: ‘involve the crazy ones’

It’s not the tech that sets you apart, it’s the creativity behind it. The curious, messy, and dirty mind that makes unexpected connections and challenges the status quo and how things have always been done. 

What really matters is the human marketer who's guiding the technology to create content that makes your brand stand out.

With the side note that being different and innovative isn’t always about technology; it’s also about looking at things differently.

Trust and ethics as a brand advantage

Marketing now holds even more real power over data and personalization. What starts with persuasion and service can quickly slide into online manipulation or exclusion. Not because anyone plans it, but because we’re moving fast with high workloads, chasing conversions, and using AI and IT tools we don’t fully understand.

That’s the real risk: it happens quietly. Invisibly. And once the damage is done, it’s already too late. How to bake ethics into your marketing strategy and work processes 

Example: Penny locks in price stability in times of inflation

During a period of steep inflation, Penny offered long-term price stability on everyday essentials by locking prices permanently by printing them directly on the packaging. ‘If you print it on the package, you can’t change it.’

This is creative thinking and innovation by design, not by technology. (case description)

More things that matter

4. Great ideas are singular (as in ‘simple’)

As I already said, we're tired. There’s so much going on. In tech and AI, efficiency pressure at the office and home, social pressure, spiking inflation, and geopolitical factors.

We want simple. Nothing complicated that requires headspace and mental effort. The simpler your idea, the more it resonates. 

What to do: go deep on tech, but make it look simple

The trick is to develop it as advanced, tech-supported, data-driven, well-researched, and executed to the highest level of excellence. If you don't do the tech part, you'll miss out, as the UX and CX expectations are high. You just have to make it look very simple, intuitive, and easy to use. 

Rule of thumb: we love simple and easy. At first glance, no-click, no-effort. 

5. Wear out of website content by AI search, zero-click content, and social search

Thanks to AI search and zero-click content, website traffic drops. At the same time, social search becomes the second search engine. Eating away more of your precious traffic.

It's a rollercoaster. What to do?

What to do: I don't know

I don’t have an answer to these developments. All I'm doing now is keeping my pace and peace, continuing to produce high-quality content, and having faith in the future. 

While my web traffic has dropped by more than 30%, my social engagement is at an all-time low, but my newsletter subscribers are growing faster than ever. Apparently, I must be doing something right.

Truly good content is always worth it and will get noticed. Only now, it might take longer and won’t always be measurable. But just because you can’t measure it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t resonate and convert.

6. The gap is growing fast: traditional and tech-driven marketing

This one really blows my mind. I just don’t get it. With all the incredible new technology out there, I’m amazed at how little of it is truly integrated into marketing teams. It’s not a lack of enthusiasm or openness; those are there. It’s rooted in a strange kind of hesitation from leadership. A reluctance to really commit. Is it fear? Budget? Or something else entirely?

Yes, we experiment with AI, we try out ChatGPT, and give CoPilot a nudge. But that’s usually where it stops. A few marketing teams have built their own GPTs, but most are one-off projects. What’s missing is real integration. A rethink of processes and workflows, with AI placed at the core from the start.

Furthermore, the ease of doing research with AI has made everyone feel like an expert. But many lack the context or experience to interpret what they find or to challenge the answers AI gives them.

For me, the person behind the prompt makes all the difference. I take the output seriously only if I trust the person who did the research, someone who put in the thought, context, and effort. I’ll always value that over someone who just runs a prompt and presents the result as is.

What to do: you already know

Embrace AI. Get professional help. Stop experimenting, now is the time for integration and rethinking your processes and ways of working. 

The first agencies are already falling over because of AI. Businesses are next. If you don’t adapt, your competitors, or agile startups, will. And it’s not just lost revenue or market share at stake. You’ll lose talent too, because no one wants to work in a company where AI isn’t part of the way things are done.

Frequently asked questions about marketing and content trends

• What are the marketing and content trends for 2026?
  
  In a nutshell: First, content that's fast and efficient is produced with help from AI, but is crafted by humans. Reflecting the brand's values and point of view. 
  
  Second, focus on brand building over performance content. The brand behind the product matters. And brand content that's produced as if the brand is a creator is far more appreciated by customers than sales-driven performance content. 
  
  Third, it's the creativity that sets you apart, not the tech you're using. 

• Why do the Cannes Lions cases matter for marketing? 
  
  The work that wins awards is the work that stands out, surprising, forward-thinking, and proven to be effective. By studying this kind of work, you can see what resonates. 
  
  Just like in fashion, what you see on the runway from luxury brands shows up in stores not long after.

• What if I don't follow marketing and content trends?
  
  Honestly, in the short term, nothing much will change. (Probably you're already behind your competitors.) 
  
  However, in the long term, you'll notice. Not investing in marketing and failing to keep up with what customers appreciate is the nail in your coffin. 
  
  This also goes for B2B; don't think that because you're in B2B, the basic rules of attraction suddenly don’t apply.

• What's the One Thing to do for marketing and content for 2026?
  
  Besides all the trends, tech, and AI options, I highly recommend that you focus on your ethical standpoint and operational guidance for the marketing team. 
  
  With hyper-personalization and targeting enabling marketing-to-one, the lines quietly and unintentionally get crossed. And you don't notice until it's too late. To obsess on the transparency and privacy of data usage and get rigorous bias testing in place. 

Wrapping it up: Unshittification in 2026

The trends from 2025 continue in 2026. It’s just more integrated. 

What you need to know:

1. Social tiredness: brands need to behave like creators
2. Brand building is (again) the most important: long-term consistency
3. In the age of technology, it’s creativity and trust that set you apart
4. Great ideas are singular (as in ‘simple’)
5. Wear out of website content by AI search, zero-click content, and social search
6. The gap is growing fast: traditional and tech-driven marketing

What you need to do: try hard and harder. Play the marketing and content game by the rules, or miss out. Bring in the professionals, hire the expensive senior to guide the cheaper juniors. And use AI wisely, integrated, not experimented. 

In 2026, there's no such thing as being mediocre. 

Not only do your SEO and SEA drops due to AI search and zero-click content. Additionally, the algorithms will hide your content if it doesn't resonate, even if you promote it with paid advertising budgets. What's left is email marketing, but if you don't nail the web and social content, there's a small chance that you'll excel in email content. 

If you don't, your competitors will. 

The choice is yours. 

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Sources and credit

Credit to all below for feeding me with their insights. Confession, I ‘borrowed’ the term ‘unshittification’ from a WARC deck; it captured what’s happening perfectly. For transparency, I used AI to summarize the Cannes case videos and added my own perspectives and key takeaways.

Ogilvy, ‘Vive la Créativité’

The Drum, Cannes Lions 2025: View all the Grand Prix-winning ads 

WARC, Creative Impact unpacked 

WARC feed 

WARC, Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions 2025

WARC, Creative Impact Unpacked: What we learned at Cannes Lions 2025

WARC, How to achieve the multiplier effect in China 

WARC Consumer Trends 2025: Five shifts shaping consumer spending

Kantar, Cannes in a can: Refresh yourself with the top 5 takeaways from Cannes 2025 

Ipsos @Cannes  2025

Nielsen, Conversations from Cannes

Cannes Lions

Cannes Lions, Need-to-know numbers 

Cannes Lions, the official Cannes Lions wrap-up 2025

Love The Work 

Love the work, Winners and Shortlists 

Adweek, The Cannes Lions 2025 Controversies Casting a Shadow Over Big Awards  

The New Yorker: Are You Experiencing Posting Ennui? 

The New Yorker: Why posting on social media has become something of the past

Pinterest Summer 2025 Trends

Tracksuit, The Emotion Effect

Tracksuit, Make Waves in the Sea of Sameness

Tracksuit, From Awareness to Effectiveness

Tracksuit, Track the Field Report

The Philosophy of Online Manipulation

When Good Algorithms Go Sexist: Why and How to Advance AI Gender Equity 

Evaluating Gender Bias in Large Language Models in Long-term Care,

Stuff About Advertising

Uncensored CMO

Callum McCahon

Eugbrandstat 

Jarned Carneson 

Paul Evans 

Disclaimer

I update and edit this page frequently with fresh insights. First publication June 2025, update in August, and added the importance of ethics in September. 

Your ethics only show when something breaks. And with AI, that break is mostly invisible, until it’s too late. Resulting in a fast PR shitshow, brand trust gets killed, legal and financial risks, and liability.

→ The real problem: most AI ethics missteps aren’t intentional. They’re baked in.

Did you know that:

• There can be fines up to 7% of global revenue (EU AI Act, 2026): any AI you use must be transparent, governed, and ethically applied
   
• 44% of AI systems show gender bias, and 25% show both gender and racial bias
   
• Targeting and hyper-personalization can unintentionally shift from persuasion to online manipulation and exclusion

If you're using AI in marketing, and you are, ethics are now part of your job, too.

Let's dive into an example of unintended bias, followed by the 5 risks and 3 things you can do.

AI doesn’t need bad intentions to cause real damage

In the UK, councils in adult social care assessments use AI. They took real case notes from 617 people and put them into different language models.

Then they changed just one thing: the gender. By AI, women’s health issues were downplayed compared to men’s; these ‘subtle’ wording shifts directly affect care decisions.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., a review of 133 AI systems found that 44% showed gender bias and 25% showed combined gender and racial bias

EU AI Act

Good to know, the EU AI Act, in force since August 2024 and enforceable from August 2026, is the world’s first full AI regulation with fines up to 7% of global revenue. 

The AI Act bans unacceptable uses such as social scoring, sets strict rules for high-risk systems like hiring or healthcare, and requires transparency from general-purpose AI, including large language models.

→ For marketing, the message is clear: any AI you use for personalization, customer service, or creative work must be transparent, governed, and ethically applied.

The 5 ethical risks in marketing and how AI makes them stronger

These risks aren’t new. But AI makes them bigger, faster, and harder to spot. 

1. Consumers as the product

Free isn’t free. If people don’t pay with money, they pay with their data. They think they’re the customer, but in reality, they’re the product.

→ AI multiplies that trade-off. Data is collected and combined at lightning speed. One small gap in consent turns into systemic exploitation across millions of interactions.

And here’s the real danger: once customers realize they’re being treated as data points instead of people, trust is gone. Not bruised. Gone.

2. Targeting is powerful, but there’s a line

Age or location is one thing. Income, religion, or health? That’s exploitation.

AI takes it further, finding invisible micro-patterns, often rooted in bias, and quietly pushes groups in or out. You don't really notice this happening, but the impact is real. And all of a sudden, your targeting turns into exclusion.

3. Hyper-personalization that steers invisibly

Personalization feels helpful, but let’s be clear: it also nudges people into choices they never planned to make.

AI doesn’t wait for behavior. It predicts it. It pushes consumers into paths before they even see alternatives. What looks like service is actually control and can turn into online manipulation. 

4. Privacy and data misuse

Modern marketing runs on data, but consent is often a fiction. Hidden in the fine print. Buried in 'accept all' clicks.

AI optimization engines combine all that (consented) data, test and tweak endlessly, and then feed the targeting and hyper-personalization systems. Often resulting in manipulative defaults that trap people in decisions that benefit the brand, not the customer.

This isn’t just a legal issue. It’s about trust and clarity in what you do with their data. 

5. Dark patterns in design

Marketers know design shapes behavior. But dark patterns take it further and even too far; they’re design tricks that pressure, mislead, or confuse people into taking actions they never wanted, like hidden opt-ins, sneaky subscriptions, or 'confirm shaming' buttons.

AI amplifies this risk. With all the targeting and hyper-personalization options, you can adjust language, visuals, and even tone of voice to match someone’s emotions in real time.

The result? Every customer gets a different 'truth,' and when people realize you’ve used their emotions against them, they won’t just lose trust, they’ll walk.

→ The question isn’t what AI can do, it’s what we should allow it to do. You can do it by the book and create a role to focus on AI collaborations and ethics.  

But being more realistic, these are the 3 things you can do without adding a huge chunk to your workload.

Marketing AI ethics for people who don’t have time for marketing AI ethics

I know you’re busy, and AI is not sexy. But small steps get you far. This is what you can do today.

1. Awareness is step one

Ignoring ethics in AI usage won’t save you; it’ll surprise you. And not in a good way. Most marketers are sort of aware of the risks, but it’s not really on their radar and sounds like a future-me problem.

Educate yourself and your team. That said, there's no need to dive into philosophy and read Plato, Aristoteles, or Kant. Just be aware. 

• Keep in mind that there’s a real gender and race bias in AI 
   
• And you might be shifting from persuasion to online manipulation and exclusion when combining data for targeting and hyper-personalization

2. Assign someone to own AI and ethics

No owner means no accountability. Appoint someone in the team to stay sharp and ask the hard questions, with the authority to say ‘stop.’

This isn’t a full-time role and can be perfectly blended into the daily work of the marketing team. 

I’d say you need about 4 hours a week to stay up to date on developments, dive into what marketing is producing, educate, and give feedback.

What also helps is having tangible ethical guidelines that clearly define where to draw the line and how far you're willing to go, backed up by real-world examples.

3. Build ethics into your workflow

Test early, test often. Make ethics a part of the brief and the campaign quality assurance. Not a side note in legal review.

Most missteps are unintentional, baked in, and hard to unveil. That’s why you need to be sharp, ask the difficult questions, challenge the systems and campaigns you’ve built.

TL;DR: ethics is part of your marketing job now

You don’t have to be perfect. But you do have to care. Ethical AI isn’t ‘extra.’ It’s insurance. It’s trust. It’s risk prevention. It’s part of your marketing job.

Ethics are not on your radar until the trust gets broken, and then there’s no way back. It’s smarter to prevent problems than to manage crises. And it’s cheaper not to screw it up.

The 5 ethical risks in marketing and how AI makes them stronger

1. Consumers as the product
2. The limits of targeting
3. Hyper-personalization that steers invisibly
4. Privacy and data misuse
5. Dark patterns in design

3 ways to build ethics into AI

1. Create a central AI and ethics role, also great for collaboration
2. Embrace radical transparency with clean data usage
3. Build ethics by design: educate and obsess on transparency and rigorous bias checking

Read how ethics influence the role of the CMO 

More reading and my sources: The Philosophy of Online Manipulation, When Good Algorithms Go Sexist: Why and How to Advance AI Gender Equity, Evaluating Gender Bias in Large Language Models in Long-term Care, and Hannah Samaro's post on LinkedIn. 

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But here’s the inconvenient truth: ethics is now part of our job, too. Not HR’s job. Not a bullet on the comms slide. 

With AI, marketing now holds even more real power over data, personalization, and the line between persuasion and online manipulation. 

And most ethical missteps aren’t malicious. They’re invisible. Until they’re not.

That’s exactly why ethics needs to be baked into your long-term marketing strategy. Not for the headlines, but for the trust. Not because it’s trending, but because it matters and lasts. And being the brand that ‘didn’t mean to’ isn’t a great look.

If we know AI is biased and can be unethical, we need:

• To obsess on the transparency and privacy of data usage
• Rigorous bias testing
• Baking accountability into the system

Executive takeaways 

→ Fines: up to 7% of your global revenue (EU AI Act, 2026)
→ 44% of AI systems show gender bias (US review, 133 AI systems)
→ Ethical AI = brand trust + legal compliance

Let’s start with some obligations, regulations, and fines, followed by why AI is a catalyst and what you need and can do.

From August 2026, you can get a fine of up to 7% of your global revenue for unethical AI usage

Unintended, unethical use of AI is often invisible and hard to grasp. These studies show just how easily bias can find its way into your marketing.

In the UK, councils in adult social care assessments use AI. They took real case notes from 617 people and put them into different language models. Then they changed just one thing: the gender. But by AI, women’s health issues were downplayed compared to men’s; these ‘subtle’ wording shifts directly affect care decisions. (source, research)

And there’s evidence that runs deeper than one UK study. A US review of 133 AI systems found that 44% showed gender bias and 25% showed both gender and racial bias.

This bias is real, and unethical behavior can, unintentionally, creep into marketing. 

The EU AI Act, in force since August 2024 and enforceable from August 2026, is the world’s first full AI regulation with fines up to 7% of global revenue. The Act bans unacceptable uses such as social scoring, sets strict rules for high-risk systems like hiring or healthcare, and requires transparency from general-purpose AI, including large language models.

→ For marketing, the message is clear: any AI you use for personalization, customer service, or creative work must be transparent, governed, and ethically applied.

Now you know your legal obligation, let’s dive into the risks and what you can do.

The 5 ethical risks in marketing and how AI makes them stronger

These risks aren’t new. But AI makes them bigger, faster, and harder to spot. That’s why ethics need to be included in the marketing strategy.

Here are the five big risks and how AI amplifies them.

1. Consumers as the product

Free isn’t free. If people don’t pay with money, they pay with their data. They think they’re the customer, but in reality, they’re the product.

→ AI multiplies that trade-off. Data is collected and combined at lightning speed. One small gap in consent turns into systemic exploitation across millions of interactions.

And here’s the real danger: once customers realize they’re being treated as data points instead of people, trust is gone. Not bruised. Gone.

2. The limits of targeting

Targeting is powerful, but there’s a line. Age or location is one thing. Income, religion, or health? That’s exploitation.

AI takes it further, finding invisible micro-patterns, often rooted in bias, and quietly pushes groups in or out. You don't really notice this happening, but the impact is real. And all of a sudden, your targeting can turn into exclusion.

3. Hyper-personalization that steers invisibly

Personalization feels helpful, but let’s be clear: it also nudges people into choices they never planned to make.

AI doesn’t wait for behavior. It predicts it. It pushes consumers into paths before they even see alternatives. What looks like service is actually control and can turn into online manipulation. 

4. Privacy and data misuse

Modern marketing runs on data, but consent is often a fiction. Hidden in the fine print. Buried in 'accept all' clicks.

AI optimization engines combine all that (consented) data, test and tweak endlessly, and then feed the targeting and hyper-personalization systems. Often resulting in manipulative defaults that trap people in decisions that benefit the brand, not the customer.

This isn’t just a legal issue. It’s about trust and clarity in what you do with their data. 

5. Dark patterns in design

Marketers know design shapes behavior. But dark patterns take it further and even too far; they’re design tricks that pressure, mislead, or confuse people into taking actions they never wanted, like hidden opt-ins, sneaky subscriptions, or 'confirm shaming' buttons.

AI amplifies this risk. With all the targeting and hyper-personalization options, you can adjust language, visuals, and even tone of voice to match someone’s emotions in real time.

The result? Every customer gets a different 'truth,' and when people realize you’ve used their emotions against them, they won’t just lose trust, they’ll walk.

→ The question for CMOs isn’t what AI can do, it’s what we should allow it to do. And how we provide guardrails to prevent our marketing tech and campaigns from slipping out of control.

3 ways CMOs can build ethics into AI

Ethical AI isn’t about getting it perfect. It’s about proving your brand gives a damn about more than just clicks and conversions. Do this ethical part well, and AI becomes more than a productivity tool. 

This is your shot to lead. 

Ethics isn’t a blocker; it can be a brand advantage. Here are three things you can do to shift AI from a trust risk to a trust builder.

1. Create a central AI collaboration and ethics role

AI touches every corner of marketing, from media buying to creative production. Someone needs to own the ethical layer; otherwise, it gets lost in the rush for efficiency.

This person connects the dots across teams, sets clear guardrails, oversees AI investments, and gives leadership visibility into what’s really happening. It’s about having someone accountable for asking the hard questions before mistakes go live at scale.

2. Embrace radical transparency with clean data usage

Consumers are tired of fine print and hidden trade-offs. If you want long-term trust, show exactly how you collect, store, and use data in plain language.

Radical transparency isn’t a weakness. It’s a differentiator. When you prove your data practices are clean and your use of AI is visible, you don’t just meet compliance. You signal that your brand has nothing to hide. That’s a rare competitive edge.

3. Build ethics by design

Ethics can’t be bolted on after launch. It has to be part of how campaigns are designed. That means two things:

• Educate your teams on the ethical risks of AI, especially how it can quietly amplify bias, pressure, and manipulation.
  
  Don’t just wave around abstract principles. Bring in real examples. Break them down. Not to play morality police or to shame, but to unpack how even well-meaning brands end up with unintended bias into their systems.
  
   
• Build rigorous bias checks into your workflow as standard operating procedure
  
  If this isn’t baked into your process, it’s just wishful thinking. Test early, test often. Make sure unintended bias gets caught before it scales and does harm.

Wrapping it up

Bottom line: ethics is part of the job now, and it should be.

Marketers have an obligation: do no harm.

We're not launching missiles or winning wars; we're launching products. So we don’t need to act like conversion rates justify everything.

The 5 ethical risks in marketing and how AI makes them stronger

1. Consumers as the product
2. The limits of targeting
3. Hyper-personalization that steers invisibly
4. Privacy and data misuse
5. Dark patterns in design

3 ways to build ethics into AI

1. Create a central AI and ethics role, also great for collaboration
2. Embrace radical transparency with clean data usage
3. Build ethics by design: educate and obsess on transparency and rigorous bias checking

Now it’s up to you to bake ethics into your long-term marketing strategy. For the trust, because it matters and it lasts. So you can prevent becoming the brand that ‘didn’t mean to’ unethically use AI and create a PR disaster.

My sources: The Philosophy of Online Manipulation, When Good Algorithms Go Sexist: Why and How to Advance AI Gender Equity, Evaluating Gender Bias in Large Language Models in Long-term Care, and Hannah Samaro's post on LinkedIn. 

Let's connect

If this helped you think differently about scaling AI or looking for someone to help you integrate AI, I’d love to connect.

About me and ‘Confessions of a content strategist’

A little bit more about me and my rant as I have a feeling of sharing some background information with you – why what I see and think matters and why I humbly think that I have a point. 

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology who fell in love with technology, creativity, and data. I have been around in the industry for 25+ years and have worked for over 50+ top-notch brands and agencies. 

I've seen quite a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this with you to nudge and inspire everyone working in marketing, communication, and corporate to do an even better job. Let's be honest; there's already too much crappy content out there; no need to contribute to that, right?

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And now, while testing the public beta of iOS 26, 3 design changes stand out that make me wonder: 

→ Is iOS 26 quietly training us for Apple Vision Pro and the era of spatial computing?

The conclusion might already be here: these changes aren’t just aesthetic tweaks. They feel like subtle prep, nudging us to see screens as portals, not panels.

 

1. Liquid glass design

The first thing you notice is the interface itself. iOS 26 introduces a liquid glass effect across navigation layers, a transparent surface that lets background elements bleed through. It’s more than a visual refresh. 

→ It creates the sense that the interface is floating above the content instead of sitting on top of it

That spatial feeling is also noticeable in the subtle, playful animation when unlocking the screen. The widgets float and bounce into their places, as if they’re settling into a three-dimensional scene instead of a flat layout. See the video at the bottom of this page. 

This matters because spatial computing depends on depth. The Vision Pro interface isn’t built on static windows but on layers that occupy space. Transparent, glass-like surfaces are a way of signaling that shift. They train your eyes and your brain to interact with elements that are part of a scene, not just stuck to a screen.

It’s subtle, but Apple has always used design language to shift user behavior. The skeuomorphic era taught us to trust digital objects. Flat design taught us to read function from minimal cues. Now, liquid glass hints at a future where screens are no longer hard edges but soft frames into something larger.

2. A more immersive full-screen experience

The second change is easy to miss until you use it. The top and the bottom navigation bars aren’t gone, but they’re no longer the solid white strip we’ve seen for years. 

In iOS 26, it becomes a transparent glass bar that lets the background continue underneath. It’s shorter, lighter, and it floats instead of anchoring the UI with a hard line. That one shift makes the entire screen feel more immersive. 

→ It’s not about removing elements; it’s about erasing the sense of edges, and it feels spatial

The phone starts to feel less like a device and more like a window, an opening into content instead of a container for it. That’s exactly what Apple is creating with Vision Pro: the screen as a lens into space, not a frame that defines it.

By changing such a small detail, Apple is teaching us to interact without relying on heavy visual anchors. That behavior will translate perfectly when content is no longer locked to a rectangular device but layered around you.

3. Spatial photos

The third change feels playful on the surface. Photos in iOS 26 now have a subtle 3D effect, giving depth to images as you move your phone. It’s not entirely new technology; Facebook experimented with 3D photos as early as 2019, but Apple’s implementation is different. It’s baked into the OS, not a feature inside an app. 

→ And it feels natural, like the ‘living pictures’ straight out of Harry Potter.

What’s interesting is not the novelty but the context. By bringing 3D to the camera roll itself, Apple is normalizing depth as part of everyday content. They’re making spatial elements something you expect, not a bonus feature. When you later view those same photos in spatial computing, on Vision Pro, and see them layered in space, it won’t feel like a leap. It will feel obvious, inevitable.

This is how Apple prepares us: small, integrated steps that slowly rewire what ‘normal’ looks like.

Connecting the dots

Individually, these changes could be dismissed as design polish. Together, they form a pattern. 

Apple has done this before. Removing the home button trained us for gesture-based navigation. Face ID prepared us for a device that knows you by presence, not touch. Each of these shifts seemed minor until they became foundational to the next platform.

iOS 26 feels like the same playbook. 

The liquid glass design, the edge-dissolving navigation, the everyday 3D effects, they’re not about making iPhones prettier. They’re about reshaping how we interact with digital content so that when screens dissolve into space, it feels natural. We’ll have already learned the language.

The bigger picture

Spatial computing isn’t just a hardware leap. It’s a behavioral one. You don’t wake up one day and suddenly stop thinking of screens as boundaries. You get there through small, consistent nudges. Apple has always understood that. iOS 26 might be another nudge.

If that’s true, this update is a preview of a future where devices disappear and content surrounds us. And just like every other time, Apple is teaching us the new rules before we even realize we’re learning.

→ Am I wrong and seeing things that aren’t there, or is this Apple’s subtle hint? What do you think?

Image credits: Apple and my own content on iPhone with iOS 26
 

This unlock screen animation is preparing us for a spatial, layered reality with animations that feel alive and playful. The first part is in real-time, while the second is in slow motion to show the ingenious beauty of the animation. 

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Before we dive in, let’s be real: nothing I’m about to say is new. You have just ignored it, or conveniently forgotten it, for way too long. And I get it. Changing habits you’ve had for years isn’t easy, especially when the payoff feels harder to track.

Still, if you want to stay visible in 2026, this is what you'll need to do.

• Behave like a creator
• Be consistent
• Simplify

Your alternative ‘more content’ is not the answer, because we’re already drowning in mediocre content. Not being on social media is not an option for most brands either. 

If you play by these rules, content is still a smart investment for your marketing budget.

1. Behave like a creator: add value, not ads

Brands need to behave like creators, not like a brand creating ads and pushing them on social. Your most significant strategic change is a mind shift: add value, not ads

Entertain, inspire, and/or educate the 95% who are not in the market (yet). Only 5% of people are ready to buy. The rest? You'll need to stay on their radar for when they are.

• Put your customer first and reason from their needs. I know, it’s been said a million times. But apparently, this marketing 101 is still widely ignored: most brands remain more focused on themselves than their customers.
   
• Write like you speak. Don’t talk in corporate jargon and bullshit bingo. Don’t polish or overcomplicate. 
   
• And please, don't think that because you're in B2B, these basic rules of attraction suddenly don’t apply.

Explained by example: ‘Vaseline Verified’ Vaseline becomes the voice of reason in a world of viral beauty hacks. They add value by verifying and debunking myths in UGC, making the brand a cheeky authority. 

2. Consistency

Show up. Be there. Day after day, year after year. 

Consistency beats creativity. Being recognizable is more powerful than being original every time. Great brands aren't built overnight. They're built through clarity, intent, and repetition (source). Especially now in these oversaturated content days, showing up is more important than ever.

Consistency compounds, with one tiny mental nudge at a time.

Explained by example: 

• I, a solo entrepreneur without a big budget, running a one-person agency, can create awareness, build a memory structure by showing up consistently. You probably don’t read everything I write. But you see it. 
  
  And that’s my objective. When my name pops up in your inbox next to the subject line, I want one thing to happen: your brain combines ‘Fleur’ with ‘marketing, content, AI.’ That’s it. 
   
• This is how consistency looks like at scale: Dove. Who else. It began in 2004 with a bold insight: only 2% of women considered themselves beautiful. Dove challenged the industry’s narrow ideals by celebrating confidence over perfection, sparking one of the first viral marketing movements. Still going strong and winning awards 20 years later. 

But consistency without meaning is just noise. No need to tell you that you need a bigger idea, a structure, and a storyline. Right? Posting for the sake of posting is not how to build your brand. 

3. Simplify

If you create content for everyone, you create it for no one. Keep it simple. This means two things.

First, you pick one objective per content asset. 

• Don’t try to squeeze in more than one message or storyline. 
• Don’t try to address the needs of different audiences in one go. 

→ Keep it simple and easy to understand. If you have different audiences and needs, create multiple content assets.

Second, compound and repeat. Don’t spread yourself too thin. This is the most common mistake made by marketers: trying to do it all at once with a bare minimum budget. Trying to tick all the customer journey boxes with just one or two content assets per phase. 

Doing a little of everything never beats giving your full attention to one thing. 

→ Did you know you have to repeat your message at least 7 times before it sticks?

A note on AI usage: trust and purchase intention can decline

“When people thought something was AI-generated, they rated that content much worse across metrics like trust and authenticity, regardless of whether it was really AI-generated or not.” Source: Adweek and WARC

The research found a 14% decline in purchase consideration and in their willingness to pay a premium for a product advertised around content perceived to be made by AI. The researchers also found the same for human-made content perceived to be AI-made.

People who saw ads around AI-seeming content rated the ads around it:

• 17% less premium
• 19% less inspiring
• 16% more artificial
• 14% less relatable
• 11% less trustworthy

My take: be careful how much AI you use and fully generate your content and or ads. Show your audience that you still make an effort to create content for them. For my own publications and when I work with clients, I still think by hand before I turn to AI. And that shows in the content and statistics. 

Frequently asked questions why your social reach is dropping and what to do

• I'm seeing the reach dropping on my socials, what can I do?
  
  This is really normal and experienced by all brands. You can do two things. One, invest more paid budget, but that is a patch and not a solution. Two, you behave like a creator and improve the quality of your content. That’s the most effective and efficient long-term move.

• I want to keep my content consistent, but I'm short on time and money. What can I do?
  
  This is where you'll need to be smarter about how you reuse and repurpose your content. Consistency is not about ‘more’ content, but it's about showing up day after day, year after year (and checking your data to repeat content that worked before).
  
  By the way, this doesn't mean you'll need to post every day; 2 or 3 times a week will already get you there. Don't oversaturate. Good to know: consistently low-performing content will reduce your future visibility. The algorithm flags your content as low performing and will hide it from the feed, making it even less likely to be seen. 

Wrap-up: your mini playbook

Social media fatigue is real, and more content is not the answer. Here's your mini playbook on what to do to stay visible in 2026. 

1. Behave like a creator: add value, not ads. Entertain, inspire, and/or educate the 95% who are not in the market (yet)
    
2. Consistency compounds, with one tiny mental nudge at a time
    
3. Simplify: pick one objective per content asset and don’t spread yourself too thin. You have to repeat your message at least 7 times before it sticks

That’s the playbook. What you do with it is what matters.

Stay ahead on marketing, content, and AI with insights that actually matter

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→ After digging through 50+ case studies, 25+ blogs and whitepapers, and just as many content by creators and publishers on socials, podcasts, and webinars, I pulled together what I think are the best cases from Cannes 2025, and give context on what that means for 2026. 

Actually, there are 15 cases in random order, not 10. I just couldn't choose. Check the last paragraph for all credits. 

Trend for 2026: ‘Unshittification’, intentionality, and escapism

Riding the ‘being human’ wave from 2025, we're still moving forward. It’s just more integrated, less showy. 

Now adding the ‘unshittification’. We're done. We're fed up with the AI-generated and automated fakeness. We're numbed by the algorithm fixing that results in more of the same content. We're tired of the fast-paced microtrends. 

→ We're done with the AI and the fake. More than ever, we move toward ‘intentional’. We want to escape the fake and polished, and go ‘back’ to the ‘old school’ real, authentic, personal attention, human connection, and meaning. Which all does feel seamless and effortless, thanks to modern technology. 

This puts more weight on brand identity over pure performance, and on the power of bold, simple ideas that truly stand out. Show up, consistently, frequently, and with a long-term mindset. Not just a one-off.

For marketing and content strategists, this isn’t just inspiration; it’s the new standard. And the bar is not just raised, but redefined.

→ All marketing and content trends for 2026 explained

1. ‘AXA, Three Words’ turns home insurance into a lifeline for domestic-violence survivors

→ How 3 words change a boring insurer from a commodity to a lifesaver

Through its “THREE WORDS” campaign, AXA France added a no-cost emergency relocation guarantee to every home-insurance policy. Any woman at risk, whether named on the contract or not, can be moved to safe housing immediately, eliminating the paperwork and financial hurdles.

Because home insurance is mandatory in France and AXA is the market leader, the benefit reaches households nationwide. Survivor testimonies show the policy’s power to provide safety and a fresh start. Celebrated at Cannes Lions 2025 for its social impact, the initiative redefines what insurance can—and should do, positioning AXA as a genuine ally against domestic violence.

2. ‘Caption with intention’ reinvents captions as a powerful storytelling tool

→ Using design and animation to bring words to life 

This caption with intention, by the Chicago Deaf Society, is finally putting deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers at the center of the experience.

For the first time in 50+ years, captions get a meaningful upgrade. This design system adds emotion, tone, and timing through dynamic animations, varied text weights and sizes, and color-coded speaker cues. It makes dialogue easier to follow and brings the feel of a scene, not just the words, to life.

With over 430 million people depending on captions, this isn’t just innovation. It’s inclusion by design.

3. ‘Tenessee sounds sites’ where artists bring alt txt to life

→ Accessibility meets sensibility 

Tennessee songwriters collaborated with blind communities to craft authentic, lyrical descriptions for hundreds of Tennessee images, redefining travel accessibility. Providing descriptive lyrics instead of standard alt-text. Better image descriptions for better experiences. 

Experience it yourself on tnvacation.com

This won a Bronze Lion in the category of copywriting. 

4. ‘Pedigree Camarelo’ turns the most common mutt into the most adopted breed 

→ Using DNA data for good and changing perceptions, as well as long-term brand building and consistency

By giving Caramelos official pedigree certificates based on DNA, Pedigree turned overlooked mutts into national icons. The campaign began when a celebrity’s Caramelo was rejected from a dog show, sparking public debate. And even updated their packaging to feature one. With influencer support, media buzz, and official recognition, Caramelos has become a celebrated symbol of inclusion.

And Pedigree is consistent in showing up in this domain, the ‘Selfie Stix’ won a Lion in 2017, and last year's Adoptable, using AI to make dogs more adoptable. 

5. ‘Amazon Greenventory’ blends AI, drones, and community to turn deforestation into regeneration

→ Using data for good; win for the forest, win for the locals, win for the brand

Faced with severe biome loss, Natura developed a smart mapping system that identifies tree species and sustainable harvesting zones across the Amazon. 

What once took years of manual research can now be achieved in just months, thanks to the use of drones and AI, which unlock precision at scale. The data is handed to local communities, empowering them to earn long-term income without harming the forest. 

Natura guarantees to buy everything they harvest, creating a closed-loop model where community growth fuels forest renewal and product innovation. A partnership to turn deforestation into regeneration—economically and ecologically.

6. ‘Dove Real Beauty,' how a soap brand created a global self-esteem movement for 20 years

→ Brand building is a long-term game that pays off if done consistently

It began in 2004 with a bold insight: only 2% of women considered themselves beautiful. Dove challenged the industry’s narrow ideals by celebrating confidence over perfection, sparking one of the first viral marketing movements.

Through the Dove Self-Esteem Project, the brand became the world’s largest provider of self-esteem education, reaching millions of young people. Dove didn’t stop at ads; it backed real change, supporting laws like the Crown Act against hair discrimination, and fighting toxic beauty standards on social media.

This long-term commitment reshaped public perception, turning Dove into a $7.5 billion brand and one of the world’s most influential platforms for body confidence and inclusive beauty.

7. Dove, ‘Real beauty redefined for the AI era’

→ Using content to influence what AI labels as beauty, Dove keeps showing up, frequently and consistently over 20 years

Dove defends real beauty in a digital age. As AI-generated influencers flood social feeds, Dove raises a red flag: these figures may look real, but they’re entirely artificial, and they’re reshaping how people see themselves. One in three individuals would change their appearance, even knowing the images they’re chasing aren’t real.

Building on its 20-year mission to redefine beauty, Dove’s latest campaign challenges the next frontier of unrealistic standards. The rise of AI adds complexity, but the brand stays grounded in its core belief: authentic beauty matters more than ever.

In this campaign, Dove goes one step further, not just speaking to people, but to the algorithms themselves. By intentionally feeding more diverse and realistic beauty representations into the system, the brand aims to influence how AI and algorithms define beauty, ultimately shaping what shows up in the feed.

8. ‘L’Oreal', the final copy of Ilon Specht was a feminist breakthrough (1971)

→ Long-term brand building, four words that challenged the status quo of the beauty industry

Ilon Specht’s "Because I’m worth it" wasn’t just a slogan; it was a feminist breakthrough.

In a male-dominated advertising world of the 1970s, Ilon Specht, a young female copywriter, challenged the status quo by crafting four words that gave women agency in beauty decisions. ‘Because I’m worth it’ became a quiet but powerful act of rebellion: beauty no longer for male approval, but for self-affirmation.

This short documentary retraces how her frustration with misogynistic norms led to a line that empowered millions of women to own their choices. Despite resistance, like an agency insisting on a male voiceover, the slogan stood strong, rewriting the rules of how women were spoken to in media.

More than 50 years later, Specht’s words still echo as a timeless feminist message, proving that authenticity and self-worth aren’t trends, they’re movements.

9. ‘Sounds Right’ turned nature into a Spotify artist, with a long-term payment stream

→ Using data and payment systems to generate income for nature

Launched on Earth Day, this bold campaign gave Mother Nature an official Spotify artist profile, allowing anyone to support biodiversity simply by streaming. Every time you listen to natural soundscapes or music featuring nature sounds, royalties are funneled directly into conservation efforts through a UN-backed advisory board.  Listening turns into long-term conservation funding.

→ feat. NATURE (Spotify playlist)

Top artists credited Nature as a co-creator, integrating environmental recordings into their music. With over 150 million streams and 14 million listeners, Nature quickly entered Spotify’s top 1% most-played artists.

Crucially, this model created a sustainable, ongoing payment stream for global biodiversity projects, offering a fresh path for environmental funding that scales with culture, not charity. A great collaboration between the Museum for the United Nations and Spotify. 

10. ‘Penny’ price packaging locks in the price in times of inflation

→ Creative thinking and innovation by design, not by technology

During a period of steep inflation, Penny offered long-term price stability on everyday essentials by locking prices permanently by printing them directly on the packaging. ‘If you print it on the package, you can’t change it.’

This is a bold act of transparency. Turning groceries into trust markers, helping shoppers plan and budget with confidence, and reinforcing Penny’s image as a reliable, people-first retailer.

11. ‘Lucky Yatra’ turned train tickets into lottery tickets

→ Creative thinking and flipping perspectives 

Indian Railways turned a frustrating economic problem into a culturally resonant opportunity, transforming each valid train ticket into a lottery ticket, incentivizing honest fare purchase. It wasn’t just a campaign, it was a behavioral nudge built on local insights. It reframed compliance as reward, not punishment.

Nearly 40% of the 24 million daily passengers were riding without paying, and enforcement alone wasn’t working. So instead of cracking down, they tapped into something deeply rooted in Indian society: the love of lotteries.

India has a $33 billion lottery market. For many, playing the lottery is a daily ritual offering hope, excitement, and the chance of life-changing wins, often for just a few rupees. By transforming each valid train ticket into a lottery entry, Indian Railways flipped the script:

• Ticket evasion became a missed opportunity.
• Buying a ticket now came with emotional and financial upside.
• And every ride felt like a chance to win, literally.

The execution was smart, too. Daily and weekly cash draws using ticket serial numbers. No added cost or extra steps for passengers. And targeted launch at 24 high-traffic stations, maximizing impact

The Lucky Yatra campaign was questioned for running too briefly, but Cannes Lions checked it and confirmed it was real. 

12. ‘Bad Bunny’ merges tech, music, and national pride into one unforgettable digital experience

→ Combining data and technology with creative brilliance to counter an insult

‘Floating garbage’ was the insult. What followed was one of the most powerful cultural comebacks ever staged. When a U.S. nitwit labeled Puerto Rico as “an island of garbage,” Bad Bunny and his team flipped the narrative, using music, maps, and tech to turn it into a celebration.

At the heart of the campaign was geo-coordinated storytelling. They mapped over 100 real locations across Puerto Rico, beaches, streets, plazas, and iconic local spots. Each song is linked to a place, each place redefined by its sound. Each is a piece of Puerto Rican identity. These precise coordinates were integrated with:

Google Maps. Users could enter a set of GPS coordinates and be dropped into a physical location across Puerto Rico, not to view it through the eyes of disaster or poverty, but through art, pride, and music. The pins weren’t just markers; they became cultural anchors.

Spotify Integration. Each location unlocked a custom track by Bad Bunny, accessible only through that geo-tag. By moving digitally across the map, fans pieced together an album—part music, part manifesto. The island became a living playlist.

The result was more than a tribute. It was a statement. Not just creative brilliance, it's how it merged tech, music, and national pride into one unforgettable digital experience.

13. ‘Vaseline Verified’ becomes the voice of reason in a world of viral beauty hacks

→ Adding value by verifying and debunking myths in UGC makes the brand a cheeky authority

In a landscape dominated by TikTok trends, Vaseline takes a bold stance, putting internet beauty hacks to the test. By scientifically verifying (or debunking) popular DIY skincare tricks, the brand positions itself as a credible, no-nonsense skincare authority.

“Vaseline hunted down viral DIY skincare hacks on TikTok/Instagram, enlisted 450+ creators to recreate them, ran each tip through an on-camera lab test that either stamped it with a blue-tick Vaseline Verified badge or debunked it, then boosted the verified clips - complete with swipe-to-shop links - driving 63.3 million interactions and turning the brand into skincare’s trust referee.” (quote Callum McCahon)

"5 reasons why Vaseline Verified is modern brand building at its best

1. It’s democratised distinctiveness. Community made. Brand owned.
   They observed how the community interacts with the brand, handed over the keys, but without sacrificing brand codes. In fact, they’ve strengthened them.
2. It deals with the duality of UGC
   UGC is great for reach, risky for messaging. The brand becomes an arbiter of trust. By verifying the genuine hacks, the brand instantly discredits the dodgy ones.
3. It’s delivered at genuine scale. Earned + Owned + Paid integration. 450+ creators. Media spend behind it for visibility beyond existing audiences. 63.3 million interactions. Organic alone won’t cut it.
4. It’s a platform with stretch. Social-first platforms don’t have fixed boundaries. They evolve as momentum builds, creating real longevity for the brand.
5. It combines brand and product: mixing brand building and sales activation on social with shoppable tags—a shift that challenges the old belief that you can't do both in one piece of content. Drove a 43% increase in eCommerce sales. Social commerce = brand + product in one."
   (Credits Callum McCahon)
    

Partnering with content creators, Vaseline evaluates everything from beard care routines to band-aid beauty hacks. Safe ones earn the official “Verified by Vaseline” status, along with a playful trophy box, while dangerous ideas are publicly “unverified.”

The campaign cleverly showcases Vaseline’s versatility, from protecting lips and cuticles to even healing a dog’s dry nose. In doing so, the brand doesn’t just correct misinformation—it reinforces its role as a trusted, science-backed staple in daily care routines.

14. ‘B2B; Act like you know’ by GoDaddy

→ There's absolutely no legit reason B2B should be boring

A campaign with actor Walton Goggins used humor and AI to launch a real sunglasses brand, showing how anyone, regardless of experience, can confidently start a business with GoDaddy Arrow. The campaign blended entertainment with product utility, earning billions of media impressions and demonstrating the power of merging story, personality, and tech utility.

At its core was GoDaddy Arrow, an AI tool that helped create a real sunglasses business, logo, website, and all. What started as a playful Super Bowl ad turned into a functioning company, blurring the lines between ad fiction and real-world action. While walking the talk, launching a business on national TV.

15. IKEA ‘Hidden tags’ tackled the myth that IKEA furniture is disposable

→ Data on the product labels tell the true story

By encouraging people to check the hidden manufacturing tags on their furniture, the brand proved many pieces were older and more durable than expected. One customer even found a piece from 1969. 

Thousands of old tags inspired millions with proof of Ikea's long-lasting quality. The second-hand market also uses these tags to show value, reinforcing the message. With gift card prizes and widespread participation, the campaign successfully shifted perceptions: Ikea furniture can stand the test of time.

Sources and transparency on AI usage

Credit to all below for feeding me with their insights. Confession, I ‘borrowed’ the term ‘unshittification’ from a WARC deck; it captured what’s happening perfectly. For transparency, I used AI to summarize the case videos and added my own perspectives and key takeaways.

Ogilvy, ‘Vive la Créativité’

The Drum, Cannes Lions 2025: View all the Grand Prix-winning ads 

WARC, Creative Impact unpacked 

WARC feed 

WARC, Cannes Creative Effectiveness Lions 2025

WARC, Creative Impact Unpacked: What we learned at Cannes Lions 2025

Kantar, Cannes in a can: Refresh yourself with the top 5 takeaways from Cannes 2025 

Ipsos @Cannes  2025

Nielsen, Conversations from Cannes

Cannes Lions

Cannes Lions, Need-to-know numbers 

Cannes Lions, The official Cannes Lions wrap-up 2025 

Love The Work 

Love the work, Winners and Shortlists 

Adweek, The Cannes Lions 2025 Controversies Casting a Shadow Over Big Awards  

Stuff About Advertising

Callum McCahon

Eugbrandstat 

Jarned Carneson 

Paul Evans 

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Most content advice tells you what to do. This tells you how to think. For marketers and communicators who want the difference. 

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Nowadays, we don’t know what’s real anymore. 

Therefore, if you want to be noticed, get a faster response, and give the other a sense of appreciation, make an effort and reach out personally.

→ Personal connection is the new luxury.

I often joke that if I let my AI handle the emails to connect with your AI, we could meet in real life and enjoy a coffee on a sunny terrace instead. But there’s a grain of truth in that.

This is the paradox between the sender's focus on efficiency and the receiver's experience of annoyance and feeling overlooked.

But what if … you do it differently, switching your focus from efficiency to improving the response rate? 

All you need to do is invest a little bit of your time in reaching out personally, being authentic, and giving the other person the attention they deserve, which makes them respond faster. Often, a personal reply doesn't take more than a few minutes. 

What to do to improve your response rate in 2025 (and it's not AI)

There are 3 things you can do.

1. Place yourself in the other's shoes

Flip the perspective. How would you like to be addressed, and if someone reaches out? Automated or personally?

Threat the others like you want to be threatened.

• Tip: Read ‘How to make friends and influence people’ by Dale Carnegie. It originates from 1938, the best-kept secret in people and expectations management.  And is still very relevant.

2. Realize that reaching out personally has a higher response rate

People want to do business with people. When are you more eager to reply, an email flow or a real person?

Again, threaten the others like you want to be threatened.

3. Know that DIY is often faster than automation

Setting up a system takes time. Finding the right tool, configuring it, setting up the flow, testing it, iterating to improve and manage the tool and the output.

Is it worth automating it, or are you faster doing it yourself?

This is also where work ethos and focusing on the output instead of the process come in. 

I don’t shy away from doing the grinding work if it gets me business. 

• I don’t mind sending out 100 personal handwritten emails if I know the response rate is higher than when I automate it.
   
• Tip: If you’re too busy to give some personal tender love and care during the workday,  plan 30 minutes daily for this and do it all in one go.

Frequently asked questions about using AI and automation for your communications

•  How can I automate my LinkedIn invites, DMs, or email communications? 
  
  You can with several tools. But I advise you not to. Based on experience, this doesn't work very well. You can grow your network in an absolute number of contacts. But is that what you're after? 
  
  If you're looking for connections with the end objective of driving sales and doing business, you must make an effort. Personally. Nobody likes to be marketed to, let alone be caught in an automated AI-generated email flow. 

• Can I personalize automated messages or emails?
  
  Yes, you can. But bear in mind your objective. If it's to widely spray and pray a few superficial leads will stick, go ahead. If you're looking for meaningful connections to, in the end, drive sales, you better make a bit more effort.  
  
  Be aware of the time it takes to find and set up the tool, configure it, create the flow, test it, and iterate to improve the output to optimize the response rate. In that same time that takes, I manually find the relevant peers and hot leads via LinkedIn search and send them a personal invite. 

• Can I use AI to write emails or LinkedIn invites?
  
  Sure you can. The only thing you need to do is configure AI to respond in your tone of voice. 
  
  I recommend using ChatGPT, Claude, or CoPilot. Using the AI from the tool or platform itself usually results in something generic and clearly AI-generated copy. 

Wrapping it up

Personal attention is the new luxury in times of automation and AI. We’re so focused on becoming more efficient that we forget that the best connections and deals are made in person, especially if we like the other and we feel seen and heard.

If you want to stand out, get noticed, and just for the love connections, make an effort and write the email, the invite, or the comment yourself instead of relying on automation and AI. It just takes you a minute or 2. 

Please notice, this goes for where personal connection matters. Not for systematic emails, process emails, workflow updates, boring newsletters, and other corporate stuff.

Now, it's up to you. 

About me and ‘Confessions of a content strategist’

A little bit more about me and my rant as I have a feeling of sharing some background information with you – why what I see and think matters and why I humbly think that I have a point. 

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology who fell in love with technology, creativity, and data. I have been around in the industry for 25+ years and have worked for over 50+ top-notch brands and agencies. 

I've seen quite a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this with you to nudge and inspire everyone working in marketing, communication, and corporate to do an even better job. Let's be honest; there's already too much crappy content out there; no need to contribute to that, right?

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→ It’s good to be aware that AI’s sole objective is to please you, not to tell you the truth.

Of course, AI uses lots of sources and is intelligent (sort of). However, in the end, tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, CoPilot, and others are designed to help and please you, based on LLM, predictability, and probability. AI is here to make your life easier and faster. 

Now that you know this, you can use it strategically. And recognize the fake news, hallucinations, and bias traps.

Let’s dig in.

3 x what you need to know when using AI for research

Next to the abundance of how-to guides, prompts, tips and tricks, these are the 3 basics to know if you use AI for research or competitor analysis.

1. AI is here to please you. AI wants to make you happy and fulfill your needs. It’s not here to tell you the absolute truth or reflect all kinds of different opinions and views.
    
2. Always. Always. Always ask AI for the data points and the sources. And check these sources yourself. Usually, if the data deviates too much from what you would expect or from the average, it’s most likely a hallucination. 
   
   Besides, based on your experience and expertise, you’ll know the rough numbers and statistics in your industry or craft by heart. If AI’s output differs too much, you’ll know.
    
3. Trust your instinct. This aligns with the previous point. You know if it’s too good to be true, it usually is. Ultimately, you’re responsible for what you publish, and you can’t blame AI for feeding you the wrong information.

Where the hack marketers fail and real marketers stand out

And this is exactly where your expertise, knowledge, and seniority come in. With AI, any monkey can produce content, and they already do. 

→ But not everyone can lead with insight. 

To produce insightful, value-adding content, that’s a different game. That takes knowledge, experience, and expertise combined with a human touch to cut through the noise, and give context and meaning.

Why it matters: use AI, but lead with strategy and your expertise

If you want to position yourself as a thought leader and differentiate yourself from your competitors with a strong point of view and insights, you can’t blindly rely on AI. 

It’s you and your strategic thinking that makes the difference, not ChatGPT.

Please use AI the smart way and to its full advantage for research and unveil insights; this is what you need to know and do.

1. Realize AI is here to please you and acts accordingly
2. Check the sources behind the data that AI feeds you
3. Trust your instinct. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is a hallucination

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How to break this algorithmic trap? There are 3 major causes of today’s homogeneous society

→ Why everything looks the same, and what can you do:

• We’re too busy and focused on efficiency
  Solution: make time and prioritize what truly matters to you. For example, block 10% of your and your team's time for exploratory creative work. You only regret the things you didn’t do

• Algorithms enable and strengthen homogeneity
  Solution: don’t buy into that and all the s**t you see online. Keep thinking for yourself to decide what matters to you

• AI, it’s a summary of the internet, and here to keep you happy
  Solution: personalize your AI and use it to challenge and improve, not to do the work for you

Let's look at the details. 

1. We’re too busy and focused on efficiency

This is a tough one, and it hurts. As a society, we are so focused on getting more done in less time. 

→ Efficiency kills originality

I notice this in my business and personal life.

• In business, that means we often don’t take and can't make the time to go down rabbit holes, do proper research, build our own rationale, or form our own point of view. Instead, we copy-paste what others think and do, make a few tweaks, push it out, and then move on to the next thing on our agenda.
  
  Or it takes forever for people to respond and take action, not because they don’t want to, but simply because they have too much on their plates. And before you know it, the momentum and opportunity are gone.

• On the personal level, it hurts even more. But in recent years, doing anything last minute feels like a luxury, grabbing a quick coffee, going for an unplanned lunch, or even having a sweet 5-minute call to hear someone’s voice.
  
  Everybody seems to be too busy and forgets to live in the here and now. The priority is getting more done in less time and be efficient as possible, instead of enjoying a bit more of the precious moments that will never come back.

2. Algorithms enable and strengthen homogeneity

We think we can decide what we see and read. Still, in reality, it’s really very hard and you have to make a serious effort to dive into the crooks and crannies of the media to discover new and different views and opinions that go against the status quo and shine a different light.

→ Algorithms reward sameness

You only have to look around you to realize that everyone thinks and looks alike. 

• Thanks to algorithms, we’re spoon-fed the same trends, views, insights, and opinions. 
  
  Algorithms push engaging content and hide the rest, so we all read, view, and listen to the same things. Next to that, we all use the same templates to create our content.  
   
• Thanks to TikTok, where hyper-fast micro trends in fashion follow each other at an increasingly rapid pace.

It's not just social, it's broader. We know that Meta, LinkedIn, and TikTok do this. But do you also realize that Netflix and Spotify do the same? And what about the news and publishers? They create content that gets the most eyeballs so they can sell the most ads.

3. AI is not helping here

AI enables you to do more in less time: summarize chunky content in a few bullets, or produce your content with a prompt.

→ AI is a summary of the internet based on data and the common denominator. It is here to keep you happy, not to challenge you. And it flattens your (brand) voice. 

If you don’t take the time to personalize and configure your AI, and learn how to prompt properly, it will feed you and produce generic content.

And before you know it, without being consciously aware of it, AI can make you overreliant and a bit lazy, because it does all the work for you.

There are 2 things you can do to break this cycle. So you can stand out and show your personality, as a brand and as a business. After all, people want to do business with people, not with big anonymous institutions or AI.

Break the mold: realize the ones we admire are the ones who are different

It’s human nature to want to belong, to be part of a community. A community where we share the same values, and often also think and look more or less the same.

However, the ones we admire, the ones who changed history, are the ones who dare to be different. A few examples.

Women who radically own who they are

Leading by example. 

• Brigitte Bardot. Refused to be just a muse. Wild, political, unapologetically herself 
   
• Brené Brown. Turned vulnerability into leadership. Made soft power feel strong
   
• Coco Chanel. Gave women freedom, in fabric, form, and mindset
   
• Marilyn Monroe. Controlled the myth, stayed real underneath. Softness as rebellion
   
• Michelle Obama. Showed us how power can be warm, honest, and bold
   
• Oprah Winfrey. Built an empire on truth, connection, and unapologetic presence
   
• Vivienne Westwood. Fashion as protest. Loud, raw, punk, and always herself

Men who inspire by being 100% themselves

Let them inspire you. 

• Anthony Bourdain. Told the truth behind the food. Messy, human, real
   
• Arnold Schwarzenegger. Always reinventing. Big dreams, bigger energy, bold moves
   
• Banksy. Quiet on purpose. Art loud enough to move cities
   
• David Bowie. Shape-shifter. Space-maker. A masterclass in being other
   
• Elvis Presley. Mixed danger, desire, and sound. Changed music forever
   
• Prince. Every label ignored. Every inch his own. Art as identity
   
• Salvador Dalí. Brilliantly weird. Made imagination rule the rules

To do: dare to be different

It takes balls and courage to stand out. After all, the tallest trees catch the most wind.

Besides having the courage to stand out, you also need to be willing to invest time. Time to build a solid vision and point of view, grounded in data and research, expressed in your own voice, with a clear message and easy-to-read copy.

Lastly, you also have to challenge the (business) rules. As a brand, you don’t go for the mass market where everyone likes you. You aim for a select audience that shares the same values and is therefore willing to buy your product.

As an individual, that means that you’ll have to guard yourself against today’s often toxic online culture, where keyboard warriors are quick to voice their opinions. 

Think about Brene Brown, who wrote about ‘the man in the arena’ by Roosevelt: ‘It’s not the critic that counts…'. 

Key takeaway: it's time that you do you

We know we love and admire the ones who are different. Why not give it a go yourself? Stand out, be authentic, you do you.

Now that you understand why the world is becoming increasingly homogeneous, you can use this knowledge to swim against the current and stand out because of it. And become admired for that.

• We’re too busy and focused on efficiency
  Solution: make time and prioritize what truly matters to you. For example, block 10% of your and your team's time for exploratory creative work. You only regret the things you didn’t do
   
• Algorithms enable and strengthen homogeneity
  Solution: don’t buy into that and all the s**t you see online. Keep thinking for yourself to decide what matters to you
   
• AI, it’s a summary of the internet, and here to keep you happy
  Solution: personalize your AI and use it to challenge and improve, not to do the work for you

Now, it's up to you. In a world of sameness, originality is your greatest ROI. Don’t blend in. Break the mold.

Image credits: Hatterist 
 

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→ I know that negativity is clickbait, provokes engagement, and is therefore pushed by the algorithm. But please realize that criticism kills the vibe and makes you look ugly.

It never hurts to be friendly, but it can hurt not to be. 

Embrace the ones who experiment and try

We’ve all seen them. The self-proclaimed gurus with a loud opinion, whether it is Jaguar's rebrand, Zelensky's outfit, penguins on an inhabited island, or the marketing from a local shop. 

They often rely on AI for input, bring limited experience or authority to the table, and, most importantly, lack the data and research to back their claims. In their chase for engagement, they ‘listen to reply’ instead of ‘listen to learn.’ 

There’s absolutely no need to burn down other brands or people for trying new things, experimenting with AI, or making mistakes. Progress comes with hiccups. That’s how we grow.

→ Like Brene Brown once wrote about the man in the arena, ‘It’s not the critic that counts…’ Let’s embrace the ones who test and learn instead of critiquing them and pointing out their flaws.

Except when the brand or person did a really poor job, cut corners, showed no effort, did something stupid, or rushed something out that lacked even MVP standards.

Then, you can call them out. Nicely.

If you wouldn’t say it in real life, don’t post it online

It’s easy to type out opinions from behind a screen. The keyboard warriors who have an opinion and can’t wait to vent it.

But here’s the thing: most people wouldn’t speak that way face-to-face.

You can still call things out; just do it with constructive intent, not emotional outbursts. Often, kind and constructive criticism will do the job better.

So, let’s keep it simple. If you don’t say it in real life, don’t post it online.

Summarized: ‘The people need some kindness’

Friendly people lift the mood and make things happen. They don’t just make the world brighter; they make it work better.

And know that kindness is a true leadership skill. It separates the critics from the creators.

→ If this resonates, pass it on. We need more kindness at the top.

→ Connect if you're building the same way.

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Read them in this particular order:

1. ‘No Bullsh*t Strategy’ by Alex M H Smith: to find your strategic advantage
2. ‘They Ask You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan: to find what kind of questions your audience has about your product category
3. ‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller: to create a storyline that resonates with your audience because it’s about them and not about you
4. ‘Writing for Busy Readers’ by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink: learn to simplify your writing to get busy readers to read
5. ‘Very Good Copy’ by Eddie Shleyner: this book gives you sound, simple copywriting tips

→ Bonus🎙️ ‘How Strava built a global fitness community.’ Listen and learn how Strava focuses on ‘great’ over ‘big,’ prioritizes engagement over (vanity) growth, and keeps inventing themselves while jumping on the fast-paced technology. A textbook example of marketing and building a community. 

If you're short on time, start at 12:00 and continue listening until at least 20:00. If it doesn't capture your attention, it's not for you. 

All books are available on 📖 Kindl and 🎧 Audible. 

Want more? Check out the 60+ best books for strategy, marketing and branding. I add new books and podcasts every month.

1. ‘No Bullsh*t Strategy’ by Alex M H Smith

Mandatory reading for every marketer and (self-proclaimed) strategist. In “No Bullsh*t Strategy,” Alex M H Smith gives you a simple but powerful line to define strategy: ‘You are the only X that does Y.’

This is the unique value your business brings to the market with the strategic philosophy ‘Only is better than best.’

A well-written strategy brings razor-sharp focus by making decisions on what to do and, above all, what not to do.

If Alex doesn’t ignite your mind in the first chapter, this is not a book for you, and you’ll never get it.

For the lazy ones, here’s a 🎙️ great podcast hosting Alex and his ‘No BS Strategy.’

2. ‘They Ask You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan

This book is mandatory reading for everyone working in marketing and or content. The ‘They Ask, You Answer’ is the way to create content to align with your (potential) customer’s needs.

SEO and AI search ranking
A great way to rank high in SEO and attract organic traffic. It’s also AI search-friendly because it prioritizes your customer. I take it further by writing FAQs based on customer prompts, resulting in ChatGPT and Perplexity frequently appearing in my web traffic analytics.

3. ‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller

One of the best books on content and storytelling I have read in recent years. Learn how to build your story with your customer in mind.

→ It’s not about you; it’s about how your brand solves your customers’ problem(s).

Once you know this trick, you will recognize it in every great Hollywood movie. Your message will change for the better.

“The first campaign he released is just two words on billboards all over America: Think Different. When Apple began filtering their communication to make it simple and relevant, they actually stopped featuring computers in most of their advertising. Instead, they understood their customers were all living, breathing heroes, and they tapped into their stories.

4. ‘Writing for Busy Readers’ by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink

You have to simplify your writing to get busy readers to read.

Learn how to write better to communicate more effectively. Todd explains it all by 6 princpiples.

• Less is more
• Make reading easy
• Design for easy navigation
• Use enough formatting, but no more
• Tell readers why they should care
• Make responding easy

5. ‘Very Good Copy’ by Eddie Shleyner

‘This book gives you more sound, simple copywriting advice per page than anything I read’ (Drayton Bird, Ogilvy). I second this.

I ate the book for breakfast on a Saturday morning.

You will be inspired.

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Please share your feedback in a comment or via email to help me create better content for you.

In short:

• Less content is more impact: We're tired of overflowing inboxes and bottomless scrolling timelines, we crave quality over quantity. We need less content but of higher quality. With the constant pressure for efficiency and getting more done, we start tuning out and becoming more selective. 
  
  We're drowning in information and starving for knowledge. 
   
• The choices are endless, so you need to step up your game as a brand. It’s about addressing needs, answering questions, and providing top-level entertainment. Not through pixel-perfect content, but by focusing on what truly matters to everyone: ourselves.
   
• We’re becoming less engaged on social, and algorithms are trying to adapt. A more AI-human approach is needed. 
  
  Less polished, more outspoken.

Let’s zoom in on 3 trends that stand out. I'll start with the most important one: human connection and authenticity. 

1. Human-first content: why authenticity matters more than ever

The more AI we have, the more we value human effort. We are social beings and crave attention and connection.

→ Let’s use AI where possible to have time for human connection where needed.

Of course, there is a huge efficiency win in automation and having AI agents working on your customer care and sales processes. The danger is in using AI to pretend to be human.

It’s for a reason that authenticity is a hype. We want to know if the other is human, and made an effort when reaching out to us.

What to do as a brand or thought leader

This is simple. Make an effort. Use AI to increase efficiency and speed up processes, but don’t fully rely on it. Nor automate everything. In the end, personal attention is what makes the difference and closes the deals.

→ If you have AI to handle the routine, you free up time for meaningful human connection.

In line with the craving for personal connection is social media fatigue. We're oversaturated; there's so much out there, we don't know where to start, so sometimes we tune out and go offline. 

2. Social media fatigue is real, how to adapt

This fatigue is real. Due to the vast overflow of (mediocre) content, people zoom out. Content quality is spiraling down in favor of quantity in the hunt for vanity metrics, especially on social media.

• Somewhere, I read that the real successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders refrain from such practices; they move in silence in the background and connect personally.
  
  This makes sense to me. I value authentic interest and genuine connection over being part of a clickbait anytime.
   
• Next, People hold back from liking or commenting on posts. Being tired of engagement is real. 
  
  You see fewer likes and comments on social, but people do read your posts. This is based on my experience publishing almost 200 LinkedIn newsletters. Hardly anyone gives me a like, but almost everyone reads it regularly, according to my DMs and chats. It's the same as dark social, because you can't measure it, doesn't mean it isn't there. 
   
• Third, the rise of niche channels is also real. I’ve never seen so many of my contacts popping up as new users on Substack, my follower growth on Medium, and I can’t be the only one who emptied and closed my Facebook account.

Not even to mention the resistance people feel against the big tech bros…

What to do as a brand or thought leader

The answer is simple. Produce less (social) content. Learn the algorithms and keep up with their speed. The algorithm changes every few months; what works now can be different in the future. 

Again, you absolutely don’t need more content; you need better content. Higher quality, truly focused on your reader and reasoned from their perspective, not yours. 

You don’t need 100+ content pieces. If you have around 5 or 10 really amazing ones, you can update, reuse, repurpose, and republish those time and time again.

Like many other websites, my site gets 80% of its traffic from just 10 to 20% of its content. Your data can tell you exactly which content performs well and which doesn’t.

It brings me to the next point: how to get the attention? Again, It’s all about quality.

3. Quality is king: how to stand out in our AI-driven world

This is nothing new but a kind reminder. In the abundance of mediocre AI-generated or automated content, the true gems still shine. This is fully in line with the tiredness described above.

Three things to know.

• First, the coolest people in our society right now are the ones who are deeply obsessed. Niche expertise. 
  
  It’s never been easier to crank out content, pretend you’re an expert, and know a little about a lot. When everyone is going broad (and shallow); the status will come from the ability to go deep, to know a lot about a little.

• Second, algorithms adapt. Search also adapts. About 50% recognize AI-generated content and tune out. And thanks to AI, it also becomes easier to see if the content has real value, is created by a knowledgeable professional, or is just summarizing the internet. AI works both ways; it’s becoming easier to produce content, but it’s also becoming easier to distinguish between mediocre, good, and great.

• Third, we develop blindness for mediocre content and tune out. We become better and faster in recognizing content that is real, personal, and has authentic points of view with insights shared by experts who paid their dues in the industry.

Conclusion: you don’t need more content; you need less content of higher quality, produced with a bit more love, and AI-powered, not AI-generated.

What to do as a brand or thought leader

Don’t be lazy or want to be too efficient. Make a human effort.

For your content strategy, you must first research what matters to your customers, not just what you want to tell the world. If you don’t tap into what your customer needs content-wise, there’s no need to create content at all. Use data, use AI, and lastly, talk to your customers about what they want.

Also, please make an effort to learn how to configure your AI and prompt. If done wisely with expertise and an eye for detail, this can save you up to 75% time in your content production process while you elevate the quality and stay authentic and in your brand voice.

For my client, it took me 2 days of AI configuration to be able to create high-quality content in 4 to 6 hours instead of the 40+ hours originally. And based on their feedback, I update the configuration almost weekly.

Frequently asked questions about content and AI for 2025

• What is the biggest content trend for 2025?
  
  If I have to summarize, it's ‘human.’ The more AI we have, the more we value personal connection. Not only to know if the other is ‘real’ or a bot but also just because we're social beings and crave attention. 

• How can I use AI to create content? 
  
  There are two ways. The common quick and dirty, which results in generic mediocre content, prompt-and-go. And the more thought-through process where you spend a lot of time on the strategic framework and processes, AI configuration, and operational workflow. Which results in AI-powered, high-quality, engaging content. 
  
  Of course, every leader wants quality over speed. But it takes effort; please realize this takes seniority, a serious budget, and time. 

Final thoughts: content in 2025 is all about connection & quality

2025. What's hot and what's not? My predictions for this year were spot on. Now that we're 3 months in, I'd like to focus even more on:

1. Human connection and authenticity
2. Social media fatigue is real
3. Quality to stand out

As a brand or thought leader, it's a no-brainer that you have to adjust your content accordingly. Use AI wisely to improve your content; it's still the human factor that counts and makes the difference. 

AI is not about more; AI is about better and faster. So we can free up time to connect again. 

Subscribe for more AI, content, and marketing insights

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Please share your feedback in a comment or via email to help me create better content for you.

If you want to use AI for your content marketing strategy and are looking for a head start, this is what you need to know and apply. 

All have these principles in common:

• The strategic advantage comes from people who work with AI, not from AI itself
   
• To stand out and be noticed, you must dare to show your true, authentic colors. Don't hide in the middle, being afraid to alienate audiences. 
   
• Successful usage of AI means prioritizing brand identity and ethics over efficiency, quality over quantity, and  long-term brand storytelling and growth over short-term vanity metrics

There is no quick hack, no cutting corners, you also don't need more content, the cost savings are different than you think, and why your employees keep quiet that they use AI. Lastly, how to be accountable and give clarity in the C-suite. 

How to use AI in your content strategy

But first, how and where in the content marketing strategy you can use AI. Give or take, these should be the elements of your strategy:

1. Brand identity and business objectives: who are you and why do you do what you do. Align this with your business objectives
2. Research: SWOT, audience, competitors, content audit, SEO, analytics, sales data and seasonality
3. Define goals, topics, and how to realize them: why do you produce content, what's your story, and how do you measure the results
4. Planning: calendar, reuse strategy, production planning. Align with your resources and processes. Is it feasible
5. Production: ideate and create, create your assets to fit distribution not for the sake of distribution 
6. Distribution and paid promotion: include a-synchronicity between channels to get more bang for your buck
7. Reporting and KPIs: C-suite reporting and vanity metrics for daily management

You can use AI in all phases. There's no golden rule on what to do and how to do it. 

The only rule is not to prompt your way into a content strategy.

• An AI-generated content strategy will get something generic, and this very probably will not move the sales needle in the long term
• Do you want to upload all your insights and data to AI to get the strategy? Really?
• Strategy is a craft for a reason. Creating something different takes a somewhat dirty, twisted mind. Often, it's the unpredictable uncommon connections made that make you stand out and create measurable impact

The magic is in your strategic thinking, and AI helps you. AI is not to replace human innovation and creativity. 

Below, the top 5 articles on content and AI, in random order.

1. AI and (ghost)writing

Make AI content feel real and high-quality with five steps: define your brand voice, set AI to match your style, write clear prompts, use AI for ideas (but stay in control), and always edit before publishing. 

→ AI and (ghost)writing, a 5 step framework for high-quality, authentic content

2. Make your content stick

To make your content memorable, repeat key messages 5 to 7 times. This repetition helps move information from short-term to long-term memory. Republish and repurpose existing content to reinforce your message without creating new material each time.

→ Master the rule of 5 to 7: make your content stick

3. AI and GPTs for proofreading

Improve your content by using AI tools like ChatGPT for proofreading. These tools can help identify and correct errors, suggest improvements, and ensure your writing is clear and engaging. 

→ AI and GPTs for proofreading and improve the quality of your content

4. Define your tone of voice

To make your content sound like you, start by collecting a few pieces you've written that show your style. Use ChatGPT to analyze these and define your unique voice. Then, set this voice in ChatGPT's 'Custom Instructions' for consistent responses. 

→ How to use ChatGPT to create content: define your tone of voice

5. 2 step guide for 'Custom Instructions'

Get better answers from ChatGPT with less effort. By using 'Custom Instructions' and the 'for canvas' tool, you can shape responses to fit your needs. This saves time, improves accuracy, and makes editing easier. 

→ Improve your ChatGPT output: a 2 step guide for 'Custom Instructions'

Frequently asked questions about content and AI

• How can I use AI to create content? 
  
  There are two ways. The common quick and dirty, which results in generic mediocre content; prompt-and-go. And the more thought-through process where you spend a lot of time on the strategic framework and processes, AI configuration, and operational workflow. Which results in AI-powered high-quality engaging content. 
  
  Of course, every leader wants quality over speed. But it takes effort; please realize this takes seniority, serious budget, and time. 

• How much time and budget can I save by using AI for content?
  
  If you follow the process above, you can create content in 25% to 33% of the time and 2x as fast. Please note that these are our savings. And realize that we invested heavily in the setup upfront. 

• How to be authentic when using AI?
  
  This is simpler than you think. Add your tone of voice to your prompts, or bake this into your AI tool configuration. ‘How to use ChatGPT to create content: define your tone of voice’
  
  I always get the feedback that my content is so recognizable me, as if you hear me speaking when you read my copy. However, all my content is AI-powered. I configured ChatGPT in such a way that AI's response sounds like me, and I have to spend little to no time editing. 

More relevant reads

These might help you improve your content even more.

• Books to read to improve your marketing and content skills
   
• LinkedIn algorithm secrets. All you need to know, and what I didn't
   
• How I got 42,000+ readers and 2,000 subscribers with 8 hours a week
   
• 2025 Content trends; humanity as a counterbalance for AI and social media fatigue
   
• Get better AI results. The why and how elements of a good prompt, explained by example

Subscribe for more AI and marketing insights

If you like to stay up to date on AI, content, and marketing based on insight and how it matters to you, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter. 

Two-click subscribe, and one-click unsubscribe if it's not for you.

Easy does it.

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Please share your feedback in a comment or via email to help me create better content for you.

Sources

Everything Content newsroom (yes, it's mine), Study reveals how consumers interact with AI-generated content vs human-made

One of the most frequently asked questions from my clients is how to get more content at a lower cost. 

Sorry, not sorry to tell you. This is not how it works.

→ The secret, what actually works, is doing the boring content very well and consistently.

Let’s reveal the boring stuff and what you can do.

What is the boring content?

Doing boring things is your foundation. I get it; the social campaigns are sexy, but if you don't master the basics, you'll never nail the rest. 

What is the boring stuff? It's your ‘why’ and ‘how’ content. The information about your brand and products. Why you do what you do and why that matters to your audience. This boring content: 

• Claims your thought leadership and brings your brand to life
   
• Feeds SEO and AI search

This is the content that gets cut first. 

What if your content budget is cut

Often, you see that the content budget is cut due to costs. And usually, the boring content gets cut out first, to make room for the sexy campaigns. 

In my humble opinion, that's exactly the opposite of what you should do when your content budget is cut. Why? Because campaign content is volatile and has a short lifespan. It evaporates before your eyes and usually has less impact on your long-term upper funnel than having your reusable basic content in place.  

Now, let’s see some more benefits. 

The benefit of investing in the content basics

So instead of investing in the sexy campaigns, you invest in the basics and your team.

The benefit is that once you have this, it becomes really easy, fast, and cheap to multiply.

A second benefit is that most of your competitors skip this step due to the same budget constraints as you have. So you’ll also have a head start with SEO and AI search.

What to do

As mentioned, invest in the quality. 

Invest in craftsmanship

You don’t want bogus marketers who act like project managers and miss the in-depth knowledge, hands-on experience, or grit for their craft. Make sure your team has time to learn and grow (and make some mistakes along the way).

Hire the senior

Invest in a heavyweight senior to manage and train the team. The mistake most often made is cutting the expensive seniors and sticking with the mediors and juniors.

But please realize that it’s the senior who pulls the content quality from mediocre to good to great. 

I've seen this a few times; you'll stay afloat with the medior-junior team for a while. But after a year or so, it nibbles away; the team stops learning and being innovative. 

Use AI for strategic things as well

This is a no-brainer. 51% of marketers want to use AI, but over 66% struggle with how to.

Provide training and time, so your team knows how to work with AI. Not just for production but even more so for strategic research. That's where it can make the most difference and impact.

Wrapping it up, 3 key takeaways

If you are looking for a hack or a shortcut to engaging and effective content, sorry, not sorry, for being the bearer of bad news. There’s no such thing.

The secret of great content is in doing the boring things really well and consistently. Practice makes perfect.

3 Key takeaways

1. Invest in the team and fundamentals of content before you think about sexy social campaigns
2. Use AI to improve on quality, not quantity
3. Build a team with strong senior leadership to drive quality and consistency

Once you have that in place, you can ramp up on quality and quantity. Easy, fast, and cheap.

About me and ‘Confessions of a content strategist’

A little bit more about me and my rant as I have a feeling of sharing some background information with you – why what I see and think matters and why I humbly think that I have a point. 

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology who fell in love with technology, creativity, and data. I have been around in the industry for 25+ years and have worked for over 50+ top-notch brands and agencies. 

I've seen quite a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this with you to nudge and inspire everyone working in marketing, communication, and corporate to do an even better job. Let's be honest; there's already too much crappy content out there; no need to contribute to that, right?

Need help to start with AI today?

If you need any help setting up this new process and getting your team started while hitting the ground running, don’t hesitate to drop me a DM on LinkedIn. 

If I'm not your designated person, I can certainly recommend someone in my network who can help you.  

Subscribe for more AI and marketing insights

If you don't want to miss out on AI, content, and marketing based on insight and how it matters to you, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter. And you'll receive my updates automatically in your inbox. 

Two-click subscribe, and one-click to unsubscribe if you don’t like it.

Easy does it.

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Please share your feedback in a comment or via email to help me create better content for you.

The tides are shifting.

Here are three key trends shaping content:

1. The rise of niche channels as an answer to social media and engagement tiredness
2. Humanizing content as an answer to AI
3. Brands are now expected to be bold and playful

This is the first episode of a three-fold series I zoom in on the rise of niche channels. This is an answer to social media and engagement tiredness, reflecting a shift towards smaller, more community-driven spaces where users can find more genuine interactions.

With the popularity of the brand new BlueSky, the less new Threads, and the overnight growth and hipsterness of established channels like Substack and Reddit, I rest my case.

This is what you need to know.

Social media fatigue is real, but it’s not killing social

Around 40% of people in the Netherlands report feeling tired of social media and consider reducing their time spent on platforms. While intentions often differ from actions, there’s no doubt a change is on the horizon. 

Globally, time spent on social is down slightly, while in the Netherlands, it’s stable at about 1 hour and 30 minutes a day.

Algorithms are changing, adapt or fall behind

The bread and butter of social platforms are their users, and to keep them engaged, platforms must constantly refine what content they deliver. 

TikTok has set a new bar with its algorithm, serving content based purely on user engagement rather than who you follow. 

Instagram, LinkedIn, and others are racing to adapt to this model. 

The message is clear: if content isn’t resonating, it’s not getting pushed, whether organic or paid.

Niche channels are on the rise, but proceed with caution

In a landscape crowded with AI-generated content, people crave genuine, community-driven spaces. 

New and niche channels like Bluesky, Threads, Discord, Substack, and Reddit are growing in popularity as they offer more personalized, less commercialized experiences. 

While these platforms are increasingly popular, they might not be right for every brand just yet.

What does this mean for your social strategy?

The days of mass-produced, bland content are over. If you want to keep your audience engaged, you must focus on quality over quantity. 

Know how algorithms work and use that to make sure your content speaks to what your audience wants: entertainment, education, and inspiration. This is true for organic and paid posts alike.

On LinkedIn, for instance, organic reach has dropped significantly, especially for business pages. The algorithm now rewards active, connected users over passive content pushers. For business pages, pay to play or adapt and tap into the personal and human side of your business and use your C-suite and employees to connect to others. 

So, what’s the big takeaway? 

Stop trying to be everywhere at once. Instead, double down on the platforms that matter to your audience and refine your message. Use AI tools wisely, don’t let them replace authenticity.

Final thoughts: quality is king in 2025

The biggest shift we’re seeing is the heightened importance of quality. To cut through the social noise, your content must resonate and bring real value—don't be too serious, don't puff up, no excessive ads, no empty product plugs. You might think you don't fluff, but 9 out of 10, you do. 

Whether you’re aiming to entertain, inspire, or educate, the goal is to make your audience feel like their time spent engaging with your content is time well spent.

Stay tuned for the next episodes in this series, ‘Humanizing content as an answer to AI', and why ‘Brands are now expected to be bold and playful.’

Key takeaways

• People aren't leaving social platforms, but they’re becoming more selective. Content quality and relevance are more important than ever as users seek more value and less noise.
   
• The secret to social success is no longer simply visibility—it’s relevance. To thrive under the new algorithm rules, brands need to focus on creating content that entertains, educates, or inspires.
   
• Brands should resist the urge to immediately flood every new niche channel. Instead, focus on improving content quality where your audience already engages, adding value through genuine storytelling rather than pushing ads.

Subscribe for more AI and marketing insights

If you don't want to miss out on AI, content, and marketing based on insight and how it matters to you, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter. And you'll receive my updates automatically in your inbox. 

Two-click subscribe, and one-click to unsubscribe if you don’t like it.

Easy does it.

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Please share your feedback in a comment or via email to help me create better content for you.

About me

A little bit more about me as I have a feeling to share some background information and credits with you – why what I see and think matters and why I humbly think that I have a point. 

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology who fell in love with technology, creativity, and data. I have been around in the industry for 25+ years—yes, I started at a young age—and have worked for over 50+ top-notch brands and agencies. 

I've seen quite a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. Now, I share all this with you to nudge and inspire everyone working in marketing, communication, and corporate to do an even better job. Let's be honest; there's already too much crappy content out there; no need to contribute to that, right?

Please check the sources before jumping to conclusions. Credit where credit is due: thanks to my coworkers from Dentsu Creative in Amsterdam, who helped me kickstart the overarching trends. I did the rest of the research and analysis myself. If I missed anything or made a mistake, please let me know. I'm only human, and hiccups happen. 

Sources and credits

• Dentsu Creative Amsterdam 
• NewCom Social Media Onderzoek 2024
• WPP Cannes Lions 2024
• Rockcontent Cannes Lions 2024
• LinkedIn algorithm secrets (monthly updated)
• LinkedIn algorithm secrets archive
• GWI usage of social media 2024
• Smart Insights global social media statistics 2024
• Social media data report 2024 (Meltwater, We Are Social and many others)
• Frankwatching and NewCom
• Datareportal 10 stats for 2024 (video)
• Datareportal extended 560 slides deck
• Datareportal social media 2024 details
• WARC Effective 100 2024
• https://medium.com/@johnkovacevich/case-studies-for-the-2024-cannes-lion-grand-prix-winners-36b314146b86
• https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/cmotalk/id1231349060?i=1000664207981
• https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/cmotalk/id1231349060?i=1000664207808
• https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/cmotalk/id1231349060?i=1000662813952
• https://offers.hubspot.com/ai-marketing

Such a waste of budget and effort and causes frustration. 

Let’s start with the most annoying one, the unaware and unintended mixing up plan and planning in content. 

→ Most brands think they have a plan, but in reality, they have a planning.  A plan is the ‘why’ based on research, data, insights, and how content contributes to the business objectives; the planning is the ‘when, what, and where.’ 

What are the differences between plan and planning, and why does it matter? 

Before you continue reading, it is good to know that ‘plan’ is just another word for ‘strategy.’ 

How mixing up plan and planning hurts your business

What I see the most is that the planning is proudly presented as the brands’ plan, the content strategy. 

However, that planning is actually just a derivation of the marketing strategy and calendar, not a plan for how content contributes to the business and can be measured.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with using your marketing strategy as a starting point for your content planning for the following year. But, then, it’s planning, not a plan.

There are many brands without a strategy and just execute in line with the marketing calendar, and they'll survive. But if you want to grow, drive sales, claim leadership and move some needles, you better get a strategy in place. 

Failing to plan is planning to fail. 

I’ll explain.

Content plan, the bigger picture

A plan is another word for strategy. In short, ‘how you get from A to B,’ where A is where you are right now, and B is your objective, where you want to be. The plan describes how you allocate your scarce resources to reach that objective as efficiently as possible.

The plan is the why, what, and who behind your content, guiding everything toward your bigger picture and business goals. This is also where you set your KPIs.

Content planning, day-to-day execution

The planning Is the execution of the plan. It’s how you turn your strategy into action; turn big goals into clear actions.

Deciding when and how content gets produced, measured in daily (vanity) metrics, not KPIs.

I will not dive into the details of both. If you really don’t know why you need a strategy before you get into execution, this page is not for you.

So why do so many brands struggle to distinguish the two? Here’s what I see.

Why brands mix-up plan and planning 

The most common reason is the lack of seniority in your content team. I get it; you want as much content as possible at the cheapest price, and content seniors are expensive. 

But let’s be honest here: most marketers became project managers in disguise, and the CMO often has more on his or her plate than just content.

→ Content is a craft and expertise on its own, for a reason.

→ Content is much more than marketing. Just like AI, it touches every department; everyone needs, wants, produces, and distributes content.

What to do? 3 Steps to fix the content strategy mix-up

There are 3 things you can do. 

1. Educate yourself, update your expertise

I highly recommend you read books, listen to podcasts, immerse yourself in cases, and dive into the data. No doubt you truly show your craftmanship and expertise by knowing the old-school theory while staying up to date with current practices.

Stay f***ing curious.

• My top 5 books about content and strategy I highly recommend: ‘No Bullsh*t Strategy’ by Alex M H Smith, ‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller, ‘They Ask, You Answer’ by Marcus Sheridan, 'Good Strategy, bad strategy' by Richard P. Rumelt, and ‘How not to Plan: 66 ways to screw it up’ by Les Binet and Sarah Carter.
   
• Podcasts to listen to: Acquired , ACQ2 , and Nudge . There are so many more amazing podcasts out there; this is my top 3 with the hidden uncommon gems. 

2. Bring in external eyes, identify blind spots

Outside perspectives keep you sharp. Hire external consultants to identify your blind spots and help you see what’s missing.

Yes, externals are expensive, but for a reason. If you have a good one who gives sh*t about internal politics, they help you, and they'll tell you without a doubt where you f*** up and what you need to do to improve and get started.

3. Hire professionals to start strong and bring your team up to speed

Get experts to help you start strong and train your team. Your goal should be to build internal skills, so your team can take over confidently without needing that expensive external support.

Frequently asked questions about content plan and planning

• What happens if I don't make the difference between plan and planning?
  
  You lose direction. If you don't separate the content strategy from the execution, you lose direction. Your team may focus on just executing tasks without knowing the bigger purpose. This means scattered content efforts, wasted resources, and missed chances to tie content back to your business goals.
  
  But let's be honest as well: if you don't have that strategy, you'll stay afloat. Only being accountable and growing become a lot more difficult (read: impossible).

• How do I know if my team is mixing up plan and planning?
  
  Wake up, after educating yourself. Pay attention to how they talk about content projects. If they’re always focused on deadlines and tasks without talking about the bigger goals or the 'why' behind the content, they’re probably confusing strategy with planning. 
  
  Ask them why they’re doing what they’re doing, what's their objective and how that contributes to sales and the business — if they struggle to answer, there's a mix-up happening.

• How do I know if my CMO is mixing up plan and planning?
  
  Again, educate yourself, pay attention to details and ask questions. If your CMO is focused solely on campaign execution without talking about long-term strategy, they might be missing the bigger picture. 
  
  Ask questions like, 'How does this campaign fit into our overall brand goals?' If the answers seem vague or disconnected, it's a sign they might be blurring the lines between planning and strategy.

Key takeaways, plan versus planning

What you need to know about distinguishing plan from planning

• Know the difference: A plan is your strategy, while planning is about execution.
   
• Align your efforts: Ensure your planning directly follows your strategy to achieve business goals.
   
• Build internal capabilities: Educate your team and bring in experts to get started, but aim to develop in-house expertise to reduce reliance on external support.

So far, my rant and frustration with marketers who don't distinguish between plan and planning. 

The one thing that makes this even worse is that often, they are not even aware they are making this mix-up. And that really hurts your business and my strategy and content heart. 

About me and ‘Confessions of a content strategist’

A little bit more about me and my rant as I have a feeling of sharing some background information with you – why what I see and think matters and why I humbly think that I have a point. 

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology who fell in love with technology, creativity, and data. I have been around in the industry for 25+ years and have worked for over 50+ top-notch brands and agencies. 

I've seen quite a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. 

Now, I share all this with you to nudge and inspire everyone working in marketing, communication, and corporate to do an even better job. Let's be honest; there's already too much crappy content out there; no need to contribute to that, right?

Need help to start with AI today?

If you need any help setting up this new process and getting your team started while hitting the ground running, don’t hesitate to drop me a DM on LinkedIn. 

If I'm not your designated person, I can certainly recommend someone in my network who can help you.  

Subscribe for more AI and marketing insights

If you don't want to miss out on AI, content, and marketing based on insight and how it matters to you, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter. And you'll receive my updates automatically in your inbox. 

Two-click subscribe, and one-click to unsubscribe if you don’t like it.

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Please share your feedback in a comment or via email to help me create better content for you.

Usually, day after day, we're too much in our head, resulting in indecisiveness, and nothing gets done. I get it; we've all been there. 

Unfortunately, continuously feeling overwhelmed and pressured to perform became the standard and our default mode in recent years. 

How I manage myself, my expectations, my anxiety, and above all, how I stay creative and keep my mental sanity in this crazy world → walking.

Yeah, I know! Walking is usually something for the elderly or the overenthusiastic 10K+ steps-a-day fit girl health freaks. But it works. Like magic.

There're at least 3 mental and 1 physical benefit.

• Walking, the unexpected creativity hack
• Mental clarity starts with movement
• Your me-time to unwind, learn, and grow
• Your physical health benefits as well
• Need a push to start? Ask AI to motivate your inner office warrior

How I walk 10K+ steps a day without even trying

I started in January 2022 and vamped up my daily steps from ~4K to 10K minimum to 12K maximum. It's easier than you think, no need to stress about forcefully squeezing walking into your daily (office) life. 

I walk to the gym for 20 minutes and back; I walk to the supermarket in 15 minutes; I walk during a meeting, and sometimes, I even walk to the city center in 50 minutes instead of by bike or public transport — it’s my time to listen to books, podcasts, music or enjoy the sound of silence.

→ I measure my average per week or month, so I don't stress for being lazy for a day or two.

Give it a try; all it takes to start is 10 minutes, and build it up from there. And after a week of short walks, you'll notice that you feel a shift in your creativity and mental clarity. 

Let's get into the benefits and the details. 

Walking, the unexpected creativity hack

It's proven by research and data. And personal experiences. 

• Based on ‘Learning to Learn’ by Barbara Oakley, unwinding and letting your mind wander is essential to be able to hyper-focus. You need to give your mind a break to unwind, calm down, digest, and prepare for a new time of high productivity. You can’t do one without the other.
   
• In ‘Creativity,’ John Cleese explains this in his own way. If you initiate and start the work the night before, you can digest and chew on it while you sleep. And the next morning, with a fresh and rested mind, you undoubtedly improve your work. That’s why spending 10 to 30 minutes on the big project you want to start or complete the next day is always a good idea.

My take is that if you can’t sleep, you at least can go for a 10-minute walk and let your mind wander to be able to re-focus afterward. 

Luckily, walking has even more benefits; it's just as powerful for your mental health. 

Mental clarity starts with movement

Never underestimate the mental benefits of physically moving your body. The more stuck you are in your head, the more you need it.

Even at times when you are so damn freaking crazy busy, and you prefer to be glued to your desk to finish all tasks precisely than go for a walk.

I guarantee that when you take a short break, step away from the urgent work to be done, and when you come back, you'll have more head space, feel more energized, and get even more work done in the shorter time left to complete your tasks.

→ We can’t be always-on, we need head space.

Please note that there is no need to go all out, spike your heart rate, or go for a hard run or an intense CrossFit workout. It’s the relaxed, repetitive, low impact of walking that calms your mind, decreases stimuli, and releases the happy hormones.

And with that clear mind, you're open to learning and growing. It's good to know that your walking time can double as high-quality, do-not-disturb me-time.

Your ultimate me-time to unwind, learn, and grow

Walking is like an inspirational escape for me. It’s the time I can shamelessly spend on myself to learn and be inspired. This results in about 1 book a week and 2 to 4 podcasts a day. 

→ Without even making a real effort, I continuously learn new stuff, get fresh insights, gain different points of view, and just enjoy listening to others to broaden my horizons.

I even have my favorite Audible books I re-read frequently, some of which I can cite almost word by word. You never read the same book twice.

And, for sure, not all books and podcasts are high-brow, educational, and intellectually sound; I'm human, and this is also my me-time to feel dumb, act stupid, and escape the harsh reality.

Luckily, the benefits continue; next to these 3 mental benefits, there's also a huge physical payoff. 

Your physical health benefits as well

The world has never been more obese, out of shape, medicine-dependent, and sick than it is right now. We should be ashamed of letting ourselves go. 

If I remember correctly, we sit for 12+ hours per day on average. We sit during breakfast, in our car, at the (home) office, during lunch and dinner, and after that, we hang out on the sofa for some Netflix and chill. Shocking, right?

Knowing this, it’s not weird that most people are stuck at around 3.000 steps a day. And we all know that’s not enough to maintain your physical and mental health. We humans are made to move, not to be glued to a chair. 

→ Remember, a ‘body in motion stays in motion’ [the incredible Dr. Pol, 80 years old]

→ ‘We don’t stop moving because we grow old; we grow old because we stop moving.’

Need a push to start? Ask AI to motivate your inner office warrior

And if you don’t feel motivated, just ask ChatGPT to motivate you with this prompt. 

Imagine you are a super busy, very important office warrior and desk jockey; you need to deliver pronto and get a shitload of work done. You know it’s good to take a break, go outside, go for a walk, and come back refreshed. Can you write me a motivation in Simon Sinek or Arnold Schwarzenegger's style? Please keep it short and motivational in 100 words.  

Key takeaways and wrapping it up

If you're not convinced by now, get up, go for a 10-minute walk outside, and reflect on how it makes you feel. That's the simplest way to get started and experience the benefits almost instantly.

Staying active, both physically and mentally, keeps you happy, creative and healthy. And more productive.

All you need is your mindset to get out the door, even if it’s just for 5 minutes one way and 5 minutes back. Still, a short 10-minute walk makes a huge difference.

And even if it rains, go. As a bonus, you’ll feel more badass when you’ll be back.

Why walking is the best you can do

• Walking, the unexpected creativity hack
• Mental clarity starts with movement
• Your me-time to unwind, learn, and grow
• Your physical health benefits as well
• Need a push to start? Ask AI to motivate your inner office warrior

Enjoy your newfound creativity, clarity, and head space.

Need help to start with AI today?

If you need any help setting up this new process and getting your team started while hitting the ground running, don’t hesitate to drop me a DM on LinkedIn. 

If I'm not your designated person, I can certainly recommend someone in my network who can help you.  

Stay ahead: subscribe to my newsletter

If you don't want to miss out on AI, content, and marketing based on insight and how it matters to you, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter. And you'll receive my updates automatically in your inbox. 

Two-click subscribe, and one-click to unsubscribe if you don’t like it.

Easy does it.

→ Subscribe

Please share your feedback in a comment or via email to help me create better content for you.

→ What's more believable and real, a review where a brand new product is shown or the same review with an obviously used and or worn product?

This means you replace the new and perfect-state products with products that are dented, busted, gouged, or panned half-empty from use. 

Be more real and relatable; be less perfect

This new trend builds upon the booming de-influencing, under-consumption, and quiet luxury trends on social. Usually, what you see on TikTok emerges in other socials within a few weeks and in society within a few months to a year. The same is true here; I already wrote about them in 2023, and they are still growing and becoming more popular. 

For the clarity of the post, let’s undress the terminology.

• Deinfluencing challenges hypes promoted by influences, pushing back on these promoted trends and products, and emphasizing honest reviews.
   
• Underconsumption is about choosing less and resisting overconsumption. It promotes mindful spending, valuing quality over quantity, and focusing on living with intention instead of accumulating more.
   
• Quiet luxury is about not showing off with big brands, logos, and names. It’s about slowing and toning down and focusing on quality over quantity; less is more.

Check out this TikTok that inspired me: ‘In a world where there is a new product launch every single month, the novelty and shine of new makeup has worn off and we are starting to romanticize using our stuff.’

Why authenticity matters

People are getting tired of all the ads. Tired of the perfect state of things while they look at their own lives falling apart while we can't keep up with every shiny new trend. 

We are massively getting fed up with crafted, polished social content that’s not relatable to our worlds. Not even to mention how tired we are of the fakeness of the products influencers push upon us. Creators are becoming more popular than influencers for a reason. 

As a result, roughly 40% consider spending less time and engaging less on social, as explained in '2025 Content trends’.

Next to this, we want to counterbalance AI; we don't know what's real and what's not. Therefore, the less perfect something is, the more probably it's real and authentic. We value authenticity and realness more and more. 

What you can do for 2025

There are three things you can do immediately. If you start now, you have a bigger chance to be noticed and stand out in next year's content – this process takes time. 

1. Keep your eye on TikTok for trends; what’s hip and happening there will eventually spread to other socials and society. 
   
   Know what's coming your way is half the work and you can decide if you want to join, or not. 
    
2. Get buy-in for showing imperfection and to show your product in its authentic and used condition. Dented. Busted. Panned. Nobody believes a review where the product is brand new. If the product is obviously used, it 10x'es the credibility. 
   
   It takes time to convince the more traditional marketers and get them on board. 
    
3. Dare to embrace being real. Dare to be less perfect and more real. Perfection is boring. Authenticity is key to stand out.

And you’re not alone. Big brands leading the way, two examples:

• Coca-Cola dared to crumble its can to promote recycling.
• IKEA dared to show the real state of the furniture in daily life. 

Both won a Lion in Cannes 2024. Apparently, they're onto something. 

Wrapping it up

If you want to stand out, you have to dare to be real. We're getting tired of the polished, picture-perfect products that are not relatable to our own daily lives. You're losing credibility if you're just too perfect. 

What to do

• Show your products in the used, dented, busted, gouged, panned state to win credibility
   
• Show that you know what's going on in society: we're tired of being perfect, we want a counter-balance for AI, we are fed up with influencers, and as a result, we're flirting with underconsumption, deinfluencing, and quiet luxury

And please, don't forget to have some fun along the way! 

Need help?

If you need any help with all of the above—and I’m not biased at all—I’m thoroughly experienced, have ruffled many feathers, and have learned from my mistakes, drop me an email. If I’m not the right person to help you, maybe I can recommend someone or an agency from my network.

Stay ahead: subscribe to my newsletter

If you want to stay up to date on AI, content, and marketing based on insight and how it matters to you, subscribe to my LinkedIn newsletter. And you'll automatically receive my monthly update on the LinkedIn algorithm in your inbox. 

Two-click subscribe, and one-click to unsubscribe if you don’t like it.

Easy does it.

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Let’s start with why it matters to know what’s next this early. That's easy. You move slow at the corporate level, and the adjustment pace is generally, well… a bit low — no offense meaning. 

So, the sooner you know, the faster you can start acting. 

This is what you need to know to prepare for 2025.

1. We’re getting tired of the crappy content flood on socials. As a result, we spend less time and engage less on social and seek more niche and personal channels.
    
2. All you can do as a brand is upgrade your quality. Great content is not about you; it’s (still) about your audience. That becomes even more important to get reach; paid doesn't guarantee that anymore. 
    
3. As a counterbalance against AI, we value human connection more than ever. And that shows in the ads to get awarded in the industry.
    
4. Next to that, we finally dare again to stand up and speak out. On ethics and what matters to us. And we become more playful with logos and products. We break the unwritten rules.
    
5. Lastly, we embrace data and AI in a different way. Not only for production, also as a direction and a reflection.

Bear with me as this will be a rather long read; you can skip and skim to the most relevant paragraphs; there is no need to read from beginning to end. I’ll try to keep it as short as possible.

1. Social media tiredness causes algorithms to change, and the rise of niche channels

In the Netherlands, about 40% of the population is getting social tired and thinks about cutting down social time and engagement [Newcom, 2024]. Of course, take this with a grain of salt; ‘saying’ and ‘doing’ are still two different things. Yet it’s an indication there’s a change coming.

→ Social is not dead, but it is changing. 

2024, Social analytics and the numbers

• Time spent on social: Globally, there is a -2.7% or - 4 minutes of daily time spent on social, now at 2h23min. Disclaimer: this is a global number; in the Netherlands, the usage of social is actually + 1 minute per day at 1h30, despite their intention of cutting down on time and engagement I mentioned above [SmartInsights] [NewCom on Frankwatching] [Datareportal][Meltwater]. 
   
• Popularity in numbers: Facebook is still the biggest in numbers among Millennials, GenX, and even older people, but that's changing very fast. Instagram is now second, YouTube third, and TikTok is fourth. For Gen Z, Instagram is first. [GWI] 
   
• Popularity in usage and time on the channel: For popularity, Instagram is the global number one, WhatsApp is second, Facebook is third, WeChat is fourth, and TikTok is fifth. For time spent per day, TikTok is at the top, with over 1 hour daily. [Datareportal]

And I get it. With the vast amount of shitty content, it’s overwhelming and just a bit too much. Brands, publishers, creators, influencers, you and me, we all use AI to create even more content,  that doesn’t help either.

This results in two things,

• Social channels adjust their algorithms: hello there, LinkedIn and Instagram copying TikTok
• The rise of niche channels: hello Telegram, Discord, Reddit, Signal, Twitch, Threads, BeReal, Mastodon, Tumblr, and more

Let’s dive into some details per channel.

First, why algorithms continuously change

This is how the business case of a social channel works. Yes, it's about generating revenue with paid ads, but the bread and butter are still the users who are on the platform. 

→ Socials earn money when users watch the (paid) content in between the (organic) content. 

→ Users only like to watch content that adds value and fulfills their need for entertainment, inspiration, or education. 

→ So, if the user does not like the content, the user will leave the social channel. 

→ Therefore, serving the best, most liked content is in the social channel’s interest. As a result, shitty content gets declined, whether it’s paid or organic.

TikTok drives these changes even further

TikTok. I know this is not the most obvious channel for business, yet its brilliant algorithm influences all other channels. The biggest difference is that TikTok’s ‘for you’ homepage serves content based on your engagement behavior, not on who you follow or like.

Back in the day, socials used to serve you a mix of who you followed and what they thought you’d like. Now, thanks to TikTok, it’s based on what you like, measured in what you watch in milliseconds and your engagement. And the algorithm reacts fast; on TikTok, you can change what algorithm serves you in as little as 10 minutes.

Instagram and others

The other social channels copy this. Everyone looks at each other and 'borrows' what works, from super short-form video to reels, swipes, and sequential content.

But what works today will be different tomorrow, so I don’t even try to describe what changed. We know one thing for sure, it keeps on changing, there's never a dull moment.

LinkedIn is usually late to the game and the last to follow, which isn’t bad due to its more business-paced nature.

LinkedIn's changes

Everyone sees a drop, some even up to 90%, in reach and engagement on LinkedIn over the last year. It’s not you or your content; it’s the algorithm that changed, and you'll need to adapt accordingly. 

Now, LinkedIn favors the real connected and active users over the daily one-way content pushers.

For the business pages, the news is even worse. The organic business page content fills just 1.5% of the user’s timeline. Pay to play, or use your employees and ambassadors to spread your content for you.

Check my monthly LinkedIn algorithm secrets update for the latest updates and how to's. 

The rise of niche channels

With more AI comes more overwhelming automated and generated content in the feed. As a result, we prefer (human) (real) (authentic) (not paid) (not commercialized) (no brand) content.

Not surprising that the smaller and niche channels keep growing. It's there where people find their communities and why they ditch the bigger socials.

What can you do with these niche channels as a brand? My advice for now is to leave it alone. Please. You don’t need to push your ads on every channel. Wait until the market balances out. 

And in the meantime, you focus on upgrading your other social content and improving the quality so it resonates more with your audience.

Conclusion and my advice

The quality of your content has never been more important. Work with the algorithm by focusing on how your content adds value to your audience: no ads, no promotions, no highlighting, features, or product launches.

Focus on entertainment, inspiration, or education.

This applies to organic and paid content, which I explain in the next paragraph.

2. Paid is no guarantee for reach anymore

As mentioned above, social channels want users to stay on their channel. Users stay on the channel if its content adds value; if there’s too much crappy content and one-way ads, they’ll leave. The social channels don't want content that doesn’t resonate with the users. Not even if you pay. After all, if your paid content doesn’t resonate, the channel doesn’t serve it out of fear of losing users.

In other words explained, social channels want to keep users hooked. To do that, the content has to deliver value. If users are bombarded with junk and too many ads, they’ll walk away. There’s no space for content that doesn’t hit the mark—not even if you pay. If your paid content doesn’t resonate, the platform won’t push it because they can’t afford to lose their users.

→ In short: paid is no guarantee for reach anymore

This means, as a brand, you need to focus on the user and not on you. 

For some marketers, this is a given; for the majority, they still see social as a derivation of a campaign. And that’s just not how it works. 

Your campaign needs to have a social-first mindset with engagement and working with the algorithm at its core. This means social is integrated from the very first brief and beginning, not as a channel but as a way of thinking.

The algorithm selects your audience, not you

Another thing you can do is rely on the algorithm to serve the content to the audiences that engage with you. It's turned around; it’s not you who defines the audience in the campaign setup; it’s the algorithm that serves your content to those who value it.

You optimize your assets to the user, and you don’t ‘buy’ the user anymore. 

Explained by example: if you’re an electric car brand, you create social content that resonates with the 25-35-year-old male living in a city with 2 children and 1 dog, who cares about the environment and might be in the market for a new electric car. You select a very broad audience in your campaign, and the algorithm will serve it to those who are most likely to like and engage with it. If you did an excellent job with your quality, that will be that 25-35-year-old male. 

By the way, high quality doesn’t mean pixel-perfect productions. Actually, the less authentic, raw, personal, and a bit edgy your content is, the more it will resonate as people are a bit tired of the overly polished posts.

→ What to do? 

Optimize your content for your audience's needs. And vamp up the quality. 

How to improve your quality

Improving your quality is easier said than done. There’s so much to tell; I don't know where to start... For now, my advice is to improve your content strategy and your briefing skills as a first step. After all, shit in is shit out. 

• A content strategy should be a deviation of your brand strategy, not your marketing strategy. As your content is more than marketing. 
   
• Your brief should be focused on how content adds value to your business. A good brief is a short one-page document describing your problem, not the solution.

I work for clients and agencies, and time after time I’m surprised by the subpar level of briefs from client to agency and agency not pushing back hard enough.

Below, you find my honest take on the industry, agency side, client side, and freelancer side. 

Who and whom to work with

For content strategy, I am not biased at all; it’s me who can help you. For an agency, there are so many great and less great ones out there, DM me for advice. As always, the quality of an agency rises and falls with the people who work there. 

The same applies to working with freelancers; there are the good, the bad, and the ugly ones.  

Now we understand the two major changes, let’s get into the creative part and rely on what was awarded at the Cannes Lions 2024. 

There are 3 main trends: human as a counterbalance for the AI, standing up and speaking out, and data combined with AI. 

→ Here, you can view all my favorite Cannes cases. Just sit, click, watch, and be inspired. 

3. Human, humanize, humanity

This is where things get really great! This is all based on what’s hot and not in Cannes Lions 2024. For the first time in many years, I’m blown away by the creativity that surprises, enlightens, and is daringly bold. Yes!

And it makes total sense. 

The more AI, the more we value human contact—real, authentic, personal. It’s for a reason that personal selling outperforms automation with forms, and flows. I prefer a personal email or call any time over being marketed to, no matter how personalized you make it for me with AI and CRM systems.

So, what we see in Cannes is that the great winners put 1 human upfront and honor them.

• JCDecaux gives a stage to abuela Marina Pietro in the Madrid metro to prove that out-of-home still works like magic. With the just-and-only posters, she went from a few followers to 10K+. 
   
• Allgemeiner Frankfurter Zeitung honors cultural icons, Oscar Winners, sports heroes, and Margot Friedlander, the 102-year-old last Holocaust survivor, in its Brilliant Minds campaign to celebrate its 100th edition and address the concerning political changes in the world around us.
   
• Johnny Walker honors the forgotten female founder Alaída Cosa of Bossa Nova, gives her a stage with modern technology, and buys a fat, big paid spread in the newspaper to give her the credit she deserves. 

This is about connection, not emotion

Please notice that this ‘human’ is not about emotion; it's about connection. And from the connection, inform and educate. Quote from WARC.

• "Informative and educational creative strategies have overtaken emotional strategies
  The last five years have seen the proportion of informative or educational strategies overtake that of emotional strategies. The dominance of purpose-led marketing over the same period may be a contributing factor.
   
• Awareness, sales growth and brand building are the dominant objectives
  Used by over half of the top 100 campaigns in 2024, these are the top objectives across all campaigns on WARC, but sales growth over-indexes against the norm in these very effective cases by nine percentage points."

4. Stand up, speak out, dare to be bold

This is what I love about brands nowadays. They are not afraid to address what matters and dare to be different. Not only on ethical topics, also in playing and having fun with their brand and logo.

Here are the Cannes Lions cases that inspire to do good and have fun. 

On ethics

• The Down Syndrome Association in Argentina uses data to tackle and debunk absurd political promises. As an alternative realistic and impactful promise, they propose a new law that no longer obliges people with Down syndrome to renew their disability certificate every year. And they succeed with 100% of the votes. 
   
• Dove stays true to their claim and turns their backs on using the ‘Bold Glamour’ filter in TikTok to stand up against the unrealistic, humanly impossible beauty standards on social.
   
• KPN in the Netherlands addresses the devastating consequences of forwarding very personal pictures and content to others. Think before you share what others sent you in private. It’s not about the sexting; it’s about the unsolicited forwarding of it to others and the huge impact that it has on girls’ lives. 
   
• AXA changes 3 little words in their terms and conditions in 3.5 million contracts in France with retroactive effect to enable women to escape domestic violence at home by giving them time and a safe place to stay to find a long-term solution. They provide emergency relocation when a home becomes inhabitable in the event of fire or flood, and domestic violence.

Play with your logo, and have fun with your brand and products

• Coca-Cola does what every brand despises: altering its logo. They play with the logo to promote recycling in a typical Coca-Cola way. Twisting and turning their logo in the ‘Recycle me’ campaign and in the ‘Thanks to Cola-creating’ where they turn self made Coca-Cola logos into cans and ads. 
   
• Heineken is doing the same to celebrate its 150th anniversary. ‘Heineken is the most misspelled beer brand in the world.’ Why not put those names on bottles and cans?
   
• Or Heinz, who celebrates fraud instead of hiding it. ‘Even when it isn’t Heinz, it has to be Heinz’. 
   
• And IKEA displays naughty furry pets and the IKEA products they demolished, broke, or just simply destroyed. ‘Don’t’ worry; you can afford it.’ 

5. Data and AI

By now, we all use data and AI, but this is at a different level.

But first, what's happening in 2024

AI adoption in marketing is 74% in 2023, and will be a must-have by 2030. 68% of marketers already see the benefits, with AI taking over routine tasks and freeing up space for more creative, strategic work. 57% of marketers feel pressured to keep up or risk falling behind. 

Content creation is getting a boost, with the realization that the human touch is still key.  

In summary, AI drives real productivity gains and sharper data insights, making marketing smarter and more effective. [Hubspot AI trend report 2024]

Embrace AI to do good – read, and learn

Now, in (almost) real-time, we can use data, from aggregation to analysis, and feed that back into the campaign. That’s something different and gives us and society a mirror of what’s going on.

• For AI, it’s the next step in creativity and using it for good. Pedigree ‘Adoptable’ is doing an excellent job in turning a scruffy picture of a shelter dog into advertisement-worthy images, including videos to get them adopted. Besides, this is perfectly in line with their love for our furry friends and playing with doggy face filters in ‘Stix’ (2018)
   
• This is mind-blowing. Usually, when women enter a company's board, the stock price drops (…). However, data, facts, and figures show that revenue grows when women enter the board, and the value rises in the long term. Pink Chip, ‘Invest in proof, not bias.’ 
   
• And more data for good. Mastercard's ‘Room for Everyone’ uses purchase data to prove that stores next to each other strengthen the business for both. Debunking the myth and aversion by Polish entrepreneurs for having a Ukrainian shop next door.  

Wrapping it up for 2025

This is what you need to know.

• We’re getting tired of the crappy content flood on socials. As a result, we spend less time and engage less, and seek more niche and personal channels.
• All you can do as a brand is upgrade your quality. Great content is not about you; it’s (still) about your audience. That becomes even more important to get reach, paid doesn't guarantee that anymore. 
• As a counterbalance against AI, we value human connection more than ever. And that shows in the ads to get awarded in the industry.
• Next to that, we finally dare again to stand up and speak out. On ethics and what matters to us. And we become more playful with logos and products. We break the unwritten rules.
• Lastly, we embrace data and AI in a different way. Not only for production, also as a direction and a reflection.

About me

A little bit more about me as I have a feeling to share some background information and credits with you – why what I see and think matters and why I humbly think that I have a point. 

I'm a content strategist with a university background in marketing, media, sociology, and psychology who fell in love with technology, creativity, and data. I have been around in the industry for 25+ years—yes, I started at a young age—and have worked for over 50+ top-notch brands and agencies. 

I've seen quite a lot. Made many mistakes. Learned even more. Now, I share all this with you to nudge and inspire everyone working in marketing, communication, and corporate to do an even better job. Let's be honest; there's already too much crappy content out there; no need to contribute to that, right?

Please check the sources before jumping to conclusions. Credit where credit is due: thanks to my coworkers from Dentsu Creative in Amsterdam, who helped me kickstart the overarching trends. I did the rest of the research and analysis myself. If I missed anything or made a mistake, please let me know. I'm only human, and hiccups happen. 

Sources and credits

• Dentsu Creative Amsterdam 
• NewCom Social Media Onderzoek 2024
• WPP Cannes Lions 2024
• Rockcontent Cannes Lions 2024
• LinkedIn algorithm secrets (monthly updated)
• LinkedIn algorithm secrets archive
• GWI usage of social media 2024
• Smart Insights global social media statistics 2024
• Social media data report 2024 (Meltwater, We Are Social and many others)
• Frankwatching and NewCom
• Datareportal 10 stats for 2024 (video)
• Datareportal extended 560 slides deck
• Datareportal social media 2024 details
• WARC Effective 100 2024
• https://medium.com/@johnkovacevich/case-studies-for-the-2024-cannes-lion-grand-prix-winners-36b314146b86
• https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/cmotalk/id1231349060?i=1000664207981
• https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/cmotalk/id1231349060?i=1000664207808
• https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/cmotalk/id1231349060?i=1000662813952
• https://offers.hubspot.com/ai-marketing

Need help?

If you need any help with all of the above—and I’m not biased at all—I’m thoroughly experienced, have ruffled many feathers, and have learned from my mistakes, drop me an email. If I’m not the right person to help you, maybe I can recommend someone or an agency from my network.

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