It’s that time of year once again. Time to take stock of what we’ve learnt in 2025 and look ahead to what will change in the world of content marketing in 2026. And what a year it’s been!
From the rise of GEO search to Google increasing the space for paid ads and pushing organic content even further down the rankings, it seems like content marketers have got their work cut out like never before.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are plenty of opportunities for content to perform well – we just need to adapt. And if there’s one thing that content marketers are good at, it’s adapting!
Many of the trends and predictions we have for next year are not brand new. Rather they build on what’s gone before, easing us into this new era.
Read on to get ahead of the game and find out what we think is going to be big for content marketing in 2026 and how you can utilise this for continued success.
Summary – content marketing trends for 2026
- Content optimised for AI search
- Long live the blogs
- Personalised content is in
- Social turning to search
- Content must be refreshed
1. Content optimised for AI search
Let’s face it, AI isn’t going anywhere and the changes we’ve seen in user behaviour over the previous 12 months will continue into 2026 and beyond. According to a McKinsey survey, half of consumers now use AI-powered search in some form or other, so it would be naïve to ignore Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) altogether.
But you don’t need to lose sleep over it. The good news is that optimising for AI and generative search engines isn’t all that dissimilar to what we’ve been doing all along for traditional search engine optimisation (SEO). Content optimisations include:
- Question and answer formats
- Clear language
- Structured content using headings
- Credible sources and citations
- Genuine expertise
We go into this in more detail in our guide to GEO content tactics that actually work.
2. Long live the blogs
Despite what you may have been told, blogging is not dead. Far from it, in fact. AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and Wordtune love to cite blogs in their answers.
However, you may need to make some tweaks to your blogging strategy to keep up with the landscape. Here are our suggestions for keeping your blog appearing in both traditional and generative search results:
- Niche down: blogs with a more specific niche are more likely to be seen as an authority
- Blogs should be written by real humans (a no-brainer if you ask us!)
- Include lived experience to stand out from the crowd
- Use long-tail keywords
- Focus on conversation and answering specific questions
- Include bottom of the funnel content such as product comparisons and roundups
3. Personalised content is in
One-size-fits-all content is out, and personalised content is in. This is especially important for B2B brands where research has found that businesses providing personalised content journeys see stronger engagement and higher conversion rates. (source: Adobe)
People are busier than ever nowadays and don’t have the time (or the patience!) to sift through search results looking for something that speaks directly to them and their needs so content that is specific works well.
And we’re not just talking about a [name] insert in an email. We’re talking about shaping entire journeys around individual buying personas.
How to create personalised content
Again, it’s all about niching down and answering those targeted queries. Tailored guides, case studies, and landing pages that answer an exact query are all great ways to showcase your brand and show its value to an individual.
4. Social turning to search
Instagram announcing that hashtags no longer work to make your posts discoverable is just the latest in a long line of changes that are reshaping the social media landscape. In 2026, social media channels will work more like search engines than ever before which means you need to add social SEO to your agenda.
Visibility on these channels will no longer be about stunning aesthetics alone but videos and images that answer queries will be rewarded. Places, products, and services are all searched for on socials, especially by Gen Z users.
Here are some ideas for optimising your social media posts:
- Add keywords to the caption
- Use on-screen captions or text and use keywords in these
- Create how-to style posts or listicles
5. Content must be refreshed
It’s not enough to create the content and leave it sitting there on a website to get stale. A task on every content marketer’s to-do list this year should be to look back and freshen up old content. Why spend time only focusing on creating new content when your existing content could be working harder for you?
Both Google and AI engines prioritise fresh, up-to-date content over old content so it’s important that you check yours for accuracy and to keep it current. Update evergreen content, remove any irrelevant content, and rewrite content that isn’t performing as well as it could.
Start with checking that your best performing content is sound to maintain rankings and traffic before moving on to other pages. Some ideas to help you freshen up existing content include:
- Adding FAQs to product and category pages to help answer specific queries
- Check whether you can add any internal links, or create content clusters
- Adding last updated schema
- Updating sources and statistics
- Checking that any time-sensitive information still applies
Here at The Content Marketing Team, we’ve worked on many content reinvigoration projects for brands with incredible results.
Look for content support in 2026?
It’s been another busy year of exciting (and nerve-wracking!) changes for content marketers and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. When thinking about your content strategy for the coming year, keep these trends in mind to start the year off on the right foot. And get in touch with us if there’s anything we can do to help!
