What we learned at Knotch's Pros & Content Summit 2025
The more things change, the more the fundamentals matter.
For now, content marketers should stay nimble, focus on quality and embrace AI (carefully!).
No doubt, 2025 has been a year of seismic change — and we're not even halfway through it.
We’ve seen a roller coaster in the markets that’s put budgets at risk. The media frontier is more diverse than ever. And can we talk about AI?
The Pros & Content Summit 2025 brought these topics to some of the top content marketing minds in the nation, gathered in our Dotdash Meredith offices in downtown Manhattan. If the day had one takeaway, it was both simple and reassuring. Yeah, it’s a lot. But you got this.
Everyone’s scrambling to catch up. No one has a lock on the best way forward — yet. But by staying up-to-date on the latest tech, prioritizing innovation, and localizing it to your brand’s needs, you can grow and succeed in this topsy-turvy landscape.
Here are some of our biggest takeaways from the day:
As you evolve, it's OK to be wrong sometimes
This is a time for big swings. That can mean more than a few misses. But according to Stacey Gaine, a Managing Director from Merrill Lynch, the occasional stumble is all part of being a good marketer. “It’s your job to be wrong,” she says.
In a time of new inputs, it’s better to try and evolve, even if that means a few flubs. And that’s especially true of the biggest disrupter: the use of AI in marketing.
"AI has fundamentally changed what's possible," said Brian O'Kelley, Co-Founder and CEO of Scope3. "The technology is changing so quickly that the people who were innovators in AI a year ago are now almost out of date. We're all wrong and we're all behind because every day a new model comes out."
The fundamentals still apply
The world and the technology we use may swerve. But the core tenets of our jobs remain the same: laser focus on your brand mission and your audience. “There are things that never change,” said Micky Onvural, Chief Marketing and Communications officer at TIAA.
So keep on creating trusted, interesting, and tactical content. "Whether your audience is human or machine, for content to be successful today, it has to be high quality," said George Baer, Senior Vice President at DDM Content Solutions (DDMCS). AI in particular might change the means of how that shapes up, “but our brands and editorial voices will always guide and gut-check how AI is used,” he says.
Beware "shiny object syndrome"
According to several of the day's speakers, marketers are under constant pressure to use the newest technology — even when it might not be the right fit. This, unfortunately, can lead to solutions in search of a problem. “Shiny object syndrome is real,” said Ben Levine, Head of Marketing at Zillow Rentals.
Yes, new marketing tech can help extend the reach and imagination of your team. “But don't fall in love with the shiny tactics of AI,” said Tariq Hassan, former Chief Marketing Officer at McDonalds. “Fall in love with the problems that you're trying to solve.”
It's an AI + humans future
Good news: AI probably won’t come for your job. But from here on out, all jobs will require a smart, skillful mastery of AI — especially in marketing, where the new technology is transforming both the analytic and creative sides of the field.
Robin Riddle, Chief Strategy Officer at DDMCS, presented a case study showing an AI-driven approach to a marketing pain point. Using a proprietary platform, Content Acclaim, the team at DDMCS worked with Goldfish Swim Schools to assess blog content.
The process seamlessly melded human strategic thinking with AI analysis, resulting in a thorough critique of the existing blog — plus recommendations for improvement that would drive better outcomes. “We knew what got us here wasn’t going to get us there,” said Shana Krisan, Goldfish’s Chief Marketing Officer.
When it comes to AI, craft counts
Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of buzz around AI taking away jobs. But most participants found that, without creative expertise, AI output isn’t worth much. “It is 100% garbage in and garbage out,” said Nick McLain, a Strategic Advisor with McLain Associates. “Having some craft, having some experience is a really important piece."
This resonated with the audience. Mike Steele, a strategic Marketing Leader with Citi, put it this way. “As someone who spent two decades as an editor, I can direct the AI quite well, because I treat it like I used to treat writers. Maybe learning how to engineer a prompt might take you a few days. But having good judgment — understanding what copy works, what’s a good idea, what’s a bad idea — that takes a lot of time in the workplace to master.”
This gets to the biggest takeaway of the day: You’ve got this. Time and again, the experts at Pros & Content shared that they’d been been through decades of marketing challenges — including more than one “everything is changing” crisis. All of that comes into play when you meet a time of flux.
The muscles you need to pivot, plan and reinvent yourself for 2025 are already there. The skills you’ve mastered are the ones that will pull you through.
Want to master AI? It takes a village.
AI-powered martech is dazzling and versatile.
To make it succeed, put a premium on training your team members — both human and digital.
The current promise of AI is to do more, quickly. At last week’s Pros & Content summit, stories underlining that were everywhere. Marketers are turbo-charging ideation and fast-tracking complex, agent-driven performance analysis. At DDM Content Solutions, a humans-plus-AI approach gives us scale and speed that would have been unimaginable just five years ago.
But there’s something more around the corner. Generative AI brings a whole new approach to your marketing tech stack. Engaging with data just turned into talking with a friend. That has big implications for our work, touching our go-to-market strategies, deliverables and how we run our marketing teams.
Make way for the agents
One of the major coming trends is agentic AI — tools that can take on complex tasks by themselves, acting as “agents” for marketing teams. Knotch, the presenters of the Summit, rolled out their newest tool, Agent-C, which can string together their current agents into a kind of super-agent.
That kind of autonomy will take a big leap of trust — and its output may be a lot for human teams to oversee. But, it’s a must. Karthik Rau, Chief Executive Officer at Contentful, wonders if this calls for a new approach to our martech, one that’s less about setting dials and more about ongoing interaction. “I wonder if the way to think about [using AI] is not necessarily in terms of tools, but almost like instructing people,” he says.
Brian O’Kelly, Co-Founder and CEO of Scope3, agreed. “You need to ‘onboard’ your agents,” he said.“ They know where the databases are…. But they also need to know the philosophy and what your business does. You have to share your values your principles.” In other words, it’s like hiring an employee. You don't just give them a task — you teach them your in-house way of doing things. “Any human or AI is going to need that to be effective.”
Bring your human team along
Not every flesh-and-blood marketer is equally prepared for the AI rollout — or new digital team members. This can present team leaders with unique challenges. When you’re onboarding tech that has all the hallmarks of a junior colleague, some feathers are bound to get ruffled.
“People immediately feel threatened and defensive, And that’s natural” says Jamie Roô, Head of Wealth Management Digital Content at Morgan Stanley. In the short term, she found that the answer was “a lot of sympathy and empathy.” But by including skeptical team members at the forefront of the conversation, “they became the subject matter experts” she says.
Of course confidence can go too far. Joe Lazer, former VP of Marketing at Contently says that some team members stretch the abilities of the tech. “Everyone thinks they’re a copywriter now. Everyone thinks they’re a creative director. And when that happens, you can start to lose certain things to the brand.”
Rau sees this as a more holistic challenge. “I think there are a lot of analogies with how we manage teams that we have to start bringing into this concept of managing agents,” he says. Patience, education and defining limits will add up to “a different way of working.”
When the audience is AI, too
Marketers are still working for the person on the other end of the screen — the customer with a need to fill. But it’s important to recognize that, in the very near future, some of those customers (or their proxies) will be AIs themselves.
Take the case of the new “answer engines” — platforms like ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity. They’re eating away at traditional search, which means that to get in front of customers, you’ll need to convince them to include you. “If you’re not in their answer, you’re not in the conversation,” says Scott Gardner, Founder of New Media Advisors.
The science of placing on answer engine results is evolving quickly, with plenty of black hat tactics winning in the short term. But at heart, the mission for content creators remains the same. “The fundamental things you do from an SEO perspective haven’t changed,” says Cooper Nelson, Senior Director of Content Strategy at the University of Phoenix. Deliver solid, useful answers — and don’t be stingy about the contributions of your brand.
At the moment, the challenges of balancing SEO and “GEO” (generative engine optimization) are tricky — and so are reporting results. Nelson recommends that you “set realistic goals to show incremental results. SEO isn’t what it used to be, so it’s about getting leadership to understand what success looks like now,” he says.
All of those players — the AI agents you bring online, the human staff that works with them and the broader AI landscape — will present new ways to engage. Brace for new kinds of conversation, and a new definition of success. Core to that will be bringing in a fourth kind of player: outside expertise.
“There are these incredible technologies available to us that can really deliver in incredible ways,” said O’Kelly. “But we have to control them. We have to give them context, and we have to know how to instrument them and operationalize them.” That will require people, teams and products already at the far limits of this new frontier, to help brands understand the technology can bring their mission forward.
Author Bio
Jason leads the editorial team serving DDM Content Solutions' health and wellness content — overseeing both B2C and B2B content development. His teams have won awards both within the content marketing sphere — including Best Editorial, Best White Paper and Best Content Program in Healthcare from the Content Marketing Institute — as well as mainstream awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists and the National Association of Science Writers. As a journalist, Jason was written for The Atlantic, WIRED, the Washington Post, Nautilus and many other publications. Jason also heads up AI partnerships and development at DDM Content Solutions.
Sponsoring the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Content activation is what drives real ROI
I’ve been following football — yes, I’m calling it that, despite the potential for confusion, because I’m English — since I was eight years old. That was the year my dad took me to see Liverpool play, and I’ve supported them ever since. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to watch them compete in several finals, and I can say with confidence: There’s no more electric, emotional experience than watching your team in a football final. The passion of the fans is unlike anything I’ve encountered in U.S. sports.
In footballing terms, the pinnacle of achievement for most players is arguably winning the World Cup. And for those of us living in the U.S., we’ll have the rare opportunity to experience that spectacle up close next year.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the largest sporting event ever hosted in North America. With 16 cities across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico set to welcome millions of fans, it will be a moment of unprecedented scale — and complexity.
For brands stepping in as sponsors, the exposure is certainly valuable. But in a U.S. market where soccer is still growing into the mainstream, sponsorship alone won’t be enough. To resonate with American audiences and unlock long-term brand equity, strategic activation is essential.
We can help brands do more than show up. We craft custom, multi-platform programs that translate global moments into local relevance, centered around bespoke content designed for clients’ owned channels and print extensions that could also leverage the power of Dotdash Meredith’s trusted media brands.
Why activation matters in the U.S.
Soccer is the world’s game, but in the U.S., the professional game is still gaining traction. While youth participation is strong, many American fans are new to global tournament formats, the significance of international rivalries, or the cultural nuance behind each fixture.
This unfamiliarity presents an opportunity: Brands can play a vital role in educating, engaging, and connecting. But that won’t happen through a logo placement or generic media buy. It takes editorialized storytelling — which is strategic, localized, and audience-specific.
Our activation strategy: Brand-integrated, audience-focused
Our approach is built around pairing sponsor objectives with powerful, credible content environments. That means combining:
- Custom content built for a brand’s own website, social platforms, apps, and CRM
- Print experiences designed for distribution in key FIFA World Cup host cities
- Opportunities for expansion across Dotdash Meredith, the largest print and digital in North America
Client-owned channel content
We create brand-integrated content that lives on your digital and owned platforms — delivered in your voice, optimized for engagement, and built for scale. Examples include:
- Interactive digital hubs
- Custom video interviews or educational series
- CRM-integrated content series for customers and prospects
- Mobile app integrations aligned with World Cup themes (e.g., “Find Your Team,” financial prep, travel rewards, etc.)
Custom print that makes a local impact
In an event like the World Cup — where the experience is both physical and communal — print still can play a really powerful role. We, for example, can design and produce custom standalone print pieces (magazines, guides, booklets) tailored to the fan experience, the sponsor’s voice, and the city’s character.
These are ideal for:
- Distribution at local events or fan zones
- In-room placement at partner hotels
- Welcome kits and VIP experiences
- Handouts in retail or branch locations near stadiums
Print is tactile, portable, and deeply immersive — and when distributed strategically in host cities, it can amplify presence and brand storytelling in a uniquely memorable way. It can also serve as a long-lived keepsake when associated with a major event.
Extending reach with paid media
Additionally because we are part of Dotdash Meredith, we can also help to expand reach by partnering with our brands. This could include activations that coordinate with brands like: People, Travel & Leisure, Investopedia, Parents and Southern Living, to name a few.
Turning sponsorship into strategy
We don’t just tell great stories — we help brands own the narrative and thereby truly benefit from the sponsorship. A custom program can be built to educate new fans, elevate sponsor messaging, and generate real-world engagement in the places that matter most.
Whether it's through your own digital ecosystem, custom print in the hands of fans, or integrations within our high-impact media network, we help transform World Cup sponsorship into something bigger: a brand-defining moment.
If you need help translating any kind of sponsorship, please hit me up. I’d love to talk strategy and execution!
Author Bio
Robin Riddle is the Chief Strategy Officer at DDM Content Solutions. He works across B2B as well as B2C and specializes in financial services, insurance and healthcare. Prior to his time here, he led content marketing businesses at both The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. A passionate advocate for the value of content marketing, Riddle is also heavily involved in industry issues and speaks at many events on the topics of content marketing and native advertising.
Rerouting Reach: How OpenAI is Rewriting the Content Distribution Playbook
When organic search volume fades, how do you reach an audience?
The AI device 'Play' signals a new era for direct access — and a warning for content marketers.
Since the switch to digital from print back in the early 2000’s, content marketers have relied on organic search as the main driver of their audience. But that foundation is eroding fast. As Google increasingly delivers answers directly on the search results page — often powered by its Gemini AI model — the traditional path from user query to branded content is fading. Zero-click search isn’t theoretical; it’s already here.
This shift has left brands scrambling to answer a critical question: If users aren’t visiting your site, how do you reach them?
OpenAI may have just offered one potential answer.
From Generative Models to Generative Access
OpenAI’s $6.5 billion acquisition of Jony Ive’s hardware startup, io, raised eyebrows across tech and media circles. The partnership aims to develop a new category of AI-native device—designed to foster more seamless, direct interaction with ChatGPT and potentially other AI tools.
But this move isn’t just about Ive’s design aesthetics or manufacturing capability. The real story here is about distribution—getting closer to the consumer without relying on third-party platforms. Cutting out the middle as it’s often referred to.
Like every brand, publisher, and platform, OpenAI is facing the growing challenge of reach. And today, that challenge is steep. Mobile access is largely controlled by Apple and Google, who both extract significant tolls and dictate experience standards. Meanwhile, the open web—once a relatively democratic space—is shrinking under the weight of AI-generated summaries, platform-native content, and closed ecosystems.
OpenAI’s response? Build your own lane.
Content's Distribution Crisis
What’s happening to OpenAI is happening to every content creator. Creating great content is no longer enough. You need control over how, where, and when your audience engages with it. That’s becoming increasingly difficult:
- Organic search traffic is declining, replaced by AI-generated answers and summaries.
- Social referral traffic is fragmented, with algorithms favoring native posts, short-form formats and metering brands organic reach.
- Apps and OS-level controls create friction, limiting direct relationships and increasing costs.
The result? Brands are being pushed further from their audiences — forced to rent visibility from platform gatekeepers.
A New Path to the Consumer
OpenAI’s hardware ambitions represent a strategic attempt to bypass those gatekeepers. By building a device where the AI is the core interface—not just an app inside someone else’s ecosystem—they’re taking control of the distribution channel.
This shift could unlock major advantages:
- Direct user interaction, without intermediaries.
- Richer behavioral insights, enabling better personalization.
- Lower cost of access, by sidestepping platform fees and limitations.
For content marketers, the takeaway is urgent: it’s time to rethink distribution.
That doesn’t mean building your own device. But it does mean doubling down on every viable channel — email, chat, voice, SMS, YouTube, embedded media, AI integrations and even (in some cases) print. Without a billion-dollar acquisition which most of us don’t have access to, there’s no magic bullet — but ignoring the problem of organic search going away isn’t an option.
Final Thought
OpenAI’s acquisition of io isn’t just a hardware play—it’s a strategic play and a bet (albeit a very large one). As organic search fades and the open web becomes less, well “open”, every brand will face the same question: How do we reach people in a world where discovery is increasingly controlled?
The solution won’t come from SEO alone. It will come from designing smarter experiences, owning more of your delivery infrastructure, and staying relentlessly focused on where your audience is actually spending time.
Author Bio
Robin Riddle is the Chief Strategy Officer at DDM Content Solutions. He works across B2B as well as B2C and specializes in financial services, insurance and healthcare. Prior to his time here, he led content marketing businesses at both The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. A passionate advocate for the value of content marketing, Riddle is also heavily involved in industry issues and speaks at many events on the topics of content marketing and native advertising.
Four Takeaways From the ANA Brand Masters Conference
In a time of shifting media winds, brand fundamentals are more important than ever.
The ANA Brand Masters conference delivered a good mix of consumer insights, smart strategy and inspirational stories of brand growth. In a marketplace defined by rapid evolution, there was a lot of emphasis on core brand principles.
In fact, it’s likely because of the changes radically transforming the consumer experience — AI-powered personalization, generative search and platform migration — that clearly articulating your brand value is more important than ever.
Here are a couple themes from the conference that stood out:
Read the room
The program kicked off, as all work should, with a deep dive into audience.
Razorfish president, Dani Mariano, and Paramount’s Dave Perry shared some (occasionally alarming) statistics on the power of Gen Alpha — ”not your average 12-year-olds.” (Turns out 68% of them own a luxury product by age 10!) So what do we do with that knowledge? Prioritize audience-first storytelling, which means building content around how consumers live, not just your product. Sell a lifestyle, a mood, a feeling.
Princess Cruises’ Emma Wolff talked about using audience data to match content with intent. If you really know who you’re talking to, you can deliver an experience that doesn’t just get their attention but makes them feel something.
Know thyself
Recognize your brand’s “grounding truth” and stay true to that, even/especially as you evolve to meet the moment.
Stephen White, Diageo’s head of innovation, shared his perspective on listening to culture and revolutionizing classic brands — like creating a Guinness non-alcoholic beverage that actually tastes like Guinness. Stay true to what you know, but maintain a future state of mind, leverage deep consumer insights, stay curious and remember that “certainty is the enemy.”
WARC’s Ann Marie Kerwin made the case for brand advertising in a performance world. Remember the 95/5 rule: Only 5% of prospects are in market, so 95% need awareness- and preference-building brand messaging. Stronger brands see stronger performance. It’s not brand plus performance, it’s brand multiplied by performance.
True Religion CMO Kristen D’Arcy talked about resurrecting the power of a 23-year-old brand by going back to its roots. Your success comes from your ability to engage your audience, she said. “What’s the story your brand is telling? Double down on that.”
According to CMO Joe McCambley, Saatva built a successful business spending almost exclusively on search. But as the DTC mattress business matured, they needed to complement that with brand advertising, which in turn drove an outsized lift in performance.
Trust your gut
Understand your market and the role your brand can play, but don’t be afraid to reinvent the category.
Poppi founder and chief brand officer, Allison Ellsworth, talked about her incredible five-year journey from launching a gut-healthy soda in her kitchen to a 10-figure sale, and her decision to own that “soda” moniker, reinventing the category without the guilt and “giving you permission to love soda.”
As a touring musician who couldn’t see his set list, Caddis founder and CEO Tim Parr stumbled onto an opportunity to reinvent a commodity as a form of self-expression. Understanding that those over 50 control 83% of household wealth — and that almost everyone needs reading glasses — Caddis sought to author the next greatest cultural story and made aging cool with their premium “eye appliances.”
Chief brand officer Dan Kleinman from Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits talked about building on the foundation of Josh Cellars, one of the world’s best-selling premium reds, with wines for a new generation of drinkers. Consumer insights around category perceptions and drinking habits informed the launch of Josh Seaswept with high energy, influencers and ice!
Pop Sockets head of marketing, Emily Sly, talked about the brand as “the eternal positivity machine” and thus uniquely positioned to tackle “bringing radical positivity” to the otherwise unremarkable world of tech accessories.
Understand your role in the conversation
Cultural marketing presents an enormous opportunity for brands, but it’s critical not to overstep.
Danielle Spikener, head of impact at Kraft/Heinz and Cashmere’s Aki Spicer, weighed in on leveraging cultural moments with the story of an organic partnership with Kendrick Lamar producer DJ Mustard. “Listen to fans to know how — and when — to try to engage them. When is our time to speak? When are we invited in? And, importantly, mine the fringes of culture, because once it gets to mainstream, you’re too late.”
Marcus Collins sat down with Converse’s Brandon Avery to talk about how the head of global experience is keeping a 100-year-old brand relevant. Avery described the brand’s “independent enough not to follow” positioning as being as much about the consumers as it is the product. “People tell stories, not brands.” And when you’re thinking about how to leverage culture to advance your brand or business, remember that “culture is a place to give, not take.“
Understanding audiences and what makes brands special is the foundation of our work as content marketers. We then translate those insights into opportunities to strategically engage those target audiences with brand-specific, high-quality content experiences. There’s more content than ever out there — and the competition for eyeballs is intense. It’s not enough to be part of the mix. Brands need to own their piece of it.
Author Bio
Pac Fowlkes leads business development for a number of categories at DDM Content Solutions. A veteran content marketer with a background in editorial, branding and strategic marketing, he’s a steadfast advocate for the power of storytelling to drive business forward. Fowlkes has helped Fortune 500 brands across financial services, travel, food, consumer electronics and technology use content to engage audiences, drive awareness and generate return on investment for almost two decades.
Beyond Awareness: How an Effective Content Strategy Can Help Health Exchanges Drive Enrollment
Health exchanges need more than awareness — they need clarity.
Learn how smart content strategy drives understanding, trust and sign-ups.
Millions of Americans visit state and federal health exchanges each year. Yet too many leave without enrolling. The problem? It’s not a lack of interest — but a lack of understanding. It’s hard to figure out how exchanges work, the costs of policies and that subsidies are available to people who qualify.
We’ve worked with healthcare organizations and public programs to help translate complexity into clarity. We’ve found that when people understand their options, they take action. That’s where content strategy becomes more than just a marketing tool — it becomes central to delivering effective messaging that can easily be understood by the audience.
Behavioral friction — not lack of interest — is the real enemy
The biggest barrier isn’t apathy, it’s confusion. Health exchanges operate at the intersection of healthcare, government and individual decision-making. That’s a lot to navigate, especially for someone unfamiliar with the process or unsure of what they might expect.
Content strategy can reduce behavioral friction by meeting users at key pain points:
- Interactive tools like eligibility quizzes or plan-finder checklists
- Smart FAQs that address top questions, such as “What if I miss the deadline?” or “How do subsidies work?”
- Step-by-step explainers that walk users through the process in plain language
Good content doesn’t just explain. It guides and empowers people to make decisions that are right for their individual circumstances.
Start with real user questions
Most consumers don’t start by visiting an exchange. They start on a search engine, asking things like:
- What are my options for health insurance without employer coverage?
- Can I get insurance if I’m self-employed?
- How much will health insurance cost me?
- Can I get financial assistance or subsidies?
- Is health insurance tax-deductible if I’m self-employed?
These questions are golden opportunities for engagement. Content designed to answer real questions builds trust, improves search visibility and starts the enrollment journey off right.
Empathetic messaging builds trust
Purchasing health coverage isn’t just a financial decision — it’s an emotional one. Content should reflect that reality. That means:
- Using language that reassures and explains, not overwhelms
- Showing faces and telling stories that reflect the diversity of your audience
- Featuring testimonials from real people who navigated the system successfully
Empathy increases comprehension. Comprehension increases conversion. If you don’t understand how it works, you won’t buy it.
Segment and personalize to increase engagement
The challenges facing a 26-year-old gig worker are different from those of a 50-year-old caring for an aging parent. To resonate, content must reflect those differences.
Messaging that is segmented by life stage, employment type, income level and language is critical. Use modular content frameworks to personalize across:
- Age groups
- Cultural backgrounds
- Language preferences
- Enrollment triggers (e.g., marriage, job loss, turning 26)
Go multilingual and multichannel
If your content isn’t accessible, it isn’t working. That means making it:
- Available in multiple languages
- Designed mobile-first
- Delivered through the channels your audience already uses — like YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp and local community groups
Remember: The most helpful content is the content people can actually find and understand.
Think beyond open enrollment
While open enrollment is a key period, life events drive health coverage needs year-round — whether it’s losing a job, having a baby or aging off a parent’s plan.
Plan content around these trigger moments:
- “Lost your job? Here’s how to keep your coverage.”
- “Turning 26? What to know before you age out of your plan.”
- “Had a baby? You may qualify for special enrollment.”
This evergreen, SEO-optimized content keeps you top-of-mind when the moment matters most.
Partner with community messengers
Trust is often local. Religious groups, nonprofit health organizations and community clinics are often well positioned to engage underserved audiences.
You can support them with customizable, co-branded content:
- Flyers, videos or explainers they can distribute
- Simple toolkits that walk through the process
- Visual stories that feature real people from those communities
When the message comes from someone they trust, the impact increases.
Final thoughts
Enrollment isn’t just about getting attention — it’s about building confidence. And great content marketing is how you get there. Storytelling is an extremely effective way to explain complex subjects.
We help healthcare brands and institutions use content to educate, empower and activate the audiences they serve. A great example of this in action is this blog we helped Covered California launch.
If you need help building or re-visiting your existing content strategy, let’s talk.
Author Bio
Robin Riddle is the lead content marketing strategist at DDM Content Solutions. He works across B2B as well as B2C and specializes in financial services, insurance and healthcare. Prior to his time here, he led content marketing businesses at both The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. A passionate advocate for the value of content marketing, Riddle is also heavily involved in industry issues and speaks at many events on the topics of content marketing and native advertising.
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Why Regional Banks Need a Brand Story — Not Just a Healthy Balance Sheet
Marketing locally means putting in all the hours to build relationships, then sharing those efforts through meaningful content.
I spent some time this week looking at the websites of several American regional banks. I found myself thinking about what really differentiates them form the national brands.
One of their biggest advantages is a strong local presence. Many have a high concentration of branches in specific areas, giving them the feel of a large footprint for their target customers. When combined with the right messaging — something like “big enough to meet your needs, small enough to care” — that physical presence can really resonate with customers and prospects.
But beyond location, how else can a regional bank stand out?
One big opportunity is showcasing a bank’s community involvement. Regional banks often support their communities in meaningful ways, but what’s the point if no one knows about it? Great content can help here. By telling a story through the people you support, and the impact you make, you can differentiate yourself to a local audience in a way that national banks simply can’t.
In a time when trust in financial institutions is low — and the internet is flooded with generic, AI-generated content — original stories written by real humans carry enormous weight.
As a kind of case study, I dug a little deeper into the community efforts of M&T Bank, which has branches throughout the northeastern states. They’re doing some incredible work, including:
- M&T Charitable Foundation
This foundation awarded over $47.6 million in 2022 to more than 3,450 nonprofits focused on civic, cultural, health and human services. M&T employees also contributed over 161,500 volunteer hours. - Amplify Fund
Launched after the merger with People’s United Bank, this $25 million fund supports low- and moderate-income communities with grants going to organizations focused on affordable housing, workforce development and financial empowerment. - WNY Community Impact Week
M&T hosts annual Community Impact Weeks in Western New York, mobilizing employees to volunteer with local non-profits. Initiatives have included food packing, school support events and volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and FeedMore WNY. - Partnership with FeedMore WNY
Through the Adopt-A-Route program, M&T employees deliver meals to homebound individuals and volunteer at food distribution centers. More than 100 employees have participated since 2014.
Clearly, engagement with local communities was a source of pride. I couldn’t, however, find much mention of these efforts on their main website — or a dedicated content channel.
That could be intentional. But to me, it feels like a missed opportunity. Sharing this work publicly wouldn’t just build brand equity, it would also deepen loyalty among current customers and attract new ones who value a bank that gives back.
We’ve created this kind of community-focused content for several of our banking clients, and it consistently performs well. It’s feel-good storytelling that also delivers tangible benefits — especially for the small businesses and nonprofits involved, who gain both exposure and credibility from being featured.
The takeaway is that a local focus is powerful. But if you’re doing the work, you have to be equally good at sharing what’s happening. If your business is thinking about expanding your local footprint (or just telling more people about the community-based work you are doing) and want to see how a smart content strategy can help, drop me a line. I’d love to help you tell your story.
Author Bio
Robin Riddle is the lead content marketing strategist at DDM Content Solutions. He works across B2B as well as B2C and specializes in financial services, insurance, and health care. Prior to his time here, he led content marketing businesses at both The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. A passionate advocate for the value of content marketing, Riddle is also heavily involved in industry issues and speaks at many events on the topics of content marketing and native advertising.
The Future of SEO Is Bigger Than Search
From AI to zero-click journeys, here are six takeaways from SEO Week 2025 that every digital marketer should act on now.
I recently attended SEO Week 2025, which brought together leaders in search, content strategists and technical SEO experts to unpack what’s coming next. The lessons, themed around “The Future,” felt especially important to those of us trying to figure out what’s coming next
Big themes included the rise of zero-click search and the merger of brand storytelling and structured data. But one message really resonated with me: the SEO playbook is being rewritten.
For those who couldn’t attend, here are six of my biggest takeaways and why they should matter to marketers, content strategists and brand builders.
TL;DR
- Zero-click search is now the norm. Less traffic is reaching the open web — brands must optimize for visibility, influence and engagement within the search experience itself.
- Keyword strategies are outdated. Google’s MUM model demands content structured around entities and user journeys.
- Clicks are harder to earn. With attention spans shrinking, engagement — not views — is becoming the true measure of success.
- Domain migrations are brand moments. They’re not just technical exercises — they’re branding challenges.
- AI is rewriting media and PR. LLMs assess trust and authority. brands need to pitch to the machines and build reputation signals.
- SEO is now a board-level conversation. Organization leaders must tie SEO efforts directly to business outcomes like revenue, retention and brand trust.
Accept It: Zero-Click Search Is the New Norm
Google traffic is still growing overall, generating 14 billion search terms a day (versus the 37 million from ChatGPT). But fewer people are actually clicking through from the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Rand Fishkin, co-founder and CEO at SparkToro, noted that only 41.5% of U.S. searches in 2024 resulted in a click. Just 1% went to paid ads. While Google is not admitting it yet, the search engine is sending less traffic to the open web.
This is fundamentally changing the way the web works. Where three-quarters of all referral traffic comes from search, these changes mean brands need a big rethink on how they get customers to their sites.
Why it matters: You can no longer rely on organic rankings alone. Marketers must optimize for brand visibility, entity association and on-SERP performance. You must ensure that once customers land on your site, you can keep them engaged and build a first-party relationship with them. That way, you can retarget them after they’ve left.
MUMs and LLM AI Mean the End of Keyword-Only Thinking
Google’s Multitask Unified Model (MUM) is changing the very structure of search. It evolves search data modeling from simple keywords to full-blown user journeys. According to Cindy Krum, founder & CEO at MobileMoxie, MUM doesn’t just understand language — it understands intent across formats, languages and time. It processes search activity as a series of interconnected “micro-moments.” And MUM is why traditional keyword-based SEO is increasingly outdated.
One of Google’s incentives is evident: MUM-powered journeys help the company maximize monetization. By clustering search behavior into one of four defined “micro-moments” (“I want to know,” “I want to go,” “I want to do” and “I want to buy”), Google can serve more SERPs, more ads and keep users within its ecosystem longer. It also leans less on AI processing and the costs it can occasion.
To adapt, brands must map their content against Google’s journey logic, align it with the Knowledge Graph and build multi-modal content that spans video, imagery, diagrams and audio. Krum’s guidance was clear: optimize not just for queries, but for how Google organizes user journeys — and where it monetizes them.
On the AI search front, Krum also shared some research about one of the most pressing questions of the moment: how generative search tools — including ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity — are citing content. The findings reveal that many tools incorrectly identify articles, fabricate links or point to 404s and publisher homepages instead of original content. In some cases, they reference syndicated or plagiarized versions. This shows the growing importance of clear authority signals in your content — including author bios, about pages and structured data that reinforces ownership and expertise — in order to appear in these results as they improve.
Why it matters: SEO strategies must shift toward contextual, multimedia content that aligns with real user behavior — not just search volume.
The Click Is in Its Villain Era
CTRs have dropped from 1.41% to 0.64% in just one year. As Fajr Muhammad, VP of Content Strategy & Growth at iPullRank, said: “We’re in an attention recession — and we’ve trained users to scroll, skim and bounce.”
In today’s content landscape, traffic is no longer a guarantee of connection. Audiences are overwhelmed, attention spans have shrunk to under a minute and clicks are becoming rarer. Muhammad’s message was clear: Brands must shift from counting clicks to earning engagement.
Instead of tracking views and likes, we should be looking at metrics like time on page, saves, completion rates and return visits. In this marketing model, the funnel becomes more of a flywheel, and content must work harder to earn attention, inspire loyalty and spark action at every stage of the user journey.
Why it matters: Your job as an SEO expert isn’t just to drive traffic. It’s to stop the scroll and create resonant experiences through engaging, personalized content that actually rewards the users’ attention.
Migrations and Rebrands Require Entity Strategy
Andrew Prince, Senior SEO Manager at Rocket, shared how Rocket moved millions of pages from Rocket Homes to Rocket.com — a $14M domain acquisition that was launched during the Super Bowl.
Rocket’s high-stakes domain migration was as much a brand exercise as a technical SEO challenge. The team wasn’t just redirecting URLs, they were redefining user perception of the domain itself, which had previously been tied to aerospace.
The SEO strategy included adding high-traffic pages to the new domain but noindexing them to avoid getting hit with Google penalties, building authority through executive profiles and internal linking, and creating content that anticipated user questions like “What is Rocket.com?”
The boldest move of all? When Rocket wanted to bring traffic into the top of the funnel through property search, they acquired Redfin to fill that gap.
Why it matters: Rebrands and migrations require more than redirects. They demand a clear brand narrative, entity-level optimization and an SEO roadmap that balances long-term visibility with short-term risk mitigation.
AI Is Reshaping Media, PR and Trust Signals
Lexi Mills, CEO at Shift6, explored the growing overlap between PR, SEO and AI — an intersection that’s rapidly transforming the media landscape. She painted a picture of a journalism industry under pressure. With two decades of job cuts and the rise of AI-generated reporting tools like Bloomberg’s “Cyborg,” traditional media is being forced to evolve.
As AI journalism becomes more common, the demand for human input hasn’t disappeared — it’s just shifted. Media outlets now increasingly rely on expert sources to bring depth, context and trust to algorithmically generated content. Some publishers now see being fast as more important than being accurate. (Joseph Pulitzer would probably turn in his grave!)
As a result, PR has become more essential than ever — not just to gain coverage, but to ensure credibility in an age where information can be fabricated in milliseconds. Mills’ call was to “pitch the machines.”
As large language models (LLMs) take a bigger role in content discovery, brands must target not only for journalists but for algorithms. LLMs are doing reputational checks — evaluating About pages, bylines and SME bios to ensure that sources are real and have actual experience and expertise in the relevant areas. That means brands need to double down on authority-building for their SMEs across all their digital real estate.
Whether it’s a podcast, trade coverage or media centers, every asset should work together to project authority and relevance. That’s especially true now that discoverability isn’t just about SERP placement — it’s about whether you’re included in the knowledge graph of the “machines.”
Mills made the case that PR and SEO are no longer separate disciplines. A future-proofed strategy that marketers can employ requires them to work in tandem: PR to generate high-value mentions and backlinks, and SEO to ensure they’re visible, structured and understood by both humans and AI.
Why it matters: PRs now need to build an expert presence for their SMEs, make their trust signals unmistakable, and start treating LLMs as a new kind of publisher. Because in today’s AI-shaped media economy, discoverability is still king — but trust is the currency.
Strategic SEO = Business Strategy
Tom Critchlow, EVP of Audience Growth at Raptive, reminded us that SEO leaders don’t win buy-in with rankings — they win by tying SEO to business outcomes.
Critchlow made the case that SEO professionals must evolve into strategic operators. Reporting should go beyond traffic and keyword rankings to show how SEO supports business KPIs: revenue growth, customer retention, brand equity and market positioning.
Executives don’t care about canonical tags — they care about results. To earn bigger budgets and cross-functional support, SEO teams must speak the language of the boardroom.
Why it matters: To get budget and influence, speak the language of revenue, risk and retention — not title tags.
The DDM Content Solutions Takeaway
SEO is undergoing a fundamental shift — and marketers need to adapt fast. The rise of zero-click search means fewer users are making it to brand websites from Google, so success now hinges on optimizing for visibility, influence and engagement within the search experience itself.
At the same time, keyword-based strategies are becoming obsolete as Google’s MUM model prioritizes content built around entities and user journeys rather than isolated queries. With clicks harder to earn and attention spans shrinking, brands must focus on delivering content that drives true engagement — measured by time spent, actions taken and value delivered.
AI is rapidly reshaping the media and PR landscape, with large language models assessing the trustworthiness of sources. Brands must now “pitch the machines” by embedding reputation signals across all digital surfaces. And finally, SEO is no longer a tactical lever — it’s a business-critical strategy. To win influence and budget, SEO leaders must connect their work to outcomes like revenue, retention and brand trust.
Author Bio
Robin Riddle is the lead content marketing strategist at DDM Content Solutions. He works across B2B as well as B2C and specializes in financial services, insurance, and health care. Prior to his time here, he led content marketing businesses at both The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. A passionate advocate for the value of content marketing, Riddle is also heavily involved in industry issues and speaks at many events on the topics of content marketing and native advertising.