Quality content in 2025: Why it’s in the eye of the stakeholder

Good content isn’t what you think it is

What counts as “quality content” in content marketing? Ask ten stakeholders and you’ll get twelve different answers. 

For some, it’s a blog post that ranks on the first page of Google. For others, it’s the case study Sales keeps reusing in their decks. Sometimes it’s not about the numbers at all; it’s when your CEO reposts an article with pride, or a customer replies to say, “this really helped me.”

Throughout my time as a Content Marketer, I’ve learned that content quality really is in the eye of the stakeholder.

It’s subjective, for sure. But that doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. 

Certain principles consistently separate the work that lands from the work that gets lost in the noise: clarity, consistency, cultural fit, and above all, delivering genuine value.

Those are the guidelines we return to, whether we’re briefing a freelancer, editing AI output, or pressure-testing our own ideas.

For a recent report (check it out, it’s fab), we asked experts in the field to share their perspectives on what quality content means to them. 

Let’s dive into the highlights.

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The moving target of content quality

If you’ve ever tried to define “quality content” in a meeting, you’ll know how tough it can be to describe. What’s considered high quality for the SEO manager might be irrelevant for the head of Sales. 

If you ask Google to define quality content, it will say something like: 

Quality content is material that provides actual value, relevance, and accuracy to a desired audience, responding to their needs or solving problems with authentic and well-presented information.

However, the fact of the matter is that “good” means different things to different people and their respective goals.

A CEO is likely to value reach. A demand gen team might look for conversion. Meanwhile, content teams or content marketers like myself often look at resonance: did this piece spark a conversation, did it make someone feel something?

As one respondent put it: 

“What teams are measured on (reach, frequency, volume) is not always what truly matters (relevance, resonance, impact).” 

And, as Carl put it, most marketers are changing how they define quality content.

In other words, impact trumps mechanics.

The lesson: Quality is a moving target that shifts with context, channel, and stakeholder expectations.

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The balancing act: volume vs. quality

Content marketers in 2025 are living with what we’re calling the “Red Queen effect”: running just to stay in place.

More content, more channels, more stakeholders. But the same, or fewer, resources. The pressure to scale often prompts teams to prioritise quantity over quality.

One marketing director summed it up: 

“You can only go so fast when you’re three people doing ten people’s jobs. AI helps. Freelancers help. But the biggest challenge is prioritisation, because the ask is always: ‘Can we do more?’”  - Briana Palma, We Are Rosie

The reality is that audiences don’t need more content. They need better content.

As Christina Le, Head of Marketing at Plot, put it: 

“Blogs aren’t dead. Boring, SEO-first blogs are.” 

The implication is clear: speed and volume don’t matter if the output isn’t worth reading. Scaling content is only sustainable if content quality is protected.

Read more about scaling content here.

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Stakeholder expectations: What counts?

If defining quality is challenging within a single team, aligning across stakeholders becomes even more difficult. Internal expectations often clash: brand wants polish, sales wants urgency, product wants detail, and executives want numbers. The result is often endless rounds of review and feedback.

Download:The content feedback guide

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Our survey found that “revisions and approvals” were cited as a bottleneck by 37 respondents, with up to 22 people involved in signing off on one piece of content. Imagine the dilution of quality that happens when 22 different lenses try to “fix” a piece.

The challenge is even sharper with external partners. Freelancers and agencies can extend capacity, but only if alignment is tight. 

As Amy Watts, a marketing communications manager, explained: 

“Finding the right freelancers who are now fully up to speed on our brand voice and strategy, that we can rely on and work with consistently.” 

That trust and consistency take time to build.

This is why stakeholder alignment, both internal and external, is not a side job. It’s core to ensuring that quality is shared and understood, not endlessly debated.

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Systems and consistency: The quiet drivers of quality

When people talk about quality content, they often point to the end product: a cool whitepaper, a funny social campaign, or a video that replays in someone's mind. But behind every polished piece is a system, a process.

Quality content is just as much about the content process as it is about the craft.

Teams that invest in content workflows, tone of voice guidelines, and documented standards are better equipped to deliver consistently.

One strategist put it simply: 

“Each content creator should really act like a managing editor for their vertical.” (Drue Stinnett, formerly HubSpot). 

That mindset, guardianship of consistency, is what ensures quality at scale.

Tools and AI also play a role here. 

As Manoosh Majdzadeh, Head of Marketing at Exalate, noted: 

“AI handles the monkey work, so we can focus on thinking. It’s not about saving time, it’s about saving headspace.” 

Used well, technology doesn’t replace judgment; it protects it, freeing people to focus on the human elements of quality: clarity, narrative, originality.

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Human touch in the age of AI

With AI everywhere in content production, a paradox has emerged. It has never been easier to generate content, and never harder to stand out. The market is flooded with what one respondent called “AI slop.”

That makes authenticity and brand strategy the real differentiator.

“As the volume of AI slop increases, I think we’ll see an even bigger appetite for authentic content that has a real (human) point of view.” 

- Survey respondent

Kimberley Collins, SVP of Strategy and Product at #samsales, shared the sentiment: 

“AI is indispensable, for research, editing, prep. But not for writing. It’s my co-pilot, not my pilot.” 

The takeaway is not that AI is bad for quality. It’s that quality is rooted in perspective, empathy, and originality, things AI can’t replicate.

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Our take: Guidelines that hold up

So, where does this leave us?? If quality is subjective, shifting, and stakeholder-dependent, how can content teams aim for it with confidence?

We believe the answer lies in a set of principles that hold across contexts:

• Clarity: Write simply, eliminate jargon, and make complex ideas easy to understand.
• Consistency: Maintain a consistent tone, style, and messaging across all formats.
• Cultural fit: Localise when needed, respect context, and speak in a way that resonates with the audience.
• Value-first mindset: Create content that genuinely helps, inspires, or informs, never hollow filler.

These principles are not negotiable. They’re the common ground where stakeholders can align, and the standards that freelancers, agencies, and AI outputs should be held to.

Download: The content quality checklist

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Closing thoughts

Quality will always be in the eye of the stakeholder. But that doesn’t make it a mystery.

By understanding the shifting expectations, protecting quality from the pressures of volume, aligning stakeholders, building solid systems, and keeping the human touch, content teams can deliver work that feels consistent, authentic, and impactful.

In an industry where it’s easy to get caught in the hamster wheel of “more, faster, cheaper,” the real advantage lies in focusing on what makes content valuable. Not just to algorithms, but to people as well.

And that, in the end, is what makes content worth making.

So, what is quality content to you in 2025? It’s an elusive term, but worth investigating. If you need a hand figuring it out, get in touch.