Reflections

The future of content marketing: humans + AI

Penny Warnock

Content marketer

2 min read

November 3, 2025

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Content marketing is at an inflection point.

Teams are stretched thin, budgets are tighter than ever, and expectations keep rising. At the same time, AI in content marketing has exploded; our research shows 86% of marketers are already using it.

Like every major innovation before it, from the printing press to the internet, we’ve collectively dived in headfirst. We’ve wielded AI like a shiny new tool, eager to do more, faster. And in our haste, we've skipped the hard part: understanding what this tool is actually best used for.

Speed alone isn’t enough. Generative AI can churn out content quickly, but not always at the quality or scale brands need.

That’s why the future of content marketing isn’t humans or AI, it’s humans and AI working together.

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We rushed into AI. Now it’s time to rethink the way forward.

Content and marketing teams of all sizes are reportedly stretched thin, yet are still expected to scale content and keep up with ever-growing content demands.

As mentioned, most marketers we surveyed use AI in their workflows in some capacity. But just because something is new and powerful doesn’t mean we’re using it well.

For many, AI remains a bit of a mysterious black box - impressive yet opaque. Helpful, yes. But also hollow when used without intention. We’re seeing it used absolutely everywhere, but more often than not, without purpose. Initial excitement around AI and AI-generated content is wearing off. Now we’re left asking: what do we actually want this technology to do for us?

Check out Jeroen’s post.

An Accenture survey of 3,000 global executives found that 85% of C-suites plan to increase AI spending this year, expecting big results. At the same time, AI adoption in most large companies is slower and harder than hoped.

Over 95% of firms see little ROI from generative AI, not because the tech isn’t ready, but because organisations aren’t. As Jeroen puts it,

“The real test isn’t about prompting or tools. It’s whether leaders are willing to reinvent how their companies operate. You can’t implement AI without fixing the process first.”

As Olivier Paling, our Chief Product Officer, puts it:

“Clients often come to us asking for AI. But without strong foundations and workflows, AI just adds chaos. Our strategists help teams redesign their processes, so quality content and smart automation work together, driving performance at scale.”

When rethinking the Contentoo platform, we set the intention not to use AI for the sake of it, but to create a more deliberate method for producing content for our clients.

But before we get into that, let’s look at the state of content marketing today.

Dive in: The state of content teams in 2025

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Content marketing in 2026

If you have skin in this game, you will know that content and marketing are constantly changing. A couple of years ago, things were very different. But, since OpenAI graced our screens back in 2022, marketing changed for good.

Last year, it was all about how to make AI-generated content not terrible. However, we’re still seeing companies scale down their teams, invest in AI, and achieve poor results due to Google’s ever-evolving algorithm. (sigh)

Now that AI is here to stay, a new trend is emerging.

A growing number of marketers believe the future of content isn’t about speed – it’s about quality. Forget the race to publish more. That’s a 2018 strategy.

We’re already seeing the divide: cheap, AI-only content on one side, often bland and forgettable. And on the other hand, a smaller group of brands is using AI strategically – to support writers, not replace them.

Olivier Paling, our Chief Product Officer, calls it early:

“The future of content will be split between a flood of low-quality, AI-generated material and a smaller pool of high-quality, branded content. The winners will be those who use AI to take away process fatigue but keep people at the heart of creativity.”

Not surprisingly, our research confirms this. Most marketers use AI to brainstorm and draft. That’s great. But few trust it to speak for their brand. And rightly so. When you hand over the final word to AI, you risk sounding like everyone else.

Read: Red flags everywhere: why AI detectors keep getting it wrong

Before building this brand new platform, we conducted extensive research with marketers, both within and outside of our client base. The problems weren’t abstract; they were practical, painful, and happening every day.

Content marketing insights

Workflows are a mess
Marketers copy-paste briefs across 3 tools, wait weeks for approvals, and miss deadlines. Too many tools. Too much copy-paste. Not enough visibility. Naturally, everyone’s stressed.
Quality slips fast
Tone becomes inconsistent across markets, and brand voice gets lost in translation when attempting to scale content. Yikes.
The process is slow and bureaucratic
Feedback loops are broken. Translations drag. Approvals stall. Not ideal for building momentum or content scaling.
Costs are a black box
Teams lose track of spending across freelance budgets, agency fees, and unscoped extras. Budgets vanish into vague fees and inconsistent scopes. Again, not ideal when we want to prove our value.

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Read: Scale content: How to ‘Marie Kondo’ your content workflow

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Olivier summed it up:

Too many teams rely on messy Google Docs and spreadsheets. Fine for a quick fix, but impossible to scale. We help them move beyond short-term hacks to scalable, structured workflows that actually grow with them.

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Introducing the new Contentoo platform

All of this is to help explain why we built a new and improved Contentoo platform. It keeps everything our customers already value, while making it faster, more innovative, and of course, more scalable.

Here is what is new:

Enhanced project creation: Combine content types, visuals, and languages into a single, streamlined brief. You’re welcome.
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Built for collaboration: Comment, mention team members, or connect to your favourite project management tools, working the way teams already do instead of asking you to do more copy-pasting. Life’s hard enough as is.
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AI + Human workflows: Use AI where it makes sense, for translation, repurposing, a first draft or quality control, while keeping humans in the loop for strategy and creativity. Whatever setup you need, we've got you.
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Transparent pricing:Clear, upfront pricing. No surprises.
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Scalable by default: Designed for global teams, with integration-ready workflows. If we don’t have it, we’ll build it.

This isn’t about bells and whistles, I swear. It’s about building a tool that facilitates where content marketing is going.

We’re not replacing humans with tech. We’re augmenting them with better, smarter systems. The companies that win will be those who use AI where it makes sense, and people where it really matters.

That means marketers spend less time chasing feedback, managing ugly spreadsheets, or translating half-filled briefs, and more time doing what actually moves that dreaded needle: creating content and marketing campaigns that connect and convert.

Read: The 6 things to consider before choosing a content creation platform

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The content landscape is shifting fast

AI is changing not just how content is made, but how it’s found, distributed, and consumed. Search is no longer the only gatekeeper. Distribution is fragmenting. Trust is so much harder to earn and a lot easier to lose.

In this world, speed matters. But clarity and consistency matter more.

The question isn’t if AI belongs in content, it’s how you use it to support strategy, creativity, and timing. That’s where we want Contentoo to make the difference.

We built this platform for marketers who aren’t just trying to keep up, but are ready to stand out. If you need a hand, let’s chat.
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Discover the new Contentoo platform.
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FAQ: The future of content marketing

1. What is the future of content marketing with AI?

The future isn’t AI versus humans, it’s AI and humans. In 2025, 86% of marketing teams already use AI in their workflows. But most use it for ideation, drafting, and editing, while keeping humans in charge of strategy, storytelling, and brand voice. AI, when used right, removes the “busywork” (translations, repurposing, endless approvals), freeing people up to think bigger. The real winners will be teams that combine AI’s efficiency with human creativity and judgment to produce content that’s not just faster, but more meaningful.

2. How can marketing teams use AI without losing their brand voice?

Think of AI as your co-pilot, not your pilot. Leading teams are training AI on their brand guidelines and editorial style, but they never hand over final say. The smartest move is to use AI for first drafts, quality checks, or quick repurposing, while keeping humans in the loop for creative decisions. This hybrid approach ensures your content stays authentic, consistent, and unmistakably you.

3. What challenges do content teams face when scaling content?

Content marketers in 2025 are under pressure to “do more with less”. The biggest hurdles they face:

Messy workflows: Too many tools, not enough integration.
Inconsistent quality: Especially across languages and markets.
Slow approvals: One survey respondent reported 22 people involved in sign-off.
Unclear ROI: 41 leaders cited proving impact as their top worry.

Without the right systems, teams end up “running just to stand still.” A structured platform that unifies workflows and balances AI + human effort can solve many of these pain points.

4. Why is AI-only content a risk for brands?

AI-only output often feels bland, repetitive, and soulless. As one marketer told us: “As the volume of AI slop increases, there’ll be an even bigger appetite for authentic content with a real human point of view.” Search engines are also getting smarter, rewarding originality and relevance over word count. Relying purely on AI can erode trust and hurt performance. The best brands use AI to enhance human ideas, not replace them.

5. What makes the new Contentoo platform different?

Most teams are piecing together a “patchwork stack” of tools, Notion for planning, ChatGPT for drafts, Canva for visuals, HubSpot for automation. Contentoo cuts through that chaos by combining AI automation with human expertise in one platform. That means: