How to Attract Top Marketing Talent For Your Business
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In my last blog, I wrote about agentic commerce and how AI is starting to shape how customers are discovered, compared and chosen. The uncomfortable shift is this:
Decisions are starting to happen without you in the room. This week, I want to focus on one of the most overlooked parts of that shift. Content.
We’re Producing More Content Than Ever. So Why Isn’t It Working?
Most marketing teams are not short on content. They are short on impact.
- More posts
- More campaigns
- More formats
- More channels
And yet:
- growth is inconsistent
- engagement doesn’t translate
- conversion remains under pressure
On paper, everything looks like it’s working. In reality, very little is compounding.
The Illusion of Content Performance
Content performance is often measured by:
- impressions
- clicks
- engagement
These metrics are easy to track. But they rarely tell you if content is actually driving growth. Because content is not just about being seen. It’s about being understood, trusted and chosen. And that’s where most strategies fall down.
The Real Problem: Content as an output - not as a system
This is exactly the kind of disconnect I’ve written about before when it comes to marketing systems. Content is still being treated as output. Not as part of a system designed to drive growth. It’s:
- reactive
- channel-led
- volume-driven
Instead of:
- customer-led
- strategically aligned
- built to move people through decisions
So what you end up with is activity without alignment. And content that never really works as hard as it should.
Why This Matters More Now
In an AI-driven world, content is no longer just a marketing tool. It is how your business is understood.
When AI is scanning, comparing and evaluating your content becomes one of the primary signals it uses to decide:
- what you do
- how credible you are
- whether you should be recommended
This connects directly back to the shift I outlined in my last article. If AI is helping shape decisions, then content becomes: Not optional. Not supporting. Foundational.
What Good Content Looks Like (And How to Spot When It’s Not)
Most teams don’t set out to create ineffective content. They just don’t have a clear way to assess it. So everything gets posted.
When content is working, you see:
- Clear, consistent messaging across channels
- Customers who understand what you do quickly
- Content that supports decisions, not just awareness
- Topics that reinforce your positioning over time
- Momentum, not just moments
When it’s not working, you see:
- Content that feels different on every platform
- Lots of activity but little commercial impact
- Posts that entertain but don’t convert
- Repetition without reinforcement
- Teams asking “what should we post?” instead of “what do customers need to understand?”
A Simple Way to Assess Your Content
If I'm working with a founder or marketing team, I'll often map their content across four areas. I call it the Content Strategy Compass.
1. News
What's happening right now?
- Updates
- Announcements
- Timely moments
Important, but short-lived.
2. Sales
What are you asking people to do?
- Offers
- Products
- Services
Necessary, but often overused.
Entertainment
What captures attention?
- Social content
- Trends
- Personality
Drives engagement, but not always decisions.
3. Wisdom
What helps people understand, decide and trust you?
- Insights
- Education
- Point of view
- Expertise
This is where most businesses are under-invested.
Most content strategies are overweight in noise and underweight in wisdom. When we map this properly with clients, the gaps become very clear very quickly.
Influencers and Branded Content: Your Distributed Trust Layer
One area that is often misunderstood in this conversation is influencers. They're typically treated as:
- A channel
- A campaign
- Or a short-term reach play
But in reality, they play a much bigger role. In a world where customers, and increasingly AI, are looking for signals of credibility, influencers and branded content act as a distributed layer of trust. They validate your brand externally, reinforce your positioning in real-world contexts and create content that feels independent, not controlled. And that matters. Because trust is no longer built in a single place. It's built across an ecosystem.
What Good Looks Like
The brands that are doing this well don't just "use influencers." They:
- Partner with voices that align to their positioning
- Create content that adds value, not just promotion
- Build consistency over time, not one-off campaigns
This is less about reach. And more about reinforcement.
Where Most Get It Wrong
Most influencer activity is:
- Short-term
- Transactional
- Disconnected from the broader strategy
Which means it may generate attention. But it doesn't build trust. And it doesn't support decision-making.
In an environment where decisions are shaped by signals, not just messaging, influencer and branded content becomes part of how your business is understood and validated.
What High-Performing Content Systems Do Differently
The teams that get this right don't just create content. They build systems. Their content:
- Is aligned to a clear strategy
- Reinforces the same core messages consistently
- Is designed to support different stages of decision-making
- Compounds over time
It's not about more content. It's about more connected content.
Where Should You Start?
You don't need to overhaul everything. But you do need to reset how you think about content.
1.Start with clarity, not channels
What do you want to be known for? If that isn't clear, your content won't be either.
2. Build content around decisions, not campaigns
What does a customer need to understand before they choose you? That's your content strategy.
3. Align everything
Your website, social, CRM and sales messaging should all reinforce the same story.
4. Prioritise trust signals
Reviews, proof, consistency and authority. This is what builds confidence over time.
5. Think in systems, not outputs
Every piece of content should connect, reinforce and build momentum. Not exist in isolation.
The Opportunity Most Teams Are Missing
This is not a small shift. It's a structural one. Because as decision-making accelerates:
- Fewer brands get considered
- Fewer messages get processed
- Fewer opportunities exist to explain yourself
Which means the brands that win are not the loudest. They are the clearest.
Final Thought
If your content is not helping your business be understood, trusted and chosen, it is not driving growth.
About the Author
Alicia Rieniets is the founder of CMO On Call, a fractional marketing consultancy helping organisations drive growth through aligned brand, customer and performance strategies. With over 20 years' experience across brands including Ford, Bupa, Australia Post and UniSuper, Alicia is known for transforming marketing functions into commercially driven systems that deliver measurable results. She works closely with leadership teams to simplify complexity, unlock growth and build marketing that works.
