As part of our whitepaper ‘The vision of 27 marketers and content creators for 2026’, we asked strategist, author and speaker Chantal Smink for her vision for 2026 and two practical tips she would give to readers. You can read her response below.
Who is Chantal Smink?
Chantal is a strategist, author, and speaker redefining how companies create content in a zero-click world. As the author of the bestseller Het Contentkanon (Dutch, 2025, number 1 in Marketing on the Dutch platform Managementboek), she introduced a 360° content strategy that starts with one core story and extends it across every platform not by thinking in channels, but by producing content channelagnostically. Her framework helps brands rise above generic content and instead build authority with messaging rooted in expertise with a strategic narrative design.
I think we first need to understand the current state of the internet before we can talk about trends. Otherwise, “trends” are just shiny new objects. I would describe the state of the web as a place where more content is being created than ever before, where algorithms decide what people see, and where everything revolves around instant satisfaction and shrinking attention spans. With that in mind, I see five trends:
People want to consume content instantly on the platform they’re already using. Requiring a click creates friction and sabotages your reach. This means uploading native videos, posting the core of your blog directly on LinkedIn, or even publishing the entire article there. You need to meet the audience where they are without trying to trick them into clicking onto your website.
In an attention economy, algorithms decide what gets reach. Outrage and emotions dominate the feed, even the LinkedIn feed of your B2B customer. In-depth content struggles to compete. Quality is no longer the key to reach, but it is the key to success. As organic reach of indepth content becomes even more curtailed, this game will at some point inevitably shift to pay-to-play.
Traffic isn’t gone, but volumes are significantly lower. In the coming years, you’ll see that the people who do visit your website already knew you existed. You are on their shortlist. They arrive via link-in-bio, branded search (e.g. after discovering your name via ChatGPT), or direct navigation. So don’t use platforms to get people to click to your site, use platforms to build your brand so that people will start looking for you: the demand gen philosophy.
This might feel counterintuitive, but the zero-click era requires higher-quality on-site content. Forget generic blogs (What is the cloud?) or crappy content around keywords solely created for SEO. Google or ChatGPT will answer most of these questions anyway. You’d much rather ensure your content is genuinely valuable for the few visitors who still land on your website. So: fewer visitors, better content. Your content should help your clients choose you. It should no longer attract unqualified traffic. Whether or not you should create a piece of content depends on one question only: does your ideal customer expect this piece of information from you? If yes, then you must produce it, regardless of search volume or traffic potential.
Passively waiting for traffic is an outdated tactic in a zero-click world. Brands must proactively show up on
the platforms their audience uses, with content people actually want to consume. This means: stop producing meaningless LinkedIn posts that nobody cares about, just to tick a box. Create content that people actually want to see and are interested in. Easy but definitely not simple.
A lot of companies create content that nobody would miss if it didn’t exist. Or they create content they wouldn’t even want to consume themselves. Stop producing content like this, it’s a waste of time. Make less, and whatever you create: make it count. It’s time to shift from keywords to the actual questions your potential clients have. I developed the QPAFFCGMIM framework for this: what are the Questions, Problems, Alternatives, Fears, Frustrations, Concerns, Goals, Myths, Interests, and Misunderstandings of your audience? Next, involve subject-matter experts to answer these QPAFFCGMIMs and co-create content with them. No one wants to consume or engage with content from a logo. More than ever we want that human connection and to get to know the people working in the company. Anonymous logos are not cutting it anymore. People want to see people and learn from them, get inspired. That has always mattered, but now more than ever.
In today’s web, you need to be wherever your ideal customer spends their time: you must be findable in Google with your website but also with YouTube video and social shorts. You want to be mentioned in AI-generated answers and be present with compelling content on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram. This is only possible if you work efficiently and stop producing content per channel. Adapt a “channel-agnostic” approach that fuels a 360°content strategy.
Say what? It means: stop creating content for just one single platform. Create it in a way that allows you to repurpose it across all channels.
How? By working video-first with experts. I do this all the time for my clients and myself: interviewing the expert or simply getting them to talk in front of a camera or even a smartphone about the QPAFFCGMIM’S of the ideal customer. You can then turn that footage into a podcast. With AI you turn it easily into snippets, short videos, or even text within minutes. That text can be reused on LinkedIn or published on your website for the visitors who still come there. That is the philosophy of my book Het Contentkanon: a 360° approach to content marketing.
Would you like to discover the other 26 marketers’ and content creators’ visions for 2026? Download the whitepaper here.
