Content Saturation and Trust Erosion

Content marketing is being dismantled as we speak. But not by some flashy new tool... And not by AI replacing jobs (despite what the linkedin thinkbois are saying) But by the slow erosion of everything that used to work. What used to drive pipeline... cold outbound, gated PDFs, over-engineered nurture sequences, and SEO-for-SEO’s-sake... now mostly burns cash and erodes trust. Here’s how I see it playing out: 1️⃣ Phase 1 (Now): The volume trap Companies crank out 50x more content thanks to AI. It feels like a win… but it’s just a content cold war. Mutually assured distraction. Strategy dissolves into production. But… the best of us (aka you!) are realizing that as content gets cheaper. Attention gets more expensive. What the best operators do here: - Refuse to scale noise. Raise the bar before increasing volume. - Audit by impact, not output (via Dreamdata). They ask: “What changed someone’s mind this quarter?” - Use AI for acceleration, not ideation. No prompting until the POV is nailed. - Gate nothing - until it's so good people ask where they can get more of it, or go deeper 2️⃣ Phase 2 (Next 12–18 months): The credibility collapse Audiences get smarter. They know when a piece was written by someone who’s never touched the problem. Trust erodes. Even “high quality” content without IP gets ignored if it doesn’t feel real. What the best operators do here: - Ship ONLY from lived experience. They write what they’ve done or seen up close. No more “best practices.” - Bring proof. Screenshots. Sales call transcripts. User messages. Real things. - Publish from product. They turn the most boring stuff (like changelogs) into narratives and feature launches into moments. - Close the empathy gap. They steal phrases from actual customers and inject them into copy. 3️⃣ Phase 3 (2–3 years): The unbundling of marketing itself Marketing becomes everyone’s job. Executives build brand. Sales drives narrative. Customer success becomes the best storyteller in the company. What the best operators do here: - Create systems, not silos. Content becomes ops that pulls signals from every team. - Train the org to ship. They enable product, CS, and sales to contribute (without bottlenecks). - Become editors-in-chief. They curate, sharpen, and distribute. Graduate from creator to conductor. - Center on Content IP. Invest in one durable concept that defines their POV and ties it all together. ⚡️ If this doesn’t match what you’re seeing… I’d love to be wrong.

The journey from data to value is increasingly being hijacked by marketing messages disguised as thought leadership. At a time when organizations face ever more complex data challenges, we’re drowning in content that promises transformation but only wants to deliver a transaction. Don't get me wrong: When it's high-quality, content marketing is a win-win. When vendors share how they tackled real challenges and discuss genuine insights, it advances the conversation and generates business along the way. Increasingly, however, an annoying pattern is emerging: surface-level insights that are dressed up as profound revelations. We've all experienced it: The enticing "best-practices guide" that turns out to be three paragraphs of jargon followed by a product demo request. The "comprehensive framework" that is thinly veiled product positioning. The "deep-dive case study" that quickly dissolves into the same talking points plastered on the vendor’s homepage. Today’s landscape is cluttered with “playbooks,” “frameworks,” and “summits” that promise expertise but ultimately turn out to be pitch vehicles. Even whitepapers, once a fairly reliable source of deeper thinking, now often follow a predictable formula: minimal insight, maximum promotion, and a contact form to complete the transaction. Of course great solutions deserve visibility, and many vendors possess a ton of deep expertise worth sharing. The issue arises when commercial intent clumsily tries to masquerade as intellectual insights, particularly when these “insights” fail to match the complexity of the problems at hand. The result is more than mere annoyance; it’s actively undermining the discourse. The costs of this approach are real: ▪️ Real innovations are drowned in promotional noise  ▪️ Complex organizational challenges are reduced to product features ▪️ Professional development stagnates as learning resources become sales funnels ▪️ Trust in genuine thought leadership erodes with each bait-and-switch The path forward? Honesty of intent. When content is promotional, say so proudly. Great marketing doesn’t need a disguise. I for one love learning about innovative solutions that address real challenges. But when insights are shared under the banner of thought leadership, they must be grounded in authentic experience and a sincere desire to elevate the conversation. Rest assured: true thought leadership requires no “sign up now” button—it earns attention and generates sales through substance.

You're probably so distracted that you won't even click on "see more" in this post. I can't believe that actually worked. Sales channels are oversaturated, and the tactics that once worked—content blasts, cold emails, even direct ads—are yielding diminishing returns. Why? Because your audience is distracted, overloaded with information, and increasingly selective about what they’ll actually pay attention to. We’re facing a fundamental shift in the attention economy, and here’s what that means for us as revenue leaders: Recognize the Reality. Getting your message across isn’t just about volume anymore. SDRs and marketing teams are feeling the impact of a distracted audience. The era of quick wins through content saturation is over. The average buyer isn’t scrolling for solutions; they’re turning to trusted sources in their network. Refocus on Relationships, Not Noise. Partnerships allow us to get noticed without adding more noise. When a trusted partner recommends a solution, it lands differently than a hundred cold calls ever will. This isn’t a tactical tweak—it’s a strategic shift. Start Thinking Like a Partnership Engineer. Just as engineers use different bridge types for different terrain, you need to identify which partnerships best connect with your audience. Evaluate your network and industry connections. Do your potential partners reach your ideal customer? Do they carry the credibility your brand needs? Measure the Impact. Reconsider what success looks like. Instead of focusing solely on leads, measure your partnership ROI through metrics like customer trust, win rates, and contract values. Partner-driven deals show, on average, higher win rates and shorter sales cycles than direct outreach. Partnerships aren’t just a support system. They’re the bridge across the river of distraction. If you’re serious about getting your brand noticed, lean into the power of relationships that connect you to your audience without the noise.

🤓 Today, I’m exploring the "Dead Internet Theory" (DIT), which suggests that modern social media and online spaces are increasingly dominated by artificial interactions—AI-generated content, bot-driven engagement, and algorithmic amplification—rather than authentic human communication. Social media platforms rely heavily on AI and bots to curate content and simulate engagement. This creates the illusion of a thriving digital ecosystem while diluting authenticity and reducing the diversity of user-generated content. One primary concern is content scraping, where AI repurposes publishers' data to generate new material, often without compensation. This undermines original creators and diminishes their revenue potential. Algorithmic influence has also reshaped online interactions. Platforms prioritize profit by favoring algorithmically optimized content, often at the expense of organic user engagement. As a result, digital spaces become increasingly controlled, stifling dissent and originality. According to DIT, while the internet appears more active than ever, much of its content is artificially generated, leading to a decline in genuine human connection. This erosion of trust and authenticity could have far-reaching implications for information integrity, digital culture, and the future of online advertising.

"We need to be everywhere!" my client insisted, juggling social platforms like hot potatoes while her marketing budget burned. Six months later: "Nobody knows who we are. We've spent $50,000, and I can't tell you what message actually landed." THIS is the invisible tax businesses pay when they don't have a messaging strategy. You may be pouring time, energy, and money into your marketing, but without a solid messaging strategy, it's like throwing spaghetti at the wall. Here's what's actually happening when your messaging is all over the place: Your customers are confused. And confused customers don't buy. They're thinking: "Wait, I thought you were all about sustainability last week, but now you're talking about luxury?" or "Didn't your Instagram say something completely different from what your website claims?" The real cost isn't just the wasted ad spend (though that stings too). It's the erosion of trust. We can all relate to having that one friend who keeps changing their story. After a while, you stop believing anything they say. Your business works the same way. Every time your messaging zigzags, you're chipping away at your credibility. And rebuilding that is WAY harder than getting it right the first time. The good news: This is totally fixable. You don't need a complicated 50-page brand bible. You just need clarity on: —Who you're really talking to (NOT everyone—get specific) —What problem you solve for them (that keeps them up at night) —How you solve it differently (your secret sauce) —Why they should believe you (show, don't just tell) When you nail this down and make sure everyone in your company is singing from the same sheet, magic happens. Your marketing gets easier. Your team gets more confident. And your customers start to really trust you. What's one place where your messaging feels disconnected right now? That might be the perfect place to start.

Trust in B2B marketing is eroding in real time. Not because marketers got lazy or lost their edge. But because the pressure never stopped. Every quarter there's demand for more pipeline, fewer resources and faster results. So we continually optimize. We squeeze pipeline out of every ad, every campaign, every sequence. And this is why trust is eroding... Leadership might never fully believe in marketing, but buyers did. They believed in thoughtful content. Real insight. The kind of marketing that made them feel understood. Instead of building trust. Now we build systems that chase buyers until they surrender. If they don’t leadership blames marketing. As if growth is just something you do. As if it can be manufactured by pressing the right buttons in the right order. Lead gen stopped working because it became all about engineering a MQL signal. Demand gen stopped working because it became all about engineering a demo request. Now clicking an ad or visiting a B2B website is creating signals that trigger outreach cadences. I’ve been in-house. I chased lead gen, demand gen, ABM, brand, and intent signals. I even joined Refine Labs thinking someone had figured it out. But it was always the same: trick the system, get the bump, keep the chart going up. None of it was built to last. There’s another path: one built on narrative, not noise. A strategy that earns attention instead of demanding it. That meets buyers where they are instead of dragging them through it until they surrender. For the last five years, we’ve been building the agency we wish we had in-house. You don’t need to blow up everything you’re doing but you do need to start building a narrative your buyers can believe in. Growth isn’t something you flip on. It’s something you attract with earned trust. And here’s the good news: It’s not too late to come back. https://lnkd.in/gCn-3n6C

Here’s the tea ☕: The AI models have officially taken over our feeds. From hyper-realistic celebrity "photos" to fake event flyers and AI-generated influencers, AI content is everywhere. Be honest... How many of your friends or followers have reshared AI-generated posts thinking they were real just this month? 🤖 So What’s the Big Deal? AI in content creation isn’t new, but it’s evolving fast. What used to look obviously fake now passes as influencer-level quality and in some cases, even newsworthy. While some of it is cool and creative, it also raises some serious questions: Can your audience tell what’s real and what’s AI-generated? Does resharing AI content (thinking it’s authentic) impact credibility? How do we, as marketers and content creators, maintain trust in a space where anything can be faked? 👀 Consequences: We’re Already Seeing the Blurred Lines 1. Erosion of Trust When people realize the “event” they shared never existed or the “testimonial” was fully AI-generated, they feel duped. That trust doesn’t just disappear quietly, it creates long-term skepticism. 2. Misinformation in Disguise AI content can look professional, fact-based, and reliable. But if we’re not careful, we’re accidentally amplifying misinformation, especially in areas like health, politics, and social issues. 3. Impact on Brand Credibility For businesses and personal brands, resharing unverified AI content or passing off AI work as original can damage credibility quickly. People want transparency and authenticity. 🔑 So What Can We Do? Think before you repost. Ask yourself: Is this credible? Is it sourced? Does it feel off? Be transparent with AI usage. Using AI for design, captions, or video? No shame at all. Just let your audience know. It builds trust. Double down on your unique voice. AI can generate content, but it can’t replicate you. Your values, tone, and perspective are what cut through the noise. Educate your community. Especially if you’re in marketing, media, or communications. A little awareness goes a long way in helping others spot what’s real and what’s not. Final Sip 🍵 AI isn’t the enemy, but blindly trusting content without question might be. As social media becomes more saturated with perfectly polished, not-so-real posts, our job is to stay grounded, stay honest, and help our communities navigate the blur. Because at the end of the day, authenticity will always win, even if AI tries to fake it. #AIContent #SocialMediaTrends #MarketingWithIntegrity #AuthenticityMatters #DigitalLiteracy #TrinidadMarketing #LinkedInTT #ContentCreators #TrustYourVoice #RealTalk

Are We Automating Stupidity at Scale? The AI hype machine is running at full speed. Companies are racing to replace people with Gen AI, slashing costs, and celebrating short-term efficiency gains. But here’s the brutal reality: Most of this is a mirage. The latest data confirms what many of us have suspected: AI makes too many mistakes to be trusted. AI Is Riddled with Errors—But We’re Scaling It Anyway 🚨 GPT-4.5 has a hallucination rate of 37% (down from nearly 60% in GPT-4o) (FT) 🚨 Chatbots generate factual inaccuracies in 46% of responses (Writer) 🚨 36.1% of Gen AI users express concerns about bias, errors, and reliability (AI Accelerator Institute) 🚨 Only 1% of companies consider themselves AI-mature, yet nearly all are deploying it aggressively (McKinsey) 🚨 30% of workers could see half their tasks disrupted by Gen AI—without clear quality control strategies (Brookings) These numbers expose the ugly truth: AI is nowhere near ready to replace human judgment—but businesses are acting as if it is. And here’s the kicker: If AI is so unreliable, then how much money is actually being saved? Wouldn’t businesses need more AI (or more humans) to proofread AI-generated content? How does replacing people with Gen AI make sense when you still need people to fix AI’s mistakes? This isn’t just a bad AI strategy—this is short-term thinking on steroids. I get why executives love this. Cost-cutting and efficiency make quarterly earnings look great. But what happens after the honeymoon period? Here’s what they aren’t thinking about: 📉 Scaling Mediocrity – The more companies rely on Gen AI, the more they flood the market with bland, error-ridden, generic content. Everything regresses to the mean. 🚨 Eroding Trust – As AI-generated mistakes pile up, customer trust collapses. And once credibility is lost, it’s nearly impossible to rebuild. ⚠️ Commoditizing Everything – If every company is relying on AI for marketing, reports, content, and strategy—what's the differentiator? The real competitive advantage is human insight, creativity, and strategic thinking. 🤦 Automating Stupidity at Scale – AI doesn’t "think"—it predicts words and patterns based on past data. If you automate bad logic, you just make mistakes faster. This is not a five-year problem—this is a six-month problem. It’s already happening. Instead of using AI to replace human expertise, businesses should use it to enhance it. The best companies will: ✅ Use AI + human oversight (not AI instead of humans) ✅ Prioritize accuracy and trust over short-term efficiency ✅ Recognize that AI is a tool, not a strategy If you’re implementing Gen AI in your business, ask yourself this: Are you solving real problems—or are you creating new ones and calling it progress? ******************************************************************************** Curiouser.AI offers the only Generative AI designed to make you smarter. Try Alice at curiouser.ai

On socials, specifically on LinkedIn let’s say, you can lose trust just as fast as you can win it. Here’s how I see it: Right now, the biggest opportunity on social *especially in B2B* is trust. As pipelines become more unpredictable, more teams are turning to content to warm up relationships, signal credibility, and keep deals in motion. And the truth is, content works. When done right, it builds familiarity, shortens sales cycles, and *earns* attention in places where cold outreach cannot. But just as fast as trust can be built via content, it can also be stripped. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had dozens of conversations with founders and marketing leaders ramping up their presence on LinkedIn. What seems to be the trend among an increase number of teams is their desire to ramp up LinkedIn content efforts. The recurring reminder is: if your content doesn’t sound like you, or speak directly to the people you’re trying to reach, you’re weakening the trust signal. I’m not here to play content cop, but let’s be honest. We all know what “bad” content looks like. It’s generic, templated, packed with buzzwords and emojis. It doesn’t reflect the voice of the person posting it, and it definitely doesn’t feel like it was written with any audience in mind. When that kind of content gets pushed out across a team, the damage compounds. One or two people consistently posting sharp, well-thought-out content [10/10] is more powerful than five or six pushing out forgettable fluff [4/10]. It’s just a balance game of quality.

🔥 We’re in a trust recession. Trust is down. Consumption is down.     People aren’t showing up. They’re numbing out.    So if you think cranking out more content is the answer? It’s not. No one’s showing up because they’re exhausted from being sold to 24/7.    More content isn’t the answer. More connection is. This is something Alex Cattoni, founder of The Copy Posse, has been speaking on for years—because marketing that actually converts starts with trust.     And as someone who’s spent my career building personal brands, I couldn’t agree more. So instead of cranking out more noise, ask yourself 3 questions:    💜 How can I connect deeper with the right people instead of chasing vanity metrics?    💜 How can I help my audience lean in, not numb out?   (Authenticity > automation.) 💜 How can I show the process, not just the polished end result?   (Because trust is built behind the scenes.)    Trust is the new currency. The question is: Are you earning it? 👇    #ContentStrategy #PersonalBranding #Marketing #ThoughtLeadership #StandOutAuthority