BY Kathy Crosett
Are your clients’ blogging efforts working? Content marketers are asking hard questions as they review the impact of their work. New research from Orbit Media shows that fewer content marketers see their business blogs delivering strong results, and many more say they aren’t sure. Our proprietary research shows that 20% of B2B buyers will increase consideration of a vendor that shares a help blog post. Here’s how to help your clients optimize their efforts.
How do today’s business blogs compare to what marketers have done historically?
Blogging burst onto the scene and became a reliable lead generation tool between 2014 and 2022.
Through 2022, up to 30% of content producers said the effort delivered strong results. By 2021, content producers spent an average of 4 hours on each post with an average length of around 1,400 words.
Since then, AI has impacted the search market. With AI being used to generate content, production time has dropped to 3 hours and 20 minutes per post.
Marketers also cut back on frequency. Instead of writing many shorter posts, they are using long content pieces to show their expertise. They’ve determined that “spending 6+ hours writing 2,000-word posts roughly doubled the odds of strong results,” reports Orbit Media analysts.
How have marketers changed their approach since AI arrived?
Orbit Media’s survey finds that the initial embrace of AI by content producers has faded. In 2026, the use of AI in nearly every part of content production has dropped. This pullback ranges from generating ideas to writing drafts to creating social media promotion posts.
In an interesting twist, Orbit Media’s results show that “marketers who use AI aren’t more likely to win.” They experienced a drop of content effectiveness when lead generation is measured.
Analysts report that when content producers use AI, they stray from the proven methods of improving performance. As a review, here are the proven strategies for optimal results:
- Paid content promotion
- Tracking analytics
- Researching keywords
- Publishing original research
What challenges are marketers facing?
There is no denying that content marketing is more difficult than it was six years ago. Since Google’s AI overviews first appeared in 2024, content and business blogs face challenges in these areas:
- Drawing in visitors from a search
- Engaging readers
- Attracting site visitors from social
Marketers are struggling with email effectiveness as well. Around 26% of surveyed content producers report having trouble getting email recipients to visit their sites.
It could be that some consumers feel overwhelmed by the amount of digital information they face every day. This mindset leaves brands grappling with a “poverty of attention,” reports Forbes.
How to optimize your accounts’ content strategy
There are a few ways that your accounts can win when it comes to content strategies. 36% of marketers experience “strong results” when they collaborate with influencers on most posts. They are likely benefiting from the interest of the influencers’ followers.
In addition, 25% say strong results happen with articles of 2,000+ words. These longer posts give your accounts the opportunity to emphasize their expertise.
Experts also note that strong results are linked to the use of visual content. This includes infographics, charts and graphs. And this is especially true when marketers post original research.
In a big shift, formats like lists and how-
Your accounts have many ways to engage with prospects and generate leads. Some of their activities will be more successful than others. Providing the right kind of content in a post is a good start.
B2B buyers will share their contact information if the vendor provides the right kind of content. For example, 23% want information on emerging market trends, and 18% will sign up for an email newsletter subscription. To further engage these prospects, you can help your accounts by writing business blogs that flow logically and include a call to action.
How to use analytics
If your accounts are working too hard, offer to help them with the most important part of their content program: monitoring analytics. The marketers who reported actively monitoring their blog post analytics were also the ones who reported “strong results” for their program. Likely, they are adjusting their strategy when the analytics indicate a need.
And refrain from emphasizing traffic as part of analytics. AI’s negative impact on traffic is well documented. Instead, help your accounts measure details that matter, like email signups, leads and revenue.
Closing thoughts
Business blogs generate results. But marketers need a new approach as AI impacts search engine rankings. Help your accounts modify their content marketing strategy and score better results.
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