Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Traffic Apocalypse
You have to admit that a phrase like ‘traffic apocalypse’ makes for a juicy headline. When HubSpot claimed in Summer 2025 that they lost 80% of their blog traffic as a result of the rise of zero-click content, changes in the Google algorithm, and the rise of generative, it made many of us in the content marketing space stop and think.
HubSpot marketing head Kipp Bodnar confessed this term was “clickbait” and the reality of changes to their traffic numbers were and are significantly more complex.
Yes, organic search has been intractably redefined: your traffic and your best leads likely aren’t coming from a search engine. (No, this doesn’t mean SEO doesn’t matter anymore, but that’s beside the point.)
There’s an ever-present temptation – particularly in the gen AI age – to draft content to a screen rather than to an audience. These keystrokes aren’t fulfilling a quota, they’re conveying a real message to real people. The traffic apocalypse had less to do with metrics than meaning.
Had content marketers lost the plot? Had we begun to write for reach rather than grasp?
For those of us steeped in the Inbound approach, in short, aligning our content and messaging to those we want to have conversations with in the first place, a virtual earthquake in the search environment was notable, but it never posed an existential crisis.
In fact, quite the opposite: this was our moment to focus more strongly than ever on shaping messaging to personas and ideal customer profiles and making real connections with real people. Quality over quantity.
We could develop content that reaches thousands of people or more, but if we’re only prepared or capable to work with a handful of them, what good is that? There’s a reason they’re called vanity metrics.
No, the onus is (and has been for some time) on us to develop marketing messaging that means something and is credible to the people we need to talk to. It’s OK to market toward grasp!
A grasp, you know, like a handshake.
Ours is a people business. In our 25th year, Kuno enjoyed some of its strongest sales in shorter timetables by staying true to our message and approach, and by simply being out there.
We’ve talked quite a bit about the success we’ve enjoyed as a result of partnering with StackAdapt at INBOUND25. But let’s quickly break down what made it work:
Openness to be out with real people in the real world (INBOUND)
Resonant, creative messaging that balanced our value props with a flair for the whimsical (The Programmatic Bakery)
Face time
We see this as well in how our own content performs: what we publish engages readers at a meaningful level to them, and as such we’re seeing people make decisions not to put us in a basket with other potential marketing partners, but to say yes to teaming with us to make their marketing aspirations a reality. The ‘funnel’ has been turned upside down.
We didn’t react and pivot with anything that was happening out there with regard to SEO signals or zero-click – which is not the same as saying we didn’t notice or didn’t care, I can tell you firsthand we did in both regards – but we were and are confident in what we offer at Brand & Capture, on our recently relaunched website, on social, in our newsletters and other messaging, down to being willing to look our prospects in the eye, shake hands and have real conversations about the real issues facing their brands and businesses.
So, what does aligning reach with grasp mean when it comes to content strategy?
A reevaluation of metrics and KPIs. Your pageviews, bounce rates and clicks aren’t as important as your time on page, session length or conversions, all properly configured within a platform that supports automation, AI-powered lead scoring and keeps the right people at the heart of what you do and why. Conventional top-line metrics tell you about you, not about those you want to engage.
A willingness to cultivate relationships and community. There is a renewed emphasis on authenticity and connection according to December 2025 LinkedIn data: “8 in 10 (78%) small business leaders in the US say professional networks are critical for growth, while two thirds (63%) rely on trusted input from their community for quick decision-making.”
What’s more, that LinkedIn report added this, as well: “Around three quarters (73%) say human connection has become more critical - not less - in the age of AI…” The human element isn’t going away because it’s not just an element: it’s the core component.
Trusting the process. Inbound works. It’s rare to win someone over with a single blog post in a vacuum; oftentimes, those scarce wins are Pyrrhic. But if the aim is building meaningful relationships, getting wins isn’t as important as giving others the respect and value they deserve and leaving transactionalism at the door. After all, you want more than their money: you want their partnership.
Getting to that substantive level takes time and effort. We’re not afraid to take the time to do marketing right. You shouldn’t be, either.
On behalf of the entire Kuno team, thank you for a great 2025 and we wish you and your family all the best this holiday season. We’ll look forward to seeing you in January. – Ed.
Brent Sirvio
