From a content marketing perspective, last year was a whirlwind. It brought with it some massive changes in marketing, and the content realm felt it in a big way.

So, what’s 2026 going to look like?

It’s really hard to say for sure, but here’s what I see as the 7 big themes or trends in content marketing for the year ahead, and what it means for the coworking world. 

1. AI still won’t be king when it comes to content marketing

I’ve watched a lot of operators in the last six months take their content in-house (often tasking their community teams with it) and leaning heavily on AI to create it.

Sure, AI has made it faster to craft blog articles, emails, and web pages.

But has it actually made your marketing better? Or has it just made it faster?

I’m not here to comment on what I’m seeing or to call anyone out. I’ll only reiterate my general philosophy on this point…

The only way AI will create better marketing is if you have:

1. The right system in place to get original, unique, high-quality outputs from it
2. An operator who has at least a basic understanding of the marketing outputs they’re creating with it

And, even then, you’re only scratching the surface of what you can (and should) do to grow your coworking business with content marketing.

2. Smart operators will look beyond blog and email to drive results with content marketing

Building on my last point, most operators (especially those doing DIY content with AI) are only focused on blog, email, and social media content.

But that’s only a fraction of what you can (and should) be doing.

Smart operators will start looking at integrated, multichannel content as a key element of their marketing strategy, including:

• High-quality videography and photography 
• Messaging, positioning, and strategy
• AI optimization
• Website copy and productized service pages as well as FAQs, gated content, and testimonials
• Having the right forms in the right places and linked properly to CRMs
• SEO and keyword-driven content
• Organic content
• GEO/AEO optimization
• Social media strategy and execution
• High-quality ad creative and copy
• Email marketing including broadcast and automated emails for onboarding, engagement, renewals, drip campaigns, win-back sequences, tour follow-ups, membership or office availability, Google Business Profile and testimonial requests, tour confirmations and reminders, and beyond
• SMS marketing
• Digital PR like guest posts, backlinks, traditional PR
• Profile-building and thought leadership for industry experts
• Owned resources like webinars, podcasting, and YouTube
• Internal materials like team onboarding documents, sales materials, Slack channels, standard operating procedures, and internal communications

Smart operators will begin to see the value in creating a holistic content ecosystem that drives results and supports business objectives. 

3. AI adoption could become polarized

This is actually an insight I picked up from a content marketing group I’m part of, but I think it’s an interesting take.

When polled, members of the group predicted the gap would widen between businesses that embrace AI content and those that reject it.

In fact, some even predicted that, as people become more firm in their opinions about being for or against AI-generated content, a niche for "non-AI content" might emerge, which could go as far as becoming a brand identity marker for companies, similar to organic food or sustainable production labels—as in, "No AI was used to make this content.

Personally, I don’t think anyone will care, especially not in coworking. As long as their content drives business results, it could be made with a corkscrew, and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference.

Case in point: everyone has a different opinion on AI, and hey—who’s to say what’s right or wrong?

From my perspective, I’m leaning heavily into AI and putting it to work for all my clients. But I’m also building the strategies, systems, and frameworks that ensure their content is so unique and high-quality, you’d never know the difference.

4. Video + podcasts will make a resurgence 

I wanted to move on from the AI topic, but alas…

Building off of the last point, I think the surge in AI content is creating a renewed appetite for something more human.

And, as a result, I see video and podcasts having a big year.

But the human element isn’t the only reason for this. 

As I’ve said before, AI can only work with the information you give it. So, podcasts and video content will act as documentation and inputs to feed the machines. 

It’ll allow you to record one video or podcast episode, then use AI to disseminate it into a boatload of on-brand, multichannel assets, from blog to email and social media.

Shameless self-plug: I built a course that’ll teach you how to do exactly that. I’ll be rolling it out in the coming month or two. Want to learn more? Click here to receive updates and special offers. 

As an extension of my point on video, I think operators will (should) start looking more to explainer videos for their brand and services to help cater to the way people consume content today. 

5. Coworking industry leaders will step into thought leadership roles

Let me preempt this with a disclaimer: I don’t love the term “thought leadership.” It reminds me of my days in PR agencies, and I can barely say (type) it without sweating. 

But let’s not let my unsolicited opinions get in the way of a good point.

As 2026 gets underway, I think we’re going to see a lot of coworking industry leaders building their personal brands.

This isn’t speculative. I’m seeing the interest first-hand and having those discussions as we speak. 

First and foremost, authentic insights and ideas play well in algorithms, serve as source material for AI (see my last point), and put a face to the brand.

After all, people do business with people they know, like, and trust. 

More importantly, though, it can:

• Improve deal efficiency by letting people self-educate before getting in touch
• Increase inbound quality by attracting people who already understand what you're offering and how it benefits them
• Shorten sales cycles by reducing early-stage explanation and misalignment
• Protect and concentrate brand equity by controlling how ideas and positioning are represented
• Multiply leadership impact by turning time and thinking into reusable assets
• Create a long-term growth asset that compounds

I think this definitely applies to operators looking to connect with brokers or landlords, but I also believe it’s a positive opportunity for single and multi-location operators as well. 

6. Optimizing for AI search will become a stronger focus for coworking operators 

Midway through last year, I wrote an article about how I used ChatGPT’s agent mode to find coworking space options based on a number of tangible and intangible factors. I won’t get into the details here, but it’s worth giving it a read.

Then, at the GWA Conference in Boston, I sat on a marketing panel where we talked, among other things, about the importance of controlling your brand narrative in 2026.

TL;DR: As of October 2025, 50% of people are using AI search on a daily basis or at least frequently. AI search tools like ChatGPT now pull from multiple sources (your website, blog, social media, reviews, member content, and digital PR) to answer personalized queries about coworking spaces. If you're not feeding AI accurate, comprehensive information across all these channels, it will either skip you entirely or make things up. This article breaks down how AI search works differently from Google, what signals AI looks for, and how to audit and control your digital presence across multiple touchpoints.

Let’s be clear: AI search won’t replace SEO (from where I stand today). It’ll be an extension of it. And while AI search is still a relatively low percentage of all online searches, as its adoption grows, it’ll become even more important to make sure your coworking space is showing up in its results (both Google’s AI Summaries as well as through ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, etc).

If you want to do a deeper dive, you can find more on that here.

7. Content reporting will become murkier

It’s no secret that the value of content marketing can be tough to quantify. While you can track a ton of metrics, it’s hard to assign a number to other elements, particularly the impact of "brand building."

With the latter, you either understand its value, or you don’t.

That said, I suspect this’ll become even murkier in 2026 and beyond. 

As influence and discovery increasingly occur outside of owned websites (ie., through LLMs, social platforms, and community-driven spaces like Reddit), content marketing may shift more toward a world where you can’t be so sure where every lead came from. 

Making predictions isn’t always easy. A while back, I penned an article smugly declaring how ChatGPT would never really work for copywriting.

And how dumb do I look now? 

In any case, a lot is happening, and content marketing is evolving fast. So, if you want help with content marketing that drives results in 2026, I’d invite you to book a free consultation today. 

‍PS: "No AI was used to make this content."

PPS: Okay, that's a lie. But did it feel AI-generated? You be the judge.