When future historians write the story of content marketing, a lot of words will be devoted to the last 20 years – from the unstoppable rise of social media, to the welcome demise of keyword stuffing.
Stephanie Wisdom has lived, and led, though it all. In her recent roles at Udemy, the professional online learning provider, and Five9, an intelligent CX platform provider, she’s created global-scale customer marketing strategies and cemented her reputation as a visionary in the world of customer advocacy.
We sat down with Stephanie to discuss how content marketing has evolved and how to create successful, customer-centric content in 2025.
Radix: How has content marketing changed since you began your career?
Stephanie:
“The most obvious change? In the ’90s, when I started in content marketing as a tech writer, every piece of marketing collateral was still on paper! But really, the most significant change has been the diversification of content formats and the rise of social selling.
As an enterprise company, you have to be on YouTube at the very least, but you should also be on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. All these need to support your sales.
Another area that’s evolved quickly is SEO. When it first became a thing, it mostly just involved stuffing keywords into content. Now that search engines are much smarter – and they actually prioritise user intent and content quality – there’s actually a lot more you can achieve.”
Radix: Did working as a copywriter give you an insight into what makes good content?
Stephanie:
“When I started out as a tech writer, there was a much greater focus on getting the technical details right. Now, writing and creating content marketing is all about storytelling.
To be impactful, you have to tell a story that reflects your company’s brand values and resonates with your audience, all while ensuring the content is built in the right format.
My goal, whether I’m working on a case study or speaking at an event, is to use storytelling to really create a personal connection. I’m not someone who thinks technical messages are enough; for me, it’s all about building an emotional relationship.
Many companies just have transactional relationships with their customers, but I don’t think that’s what customers want. Customers want to know they’re working with a company that cares about them and their goals, and wants them to succeed – especially when it comes to B2B.”
Radix: You mentioned the importance of social selling. How have you seen it evolve and can you share any best practices?
Stephanie:
“Social selling really took off with the introduction of brand ambassador platforms. When I’ve used these platforms and uploaded content for the sales team to share, I’ve seen huge successes.
Instead of just one person or brand profile sharing a piece of content and reaching 250 customers, the entire sales team can reach thousands.
My social team will write posts that our sales team can instantly share on their personal accounts with a single click. You can help them populate their profiles with weeks’ worth of content in minutes, and ensure they’re sharing your content with the right tags, keywords, and information to reach your audience. It makes facilitating the connection between sales and customers much easier.”
Radix: Can you tell us about a content marketing project you’re especially proud of?
Stephanie:
“I started awards programmes at both Five9 and Udemy that recognise top customers. And I’m not talking about top customers based on the amount of product they purchase or their revenue figures. This is about recognising customers based on how they are using the product and the results they are seeing.
I love these programmes because they acknowledge the work that customers put in to succeed with any new technology.
I also did a video series at Five9 called Take Five, where we asked customers five questions in five minutes. This made for really successful content, because it allowed us to humanise the customer for our audience while simultaneously humanising our own company.
It’s storytelling in its purest and best form. Just sitting and talking to the customer, asking about their business, the successes they’re seeing, and what our audience can learn from them.
As I mentioned earlier, many marketers view customers in a transactional way, but they’re much more than that. Your customers are what keeps your company alive, and as a content manager, that’s a reason to take customer advocacy very seriously.”
Radix: What are the most exciting trends in content marketing, right now?
Stephanie:
“We’re really starting to see a rise in the use of influencers in the enterprise and midmarket space. If you go on TikTok, the majority of the content you’ll see is by influencers, often for small and medium-sized businesses.
That wasn’t a thing in B2B marketing five years ago – especially in the tech space – but we’re seeing that influencer marketing starting to grow.
I’ve worked with influencers at both Udemy and Five9, and it really helps expand your world. They have different followers and audiences than you do, and if you find the right influencer to share your information, you’ll receive huge engagement.
We’ll also start to see dedicated TikTok roles form on social media teams, as that’s where a huge influx of people are going.”
Radix: What advice would you give to someone starting out as a content marketer in 2025?
Stephanie:
“It’s a really exciting career, but you have to be prepared for the evolution it takes, because it never remains stagnant. It’s always changing.
Successful content marketing requires feeding customers information in a way they find easiest to consume. In my lifetime, that’s looked like mailing white papers and going to events with a suitcase full of printouts. Today, it looks like providing a QR code and offering instant access.
You always need to keep up with the latest trends and embrace new formats, platforms, and technologies while maintaining centred control. You also need to be ready to switch up your strategy and think ahead.
Content marketing is one of the few careers in which you can constantly A/B test to see what works, so use that to your advantage.”
Let’s keep the conversation flowing
Looking for more insights from Stephanie? Be sure to follow her on LinkedIn. If there are other B2B thought-leaders you’d like us to interview, just let us know at info@radix-communications.com.
