3 Mega Content Trends You Must Know

💰 If you want more sponsorship leads for your business for an insanely good price, listen up.

We’ve noticed a bit of a trend: some clients enter into lead gen relationships expecting to see enormous ROI in the first couple of months. This can and does happen, but after talking with plenty of similar businesses, what’s more typical is something like this:

So, we’re creating an insane offer to incentivise a long-term outlook and relationship:

Leads as a Service for $1,500/month at a 12-month commitment. Our standard 3-month term offer still exists. We have 3 client slots now, which will be gone in ~2 weeks.

So if you want help scaling your ad sales long-term, let’s chat!

Plug’s aside, let’s dive in! 🚀

3 Mega Content Trends You Must Know

Content creation used to be simple: post, hope for the best, repeat what works.

Now we’ve got AI influencers, intentionally bad videos, and newsletters being used for 754 different purposes.

Here are the 3 mega trends shaping 2025 and beyond.

👾 The Rise of AI Content Creators

Shock. The first trend is regarding AI. 🙄

2 years ago AI influencers with suspiciously perfect cheekbones seemed like sci-fi. No it’s reality, with zero chance of a brand scandal. And brands are actually putting dollars into our sexy robot friends. Prada and Calvin Klein, for example, love the brand control AI gives. Human influencers are so 2022.

A study found that when things go wrong, audiences are quicker to turn on brands fronted by robots rather than real people. Turns out trust is harder to code than cheekbones.

Newsletters, once the proud domain of quirky (nerdy) humans, have been hit hardest by AI content. Some have used AI to improve writing; others have churned out what can only be described as “AI Slop” (ironically, most often seen in AI newsletters).

Readers have an AI-content-filter, and the phrase ‘cream will rise to the top’ has become truer, and truer, and truer.

TLDR: AI is like a drug. Use it, but don’t abuse it.

👴 The 'Grandpa Edit'

It’s tempting to assume that all content needs to be polished. Turns out, audiences prefer the charm of a shaky hand and a grainy filter.

📖 Grandpa Edit (noun)
gran·pa ed·it

Definition:
A content creation style characterized by intentionally low-fidelity visuals. Think shaky camera work, grainy filters, and unpolished cuts—that evoke the charm of your grandfather's old home videos. This aesthetic embraces authenticity over perfection, resonating with audiences seeking genuine, relatable content in a digital age saturated with polished productions.

Makes sense to be honest. People watch people. Although don’t use this as an excuse to churn out unthoughtful low-value sh*t.

Ad dollars agree. More and more, they're sponsoring low production quality relatable creators. Not saying that Mr Beast should start giving away less money though…

The Numbers:​

• Lo-fi videos receive 40% more views than their high-fidelity counterparts. ​

• Over 60% of consumers say authentic and relatable content is more important than polished, high-quality content. ​

In newsletter land, this is seen in the success of 1440. The actual content is great of course, but ultimately the format is very basic and has remained largely unchanged. Which is part of the reason people love it.

In YouTube land, Sam Sulek has amassed over 4 million YouTube subscribers with raw, unedited content, and being real and not overly promotional. Plus, years of steroid abuse probably helped too.

TLDR: Just being yourself bro.

🎤 The Rise of Event Sponsorships

In a world where digital ads are skipped, blocked, or scrolled past, brands are (re)discovering the power of ‘IRL.

Event sponsorships are back, maskless, and offering companies a way to connect with audiences that can’t be distracted by your AirPods running out of battery.​

The Numbers:

• 88.4% of events use sponsorships and partnerships as primary revenue drivers. ​

• In 2025, 74% of Fortune 1000 marketers plan to increase their event budgets, indicating a significant shift towards experiential marketing. ​

• The global event industry is projected to surpass $1.5 trillion by 2028, driven by a CAGR of 11.2%.

Also (subjectively) the pandemic has made me really f*cking value real-world business interactions again, e.g. The Newsletter Conference 😉

TLDR: Let’s party.

P.S. Need help selling more sponsorships? My agency Ad Sales as a Service helps media companies do just that.

Reminder, we’re now offering a $1,500/month option!