This Month in Content – Issue #6, June 2025

Hey friends,

After a brief hiatus, This Month in Content is back! And with a fresh new format to boot.

I don’t know about you, but I find that I’m subscribed to loads of newsletters from brilliant creators, that I rarely have time to read in full. The battle between wanting a clean inbox and actually absorbing great ideas is one I'm losing on the daily.

So the plan is for this newsletter to have a simple format that we stick to every month, split into three sections:

1. A standout B2B content marketing example that's caught my attention

2. Expert insights on startup content marketing that I’ve been adding to my swipe file

3. A piece of non-content related content I’ve personally been loving consuming – with a takeaway that's still useful for what we do.

No fluff, just the good stuff.

Sourcescrub's social proof-led competitor comparison pages

What they did:

Competitor comparison pages are a classic SEO play – blogs targeting high-intent keywords like "[competitor name] alternatives" or "[your product] vs [competitor]" to convince readers that your product is the better choice when they're in buying mode.

There’s a fine line to tread here, because often these comparisons can descend into competitor bashing that reflects poorly on your brand. We saw this play out publicly with the recent PagerDuty vs Incident.io scenario, which ended up in a brand win for Incident.io and a brand loss for PagerDuty.

Deal sourcing platform Sourcescrub takes an approach that I haven’t come across before. Instead of subjective claims, they build their comparisons around user survey data – Sourcescrub vs Grata, Sourcescrub vs Pitchbook.

When I reached out to ask about this approach, Chief Marketing Officer Mike Waite explained: "We wanted our competitor comparisons to be credible and persuasive, and using customer survey results lets us show that our comparisons are supported with objective and independently verifiable data."

Why it works:

1. Instant credibility boost. When visitors land on Sourcescrub's comparison pages, they're not reading marketing copy, they're seeing what real users said when surveyed about why they chose Sourcescrub over alternatives. It’s instant trust, instead of scepticism about how truthful the content is.

2. Avoids the competitor bashing trap Rather than criticising competitors, Sourcescrub simply showcases why users preferred their solution. There's no negativity, no exaggerated claims – just social proof from people who've actually made the decision the prospect is considering.

3. Gives prospects what they actually need. As Mike puts it, the core purpose of these pages is "to give people comparing solutions objective information to help them narrow their list of alternatives." Rather than making criticising competitors a focus, they simply showcase why users might prefer their solution.

4. Short and scannable. Instead of lengthy feature comparisons that nobody reads, they present bite-sized insights that prospects can quickly digest, always backed up by social proof from real users.

Need more inspiration? Head to the full library of content marketing examples we’ve explored in all editions of this newsletter.

1. Author bios are a must for SEO today

In a recent newsletter, David Broderick of the Top of Funnel community highlighted the importance of authors for fulfilling Google’s expertise requirements: "Google doesn't want to rank content that could've been written by anyone these days." Their advice? Pack author bios with relevant experience, qualifications, links to industry contributions, and make them accessible site-wide.

2. Categories over pillars: problem, process, proof

In her ‘Cut the Fluff’ newsletter, Erica Schneider has been introducing a framework for content ideation and planning that gets rid of pillars and instead focuses on three categories:

• Market the Problem: Articulate your buyers' struggles better than they can

• Market the Process: Share your experience and frameworks

• Market the Proof: Validate your insights with tangible results

Choose one category before you start writing to ensure content that will resonate with your audience – one topic could have content for each category.

3. How to write for leads on LinkedIn

In his ‘Nice Work’ newsletter, Sam Browne has been sharing his shift from optimising for engagement with LinkedIn posts, to optimising for leads. Leads happen when there’s the perfect mix of an audience who feel they know you, trust you as an expert, and are currently in-market for the solution you offer. So, Sam’s formula is to build familiarity, authority, and trust first through insightful posts. Then, start introducing lead generation content that focuses on case studies, testimonials, and social proof from previous customers.

4. Traditional SEO still matters for AI search

Tomek Rudzki analysed 25,000 AI search queries and found that ranking #1 on Google gives you a 25% chance of being cited in AI overviews and tools, because AI search engines synthesise the most relevant information from the top-ranking posts to build their responses. So far, the main shift is to move from building the ‘best page’ that covers all the insights related to a query, to writing the ‘best answer’ to a specific question that a user is asking.

Looking for more insights and advice on how to approach content for your company? Go to the full swipe file.

I’ve been a fan of everything Louis Theroux produces for as long as I can remember, and his Louis Theroux Podcast is no exception.

Recently he interviewed documentarian John Wilson on the podcast, who has been noted for his similarities to Louis’ own style – slightly socially awkward interviews with interesting people, that always uncover something unique but relatable about the human condition.

To me what made this episode particularly interesting is that it’s an interviewer interviewing an interviewer – two experts at the same craft who know all the tricks of the trade, but Louis still manages to uncover some genuinely revealing moments.

One of these moments is when Louis admits his own struggles: "I'm not a brilliant friend, I don't think. I find social arrangements quite stressful” as a way into asking about John’s experience. This vulnerability gives him permission to open up about his own social anxiety and how documentary-making becomes "a way of sublimating these very intense emotions."

The takeaway for content marketers? When you’re interviewing subject matter experts, the magic happens when you move beyond the predictable questions. Instead of "What's your biggest challenge?" try "What keeps you awake at 3am?" Instead of "How did you overcome obstacles?" ask "When did you first realise you might be completely wrong about your approach?" – and don’t be afraid to share your answers first to build that genuine connection and willingness to be vulnerable.

That's a wrap for this month!

What content examples have caught your attention lately? I’d love to know, hit reply to send me your thoughts.

Speak soon,

Tabitha