Expert Interview | Bani Kaur

1. Tell me about your career journey into content.

This is a wild one. I graduated as an architect in 2020 and, for a whole year, worked two jobs every single day.

9 am to 6 pm: architect

7 pm to 12 midnight: editor for an architectural journal (sounds glamorous, but I mostly resized images and ran plagiarism checks. Occasionally wrote a personal piece.)

One fine day, a SaaS company called me, saying they loved the way I think and would I consider writing for them?

Getting paid to write was my dream (even though I had no idea what SaaS was), so of course I said yes.

Cue: another job added to the mix. Now I was writing for my very first SaaS client from 6 am to 8 am most mornings and getting paid the biggest bucks (just kidding, I was making 0.03 dollars a word).

But that made me realize that there was a real market for software-related writing that wasn’t actually about the software at all. And I was good at it. And it kinda snowballed from there. I started sharing what I learnt at work on LinkedIn and got a second client. Then a third, then … you get the idea.

One year in, I dropped both my day jobs and went full-time into content.

2. What is the coolest way one of your clients has integrated original report writing into their strategy?

I’d have to say the report I built for Exit Five is a great example of integrated research. They’re a community of B2B marketers, and they wanted to increase visibility (social media mentions, interview appearances) and authority (people saying “wow, Exit Five really has the kind of expertise I need to grow my career).

Their research answered a very simple question every single member of their community had, “Am I being pain in line with the industry standards?”

It started out by collecting the data on average salaries, titles, job descriptions, time in the company, benefits, and PTO. Essentially everything that makes up compensation for B2B marketers.

My team then built every possible cross-section and analyzed trends to death:

Salary by job title.
By years of experience.
By company size.
By function.
By geography.
By remote work.
By equity.
By perception of fairness.

Even by how likely someone was to quit in the next six months.

The report blew up. We had 1K downloads in the first day and ~15K downloads in the first three months. Newsletter and LinkedIn mentions GALORE. Exit Five’s founders being asked on webinars, podcasts, and interviews.

But the success of that project was not because of the writing, design, or analysis alone. Much as that would serve my marketing. It was in the fact that the strategy included the audience. The strategy was built for the audience. What people wanted to know, the report answered and that’s what made it a crowd-favorite.

3. What's one thing content marketers can do to become irreplaceable in 2026?

If I’m being completely honest, I don’t have a direct answer. With the way AI is progressing, I have no idea what skills, tricks, or tactics are going to help us make a meaningful change in the industry.

One skill that’s always going to stay relevant though, is an ability to critically reason and write. It is a core requirement of a civilized society. I’d go so far as to say it’s THE requirement. It’s the bridge between science, arts, and commerce. And the early days of content marketing recognized it as such, but the last 2 years have been brutal.

Content marketers have felt the greatest impact both emotionally and financially with layoffs, budget cuts, and clients switching to AI.

If you’re in an entry-level position, I’d recommend working out a backup to content marketing in TECH. I don’t mean to disillusion anyone, but breaking into a field where the hiring committee (C-suite executives, recruiters, even marketing pros) thinks your replacement is a bot isn’t conducive to good mental health.

I have a strong feeling that there’s going to be a resurgence.

And those that are going to rise with that tide are going to be the ones who’ve practiced their craft without the mind-numbing pain of “we don’t pay writers this much. Can you negotiate to 30% of your rate?” or “can we do more with less?”

3V Content Marketing Framework

After watching how content marketing has changed over the past few years, I keep coming back to the same conclusion:

For content to succeed, it has to balance three core elements: visibility, voice, and value:

**Content Connect 3V Content Marketing Framework**

Visibility means your target audience can find your content everywhere they search.

Voice means your content has a recognizable personality, perspective, and style. It's impossible to confuse with anyone else’s content.

Value means your audience walks away smarter, faster, clearer, entertained, or uplifted.

Without ALL THREE of these elements, content crumbles.

I’m evolving the format of this newsletter to bring you the latest strategies, expert insights, and real-world examples across all three elements of successful content marketing.

Today's Focus: Visibility

Krista Doyle's new report completely changes the way you think about visibility in the AI era. Instead of focusing only on your website rankings, the research shows that AI engines increasingly pull answers from third-party platforms like Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, G2, and media coverage—and each AI system favors different sources.

The biggest takeaway: visibility is no longer about ranking #1 on Google. It’s about showing up across the broader ecosystem where AI engines look for signals, expertise, and credibility.

Access the full report