In today’s content-saturated world, optimizing for SEO can often mean writing like everyone else. But what happens when a content team decides to prioritize editorial judgment, depth, and storytelling over search rankings? According to Alison McCarthy, Content Director at Skift, that’s exactly the foundation of their success.

Skift is a media company that covers the global travel industry, and Alison leads its team of branded content editors. What makes her team unique isn’t just their subject matter expertise — it’s their refusal to play the SEO game the conventional way. In this conversation, Alison shares how they build high-impact, story-led content that resonates with a niche audience, and why it works better than chasing keywords ever could.

1. From Story to Substance: Where Narrative Meets Data

“In content marketing, storytelling is just the beginning. It’s the hard data that brings credibility to the narrative.”

At Skift, storytelling isn't a fluffy buzzword, it's a business tool. But Alison makes it clear that a good story alone isn’t enough. Her team roots every piece in relevance and insight, often pulling in proprietary research, trend analysis, and market signals to add weight to the narrative.

Coming from a background at eMarketer, where she worked as a forecasting analyst, Alison understands the power of numbers. That analytical mindset still shapes how she approaches branded content. “I come from a culture and media studies background — I never thought I’d spend five years looking at numbers in spreadsheets,” she says. “But now I can look at a data set and tell if it’s meaningful, or just fluff.”

This balance between left-brain analysis and right-brain creativity is what allows her team to craft content that’s not just readable, but believable. At Skift, data isn't an afterthought or a graph at the end. It’s the backbone of the story.

2. The Data-Literate Creator: A New Kind of Content Marketer

“Coming from a writing or content background, developing analytical skills can become a powerful, standout skill.”

Most content teams split creative and analytical work between different roles, but Alison believes that’s a mistake. “Being able to read and write about data is such an undervalued skill in content marketing,” she says. In fact, it’s become a key benchmark in how she hires and trains her team.

Alison’s content team is expected to do more than just write — they need to think like editors and analysts. Whether it’s summarizing research, identifying trends, or contextualizing a product launch in broader industry movements, the ability to synthesize information is essential.

“Most of the resumes we get are from SEO-style writers,” Alison shares. “But we’re looking for storytellers — people who can align a message with what’s happening in the world right now — not just what ranks on Google.” In other words, the skill gap isn’t in writing itself, it’s in knowing what deserves to be written.

3. Precision is the New Differentiator

“It’s not just the quality and thoughtfulness of the work that stands out. It’s also the precision in how it’s done, from the questions asked to the processes followed, that makes it truly stand out.”

At Skift, delivering a premium content product requires more than a strong voice — it takes operational rigor. Over the years, Alison has helped build workflows, templates, and internal systems that ensure consistency without sacrificing creativity. “Five or six years ago, we were still figuring it out,” she recalls. “Now, we’re tight. Our processes are solid.”

This precision extends beyond internal ops and into client relationships. Many of Skift’s branded content clients are spending a significant portion of their marketing budget on just one or two assets, so expectations are high. Alison’s team not only delivers content, they deliver context: why the content matters, how it connects to trends, and what reactions it’s getting across platforms.

“Pitching a new product is important,” she says. “But what people really want is a story, not a sales pitch.” That editorial sensibility, combined with a newsroom-style quality bar, is what keeps clients coming back.

Conclusion: Stop Writing for SEO, Start Writing for People

For Alison and her team at Skift, the goal isn’t traffic for traffic’s sake. It’s influence. It’s resonance. It’s trust. That means leaning into deep research, clear processes, and editorial judgment ​​— not just keywords.

The best content teams today aren’t just creating copy, they’re shaping conversations. And that means breaking free from the tired SEO-first formula. If you want to build a content team that truly moves the needle, take a page from Alison’s playbook: prioritize story, layer it with data, and deliver with precision.

Because the best content doesn’t rank first, it lasts.