Welcome to our seventh COVID-19 owned content production analysis. Over the past seven weeks, we’ve used data from the Knotch Content Intelligence Platform to analyze thousands of pieces of content produced by Fortune 500 brands during COVID-19.

Our insights have provided a window into how brands across different industries are thinking about COVID-19, and what they want their customers to know. This report is based on 4,258 pieces of content published between April 8 and May 26 by 196 different enterprise brands.

Here’s what we’ve seen:

***Programming note: After this week, we’ll be moving to a monthly COVID-19 owned content report, due to a general decline in COVID-19 content production.

COVID-19 Content Production is on the Decline

Last week we spoke about how COVID-19 content production seesaws in conjunction with the current news cycle. Because of this, one week will feature a spike in content production, followed by a decline the next week. 

This week is a decline week, as there hasn’t been a significant change in the narrative surrounding COVID-19. For the most part, the conversation remains focused on reopening the economy while minimizing outbreaks.

Overall, COVID-19 content production has been on a slow but steady decline for about a month now. You’ll notice that content production for most industries was even lower than it was two weeks ago (the last “down week”).

We can infer then that readers are getting tired of reading about COVID-19, meaning it’s a good time to start reevaluating your content strategy and identifying new ways to deliver value to your audience. 

Think about areas of focus that your business has some expertise in that could also be of use to customers as they return, to some extent, to their former lives. 

“News & Updates” is the Only COVID-19 Article Topic That Did Not Decrease in Volume

As a reminder, the theme definitions are as follows:

  • News & Updates: Crisis news related to the activities of the business.
  • Crisis Management: The steps the business is taking to manage the crisis internally and externally.
  • Community / Collaboration: Information on how the business and individuals can work together to overcome the crisis.
  • Impact Assessment: Assessing the impact the crisis has had on the industry the business operates in.
  • Philanthropy / Support: What the business is doing to aid in relief efforts.
  • Informational / Educational: Educational content about the crisis.
  • Operational Impact: How the crisis has impacted day-to-day operations.
  • Public Health and Safety: Information on how to protect your health and what the organization is doing to protect their customers’ health.
  • Employee Relations: Content directed at employees to help them navigate and understand how the organization is responding to the crisis.
  • Leadership: Guidance on how to lead during a time of crisis.

A decrease in overall COVID-19 content production means a reduction in the topics written about in COVID-19 content. This decrease was true for all but one theme—News & Updates, which remained relatively steady.

What’s interesting about the decrease in COVID-19 content production is that it’s coming at the expense of certain topics more than others. For example, Crisis Management and Informational / Educational content have seen a precipitous dropoff in the past few weeks, while other areas of focus showed much more gradual declines in prevalence. 

We believe this shift is a microcosm of changing public opinion towards COVID-19. At the outset of the crisis, Crisis Management and Informational / Educational content were in high demand, as consumers and businesses needed help making sense of the situation.

But as time went on and the world settled into a new normal, these topics were no longer as relevant. In turn, they were replaced by a desire for information on how COVID-19 is changing the business landscape, and what the future may look like.

Impact Assessment is still the most popular COVID-19 owned content topic, but it also saw a gradual decline. 

The general decline has also led to a much more even distribution of the topics focused on in COVID-19 content. The popularity with which 7 of the top 10 topics regarding COVID-19 are created is within six percentage points of one another.

Here’s the overall breakdown of the most prevalent themes in COVID-19 content published since April 8:

"Crisis Management” Continues to Be the Most Popular Social Content Theme


After seven weeks’ worth of data, we’ve found that brands share roughly 36% of the COVID-19 content they create on major social media networks. Over that time, the most popular topic to share has been Crisis Management—likely due to the fact that we saw so much Crisis Management content created in the early days of the pandemic response.

Here are a few examples of social posts we liked from the past week:

Keyword Usage Tracks With Major Crisis Themes

Since the outset of the crisis, “COVID” is the most popular keyword used in COVID-19 content headlines (duh!). Other keywords track with the major themes of the crisis: healthcare and the economy.

The most frequently used keywords have remained relatively consistent throughout the pandemic. Words in high prominence each week include “work,” “crisis,” “business,” and “help.”

Spotlight: J.P. Morgan Private Bank

As a leader in wealth management, J.P. Morgan Private Bank is committed to delivering high-quality insights and solutions spanning a range of financial needs. They have remained steadfast in this mission with their content production during COVID-19. 

J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s owned content hub provides an approachable, organized platform for clients and prospects to gain expertise and insights on a number of different topics. These topics include, “Investing”, “Planning”, “Giving”, “Living”, “Eye on the Market”, and “Market Volatility”. The “Market Volatility” section was added recently to provide a home for COVID-19 related content. J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s content hub goes above and beyond, offering both live and recorded events, including webcasts and client calls. 

In response to COVID-19, J.P. Morgan Private Bank has shifted its content strategy to both acknowledge the difficulties of the crisis and lend educational & informational expertise to its audience. 

The front page of the hub opens with, “We’re here for you,” and directs visitors to thoughtful content about safely managing money during COVID-19. The brand empathizes with consumers’ concerns by providing the latest news and uplifting stories about COVID-19.

“We want our clients to know that they can rely on us to help them through by providing the information and insights they need to navigate this crisis and beyond,” says Jamie Roo, head of digital marketing content strategy at J.P. Morgan.

J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s three best-performing content pieces during COVID-19 address the turbulent economy, provide advice for small business owners, and offer market views. By producing content that caters to questions people are asking, they are building positive sentiment among their audience.

Not only are visitors viewing J.P. Morgan Private Bank as a trustworthy brand, but they are also leaving the content feeling satisfied. Knotch has found nearly 85% of all respondents express positive sentiments after viewing J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s content. 

Overall, Knotch continues to be impressed with J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s content production during COVID-19. Amid the uncertainty, the brand has remained loyal to its mission of supporting clients, while altering its content production strategy in response to the current moment.

Key Takeaways

Here are our main takeaways from this week’s COVID-19 owned content analysis:

  • COVID-19 content fatigue is really beginning to set in as we move into the summer months. We believe content production will continue to drop over the next month, with a few spikes here and there if there are any new developments.
  • As COVID-19 content production decreases, there will be more variation in the topics brands choose to focus on in their COVID-19 content. This approach allows brands to differentiate their content from other COVID-19 comms.

‍Click here to access the full weekly report.