Content marketing in Kazakhstan in 2026: a guide for brand managers and CMOs

How content marketing differs from advertising

Advertising buys attention: as long as you pay, people see you. Content marketing earns attention: people come because they need what you publish. Advertising says “buy from us”; content says “here is how to solve your problem”.

These approaches do not compete. Good content makes advertising cheaper: people click on a familiar brand more often, and a strong post can be boosted with targeted ads. So the right question is not “content or advertising” but “what content will work together with our advertising money”.

The audience: where people in Kazakhstan read and watch in 2026

According to DataReportal, at the start of 2025 there were 19.2 million internet users in Kazakhstan, 92.9% of the population. There were 15.7 million social media accounts, and by the Digital 2026 report there were more than 16.9 million, over 80% of the population.

The key takeaway from these numbers: there is no universal channel. Instagram and TikTok give reach, Telegram gives the attention of professionals, YouTube gives depth. Strategy starts with choosing where exactly your customer is and what mood they are in there.

Two languages are not a translation but two audiences

A Kazakh brand almost always speaks two languages. But the Kazakh-speaking audience is not the same audience that simply needs a translation. It has its own bloggers, its own topics, its own jokes and often a different region. In the case of the dairy brand “Novyi Den”, we described three audience heroines, each with her own language mix: from 70% Kazakh for a homemaker in lower Almaty to 50/50 for the audience in the upper part of the city.

A practical rule: plan key formats in both languages from the start rather than translating finished ones. More in the article “Content in Kazakh: translation or adaptation”.

Which formats work

1. Brand media is a brand's own channel or publication that people read for its content. Example: bailanys, a Telegram media about telecom, gained 2,700 subscribers in six months with an ERR of about 22% and won two bronzes at Tagline Awards 2025.
2. SMM with editorial logic is not “posts on a schedule” but sections, heroes and storylines. The Instagram media “Life on Ultra” for Teraflex Ultra talks about sport for non-athletes; in the first two months, pharmacy sales grew by more than 90%.
3. Special projects are interactive maps, guides and collections people want to share. The “Kazakh Street Food Map” for the release of the STREETХАНА series gained 800,000+ views in a week through 13 local media outlets.
4. Newsletters are for doctors, pharmacists and B2B clients. The Ramadan newsletter for pharmacists and doctors in Kyrgyzstan accompanied brand sales growth of 200% compared with the previous Ramadan.
5. Offline and print means leaflets, events and BTL activations that continue the online story.
6. SEO and GEO content means articles that are found in search and quoted by AI assistants.

The 2026 trend: AI has sped up production but not replaced meaning

According to the Content Marketing Institute study “B2B Content and Marketing Trends: Insights for 2026” (more than 1,000 B2B marketers), 9 out of 10 teams already use AI to create content, but fewer than 4 out of 10 say it has improved results. Texts have become easier to produce, and harder to stand out with.

The winners are brands that have what an AI does not: their own data, their own experts, their own cases and a clear position. That is exactly the kind of content search engines, ChatGPT and Alice quote.

How to launch content marketing: six steps

1. Define the business objective. Not “run social media” but “reach the 25–35 audience”, “get leads from Almaty coffee shops”, “increase prescriptions among neurologists”.
2. Study the audience. Interviews, analysis of comments, search queries and competitors. The goal is to find an insight: something people feel but brands do not tell them.
3. Choose channels and formats to fit that insight, not fashion.
4. Build an editorial system: content sections, tone, a content plan, approval rules. For pharma, medical editing.
5. Launch and promote. Without distribution even strong content will not be found: targeted ads, seeding, influencers, PR.
6. Measure and adjust every month.

Which metrics to track

• Reach and views: whether the right audience sees you.
• ER and ERR: whether the content engages. For a Telegram media, an ERR above 15–20% is a good level.
• Target actions: clicks to the website or Kaspi, leads, newsletter sign-ups.
• Business metrics: sales, market share, prescriptions, cost per lead. It is worth agreeing to measure them before the start.

Five common mistakes

1. Starting with formats rather than the objective and the audience.
2. Translating content into Kazakh instead of writing for a Kazakh-speaking audience.
3. Publishing without a promotion budget.
4. Judging the result after a month.
5. Handing all the writing to AI: such content does not differ from competitors' and does not get recommended.

Sources: DataReportal, Digital 2025: Kazakhstan · The Astana Times, citing Digital 2026: Kazakhstan · Digital Business, Wunder Digital research · Content Marketing Institute, B2B Trends for 2026