I mean, let’s be clear: making content for the sake of creating it is messy and disorganised, like throwing spaghetti at a wall to see if it sticks. You’ve probably been there, right? Writing blog posts that nobody ever reads, sharing on social media and getting crickets, or even a little confused as to why your competitor’s content gets shared when you’re invisible.

The fact is, playing content marketing successfully is not a roll of the dice. It’s by creating a concrete content marketing strategy that informs every piece of content you publish.

If you’re an SME based in Perth, or responsible for a national company, learning how to put together content marketing strategy correctly can mean the difference between nobody knowing that your brand exists and customers being able to locate it online.

So what does it actually take to transition from aimless content creation to a small business content marketing plan that delivers results? Let’s dig into this properly.

Why Most Content Marketing Falls Flat

Before we walk through some how-tos, maybe it’s worth tackling why a lot of businesses get this wrong. Content marketing is something most companies do, in other words, because it’s part of the list, not a wise and knowing strategy. So they’ll write a blog post here or there, throw something up on Facebook now and then, and then wonder why nobody’s responding.

The issue here is not that they are generating content but that the content they generate is aimless. There is no master plan that holds this all together. No one really knows who they were going after or what people actually wanted to know at that time.

Here’s the difference between the businesses that see returns from their content and those that don’t: planning. The successful ones begin with a holistic kind of content marketing planning guide that includes everything from audience research to distribution tactics.

Getting Your Foundation Right

Any decent content marketing strategy starts with understanding who you’re actually talking to. Not just demographics like “women aged 25-45” – that’s surface level stuff. You need to know what cause your ideal customers to be up at 2:00 AM in the night. What are they trying to achieve? What are they Googling when no one’s looking?

Here’s where the proper research comes in.

Here’s where to dig for thoughts: Search research tools for Google Keyword planner or SEMrush and find out what people are actually looking for in your industry

Check out the comments on your competitors’ social media posts
Look at the questions people ask in relevant industry Facebook groups
Read through product reviews to see what customers love and hate
Monitor customer service enquiries for common pain points

Once you’ve got this information, create detailed buyer personas that include:

Their specific goals and challenges
Preferred content types (videos, articles, infographics)
Where they hang out online
Their decision-making process
What influences their purchasing decisions

This might seem like overkill, but it’s what separates amateur content marketing from the professional stuff.

Your content strategy should also align with your business goals. Are you trying to:

Generate qualified leads?
Build brand awareness in your local market?
Establish authority in your industry?
Drive direct sales?

Different goals require different approaches, so getting clear on this upfront will save you heaps of time down the track.

Content Planning That Actually Works

When you know who you’re going after, and what it is you want to accomplish, it’s time to organise yourself for content in a well-considered manner. Yet a lot of companies either oversimplify planning systems or don’t plan enough and then scramble to get ideas week by week.

A good middle ground is a content calendar that provides direction but isn’t rigid. Begin by generating content themes that are relative to your business and matters of interest for the audience that you’re serving. For landscaping firms: seasonal tips, design ideas, maintenance guidance and project profiles.

Batch creation is your friend. Allocate a few hours each week to produce several articles at once rather than scrambling week by week. It’s less circuitous and it keeps things organized.

Consider these content types:

Educational posts that solve specific problems
Behind-the-scenes content that builds trust
Customer stories and case studies
Industry news and commentary
Promotional content (keep to about 20% of total output)

Start simple with a spreadsheet. Plan 4-6 weeks ahead initially, then expand as you get comfortable.

The Content Creation Process

It takes writing content that people actually want to read. Begin each piece with the question: “What is she adding here?” If you can’t articulate the answer, they won’t find it of value either.

“Blogging” sharpen the blog post for easy scannability. Use titles, bullets and short para’s. Begin with a hook, offer valuable information and end with an obvious next step.

Businesses who enlist the services of SEO experts find themselves creating content that is more strategic. Key topics should be seamlessly integrated into the text without killing readability. The best of content, caters to search bots as well as humans.

Visual content is increasingly important. People engage a lot more with posts that include pictures. You don’t have to have a professional photographer for everything, but investing in some good visuals can be useful, whether they’re high-quality photos, branded graphics or just simple Canva designs.

Distribution and Promotion Strategies

Half the battle is in making great content. The other half is getting it in front of the right people. This is where many companies are getting it wrong: they post content to their website and expect people to mystically stumble across it.

Your distribution plan should be as meticulous and specific as your content plan:

Begin with owned channels: Your website, email list and social media profiles form the infrastructure from which to distribute content
Expand to related communities: Pay it forward by posting the content in industry forums, online groups and social media communities that your audience frequents
Start an email list (the right way): Regular newsletters with your new writing, plus exclusive access to the best curated content from around the web can drive traffic back to your site
Customise content to each platform: What works on LinkedIn won’t work on Instagram. Tailor your content and delivery schedule to the audience on each platform
Aim for consistency over perfection: It’s better to post regularly on two platforms than it is sporadically across five.
Cross promote: Guest posts, podcast interviews, business partnerships and community participation can go a long way to increase your reach

The secret is to create a process instead of posting at random and praying for the best. Carefully structure how you distribute content in the same way that you would carefully plan your content creation.

Measuring Success and Optimising Performance

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Putting in place proper analytics from the very beginning will enable you to see what’s working — and what isn’t. Here is how to track success in measurable ways:

Build a base of solid analytics: Google Analytics and platform-specific metrics (Facebook Insights, LinkedIn Analytics, email metrics)
Align metrics to your goals: Lead generation: conversion rates and cost per lead. Brand awareness: reach and impressions. Traffic: page views & time on site
Don’t chase vanity metrics that do not matter: All the followers in the world, all the likes don’t mean anything if they are not translatable to business. “Focus on metrics that are related to your bottom line.”
Undertake content audits regularly: Determine what your strong-performing content is and for themes. Do industry news posts trump how-tos? Do videos outperform photos?
Use understanding to target strategy: Collect data, and then act on it. Watching them and Determine Content Choices and Calendar Changes Depending upon how your audience behaves, you can then make prompt content decisions and calendar adjustments.

Establish a monthly cadence in reviewing metrics, identifying trends. Content marketing doesn’t happen overnight, so look at the big picture over small results.

Making It All Work Together

The most effective content marketing strategies integrate with other digital marketing efforts. When your content marketing works alongside SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing, the combined effect is much stronger than any single tactic alone.

For Perth businesses, local SEO integration can be particularly powerful. Creating content that addresses local issues, features local customers, or highlights your involvement in the community can help improve your local search rankings while building stronger community connections.

Your website design also plays a role in content marketing success. Content needs to be easy to find, read, and share. Poor site navigation or slow loading times can kill even the best content strategy. Making sure your website provides a good user experience is fundamental to content marketing success.

Professional photography can elevate your content significantly. Whether it’s product shots, behind-the-scenes photos, or headshots for team bios, high-quality images make your content more engaging and professional-looking.

Getting Professional Help

While many aspects of content marketing can be handled in-house, there are times when professional help makes sense. You need to know if SEO optimisation, for example, is a specialised skill and how technical or algorithm based the requirements are. The same goes for paid promotions to draw attention to your content, which should require some skill if you want your money not to be spent in vain.

Collaborating with a digital marketing agency that has experience in the Perth market could offer you unique insights into local audience preferences and competition. They can even work to connect your content marketing with other types of digital marketing for more comprehensive success.

Many businesses find that outsourcing certain aspects of content marketing – like graphic design, video editing, or email automation setup – allows them to focus on what they do best while still maintaining a strong online presence.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

There are still some pitfalls that businesses tend to get stuck in with their content marketing, even if they have a great plan. The biggest one is inconsistency. Posting consistently for a couple of months and then disappearing for weeks kills momentum and confuses your readers.

Another problem is over-promoting. No one wants to read marketing spiel in the guise of useful information. Try to follow the 80/20 rule – 80% thought leadership/educational content and 20% of promotional material.

It’s also a problem if you ignore what your audience tells you. Consider comments, shares and engagement. If some topics perform better than others, that’s your audience telling you they want more along similar lines.

Finally, don’t expect immediate results. The results of content marketing multiply over time. It’s not something you can do for a couple of weeks and expect it to work; it has to be consistent over months and years if you want it to pay off for your business.

Moving Forward

Building a high-performing content marketing strategy isn’t about sticking with a rigid formula – it’s based on knowing your audience, consistently delivering real value, and maintaining the effort. The companies that do well with content marketing are the ones who look at it as an investment in their relationships with their customers, not just a cute marketing trick.

Whether you are a rookie content marketer or you’re looking to enhance your already established efforts in the field of content marketing, always remember that perfection is not the objective – progress is. Begin with a good base, measure your work and continue to reform it based on what you discover.

Competition in the online space for Perth businesses is fierce, but those who take steps to deliver real value through content marketing will always get noticed by the people they are looking to attract. All it takes is a little know-how and the patience to follow up on that knowledge.

Ready to start a content marketing strategy that actually gets real results for your business? The SLINKY team is more than 20 years of digital marketing experience combined with a finger on the pulse of the Perth market to bring you content that resonates and sells.

Content Marketing Strategy: From Planning to Execution