Crack Content Marketing: The No-Fluff Guide for Australian Startups

And with that one mistake, everything crashed down… No one could have ever predicted my flourishing venture would collapse like a house of cards.

Mondays-Meat-pies-&-Minding-Your-Business

April, 21st

It started slow today. The crowd was less than usual. I thought Monday is hittin’ again and people are back to their office grind. Ironically, I can hear the silence. Felt weird. I contacted my team members and there was our culprit. A few strands of words- not much of a careless tweet but surely a misinterpreted one- was delivered at the wrong interval.

“Mondays = Meat pies & Minding Your Business”
#ForkTheRules #Meltin’MoeMood”

Episode 1: Before the Buzz: Trust Tastes Better Homemade

Hey, G’day, I am Natalie, owner of the famous restaurant Meltin’ Moe. Happy. Cheerful. Ambitious. As the quote goes, “Time always seems to be flying by, when everything is going great!”.

The days drifted by like a dream, customers were happy with our food and services, leaving kind words behind without prompting, as if gratitude had a will of its own. The air was thick with the scent of my dreams blooming. My passion for running a food business and making it successful among the locals is finally happening.

April, 20th

It was a Sunday morning, and we had customers waiting in the queue, but we made sure that the wait time was less than 10 minutes. The scent of the caramel sweetness of Anzac biscuits and vanilla pavlovas has already filled the air. On the side table, the children, excited, bobbed their heads to and fro, eyes darting between the approaching dishes and their mother,

then back again. Delighted squeals escaped their lips as the house’s favourite, the truffle risotto, was finally served.

So, how did I achieve all this?

One tool that made it possible was obviously our hero: CONTENT MARKETING!

Yes, I strongly agree, Content is the King!

What is Content Marketing?

When I opened this restaurant, I didn’t go shouting “Come to our restaurant!”. Rather, my place is built out of years of dedication, building trust among customers and playing smart with the help of right content marketing strategies.

It helps with showing what you possess and what you are capable of.

This strategic approach helps businesses to create and share valuables, consistently, to attract and engage audiences, by offering useful information, solving their unique problems or even entertaining.

Remember, not all content marketing efforts yield results. Success highly depends on the right strategy.

How Does Content Marketing Work?

There are so many strategies, tools and tactics to try that it’s overwhelming. Before that, you should understand a few facts.

Harsh Truths

Quality content is no longer enough.
It takes time.
Lower the bar because the highly polished content probably looks fake to the audience.
Consistency is the key.
Make it relevant. Understanding the pain points of the audience.
Optimising existing content.

So, what did I do to grow my business? I’ve jotted down a few generalised content marketing techniques for every business.

Content Plan

Create a roadmap of content topics you want to showcase to the world. Choose the best format suited according to the type of content. If you’re unsure, I’d recommend videos, people love to watch them.

Content Creation and Brand’s Voice

Work with the brand’s voice. Produce quality content that truly personates your brand. Do not chase a trend just because it is popular. Look if it connects to your brand’s voice.

Track Your Progress

Published? Great. Let’s move to the next step. Wait, no. A good content strategy always includes tracking the progress. After the content is published, pay close attention to the performance. Check views, clicks, shares and feedback to measure the credibility of a particular post and its impact on your audience.

Repeat

Done with tracking your progress? Now what? Do not stop here. I do it again to refine my strategies, make improvements if needed and repeat the cycle. This helps me get better results each time.

“Natalie…” (a faint voice)

I heard someone call from behind.

“Natalie.”

I turned around—

and at that moment, I knew.

One of our key players was down.

And with them,

the foundations we’d built began to crack.

Episode 2: Key Players

The heroes of my story are no less than any superheroes of Avengers for my business. I have my own Hulk, Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, the thing is: you just need to understand the correct placement and role that they must be allotted to skyrocket your business, like I did for my restaurant.

The Brand

Constricting yourself into four walls is a crime, you shouldn’t do it. Allow your business to grow and become a brand. A brand that is recognisable. And how will you do that?

The Audience: Your Main Target

Analyse your audience. For me, it was kinda easy. Coupons and discounts for families, healthy traditional food for all the elderly people in the town and delicious sweet treats for those heartbroken teens.

Once you’re done with analysing your audience, turn your attention to their precise needs—and look for the most effective medium to deliver them.

Here’s our next player in the game.

The Platforms

When my business started to grow, we noticed only repeated customers, it wasn’t a bad thing. But we needed new faces, and that’s when we learnt that writing or posting pictures on Facebook is not enough, people crave variety.

There’s no shortage of content types– from emails, podcasts and webinars to videos, infographics and e-books. The key lies in identifying where your target audience is most likely to engage, based on the nature of your business.

Once you’ve pinpointed that, choose your platform strategically.

It will be a bonus point if you: Make sure your content is optimised for an omnichannel experience, so you can receive more customers from everywhere.

Challenging Times: Yes, It’s Not the First Time

It wasn’t always smooth sailing from the start. I have seen many downfalls, especially during the first year. I was new to the game, with only a handful of connections, my offer and discount strategies were working but they only reached the familiar faces, the loyal customers I already knew.

The question was, how could I attract more attention and make myself more visible to people?

See, I had my team. I had my tools. But still… it all began to fall apart.

The laughter faded. The tables sat empty.

I watched something I loved slowly slip away.

It broke me.

That was the moment I knew, I didn’t just need a plan. I needed a way back to what I believed in.

Episode 3: Building Your Content Marketing Plan

Yes, I’ve failed several times, but I always come back strong and it is my failures that have made me strong enough today to fight back in every situation.

We’re all familiar with the benefits of content marketing, which include:

Value and Goodwill
Organic Visibility
Lead Generation
Increase Your Presence

But, how do we achieve it?

Remember this success mantra for content marketing:

What Google Wants is Simply What Customers Want

Having high-quality content that is share-worthy is the biggest key to ranking on Google.
Create content around the value that you can bring to your audience.

SEO

SEO is vast. And there is no one generic solution for this. It demands constant experimentation until you strike gold. But even then, it won’t last forever.

That’s why it’s essential to turn it into a process: Experiment. Learn. Track. Repeat.

Dominate the Search. In today’s generation, SEO doesn’t stand for Search Engine Optimisation rather it has become Search Everywhere Optimisation. Yes, it is everywhere, so optimise every platform to showcase your company’s products and services.
E.E.A.T. Your content must show Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust to stand out. The stuff only you know has more chances of ranking higher than generic content.
Link Building. The easiest and most underrated way to get links is through creating a free tool for your business. You don’t have to market it, over time it will naturally get you views and people will start linking to you.
Focus on SEO outside English. Target other regions, you’ll receive more traffic this way.

Refine Your Keyword List

Search Goal Value. The keyword should be ranking high above 1000 and in the worst case scenario less than 20.
Understand and Analyse the Keyword Competition using reliable tools such as Google Analytics.
Learn about the commercial intent of the keyword.
Make your long-tail keyword to rank and stand strong by attaching the right words.

Optimising Existing Content

Make sure to keep your content relevant and fresh for the viewers.
Create content that is evergreen. Do not include dates.
The content should be more actionable and useful.
Fix all your SEO errors and dead links.
The Page Experience must be seamless.

Yeah, and like that,

Everything was sorted. My business was doing great. So, what exactly happened on April 20th that caused me to start losing customers, despite all the planning and effort?

Episode 4: The Slip-Up: We Are All Victims of Our Own Devices

April 20th. 1:35 A.M.

A tragic incident happened. The nearby apartment was on fire and left many people injured. I wasn’t aware of a panic situation during midnight. People were stressed and heartbroken, as they lost their belongings and important stuff.

The next day, when I opened the restaurant, I found out about the tragedy. My team members have taken a day off, probably had an amazing weekend. The crowd was pretty less today, it didn’t bother me much at first as I thought the incident had made people busy today.

But, as time passed, my phone began to buzz incessantly with notifications. All I could hear was notifications! Those constant pings!

So many at once that my phone froze. I knew something was wrong, and then I heard someone calling my name, Natalie. Yes, one of our key players: The Brand, was injured and it took everything down with it.

How did it happen?

Our Instagram was popping up with great reviews and customer tags every now and then. Our content and marketing team was putting their best efforts into making our page look more fancy and updated. It was funny when our senior chef was asked to act for some TikTok video and he miserably failed at it. But, the video went viral because it was way too relatable. I didn’t know at that time, everything that we’d built was going to collapse soon.

And then it happened…

“Mondays = Meat pies & Minding Your Business”
#ForkTheRules #Meltin’MoeMood”

Posted.

It was pre-scheduled. It went live at 4:00 A.M. And people misinterpreted like anyone would. Everybody started slamming us as if we did some crime. The thing is,

The post was live for 12 hours.
Nobody bothered to check as the team was not there.
There was no response from us.
The post wasn’t taken down.

And all these years of effort just went to trash in a day. This wasn’t a scandal or any crime. Still, I felt like I’d lost everything.

But I told you already, that every failure teaches you something. Similarly, this mistake also made us realise the importance of:

Timing and Release
Be Aware of What’s Going Around You
Sentiments: It Can Either Make You or Break You

There is always scope for a comeback. Stay Tuned to learn how.

Episode 5: Resurrecting the Brand

No talking, I’ll take you straight to the steps you need to follow to rebuild your brand.

Stop the Bleeding Immediately

Pause everything.
Delete the post.
Check all the pre-scheduled posts.
Don’t let another pre-schedule post make things more difficult for you.
Acknowledge with a response. Even if you’re not ready, just make sure people know you’re aware of it. For example: “We are reviewing the following. We’ll be back soon.”

Respond With Clarity

If you’re wrong, Apologise. There’s no shame in it and no it doesn’t make you look guilty. Your audience are not fools. They understand things happen. And it’s the right time to reconnect your bond and earn their trust back.

Rebuild Your Content Strategy

Gather your team.
Review your content calendar system.
Make necessary changes.
Add real-time awareness checkpoints before any post goes live.

Commit to the Long Game

Have Patience. Trust doesn’t bounce back easily. It’s easy to lose trust but very difficult to earn it, and you can’t do it with just one post.
Post regularly, be careful. Things will automatically get better, slowly and steadily.
Give regular updates.
Help customers see the human behind the brand.

And there, you have it. People will soon forget. Now, you’ve a whole new brand image which is clean and trust-worthy.

Guest Appearance: Avoiding Pitfalls

Finale Episode: The Closing Message

They say:

“You truly understand the strength of a foundation when the storm hits.”

From the years of experience I hold, I couldn’t agree more.

For me,

It wasn’t just about losing a business. But losing a part of myself that I built with hard work, patience and passion.

From fearing collapsing to facing and slowly fading it, I have come a long way. And surely, there’s more to go. In this transformation from collapsing to clarity, I learnt the power of Resilience, Responsibility and Realignment.

I figured out, Content Marketing is not only about Content, but Connection and Communication.

It’s not about trends but trust, that you need to build to go long.

It’s never about you but about your people.

So, make every post, every caption, every content and every strategy, a relationship that lasts forever.

To the One Who Dared Begin!

Enjoy the journey.

Feel the fear of falling short. You’ll learn new things.

Enjoy small wins. You definitely deserve it.

You might be tired. But more than that you’re passionate.

So, don’t let this fire be interrupted. Because that’s how you’ll make it big. For sure.

You’re allowed to pause, take breaks and fall. But never forget why you started.

Putting an end to this story.

My name is Natalie.

I own a restaurant called Meltin’ Moe.

I made a mistake.

I rebuilt everything I lost.

And I’m still here serving delicious food and fascinating stories.

Content marketing didn’t just build my brand. It built me.

And now…

It’s your turn.

Do share your adventures as well, I would love to hear them!

Pooja Kumari

I am a creative writer, holding a postgraduate degree in English Literature and Language. My sentimentality while crafting beautiful narratives is reflected in my works and speaks of all the academic excellence I’ve achieved.

With years of hard work and patience, I’ve cultivated a sophisticated writing style that intricately weaves together eloquence and intellectual depth. I ensure that each piece of content I pour out leads my readers to explore the art of capturing the complexities of emotions, identity and introspection.

Driven by a desire to explore the nuances of human existence, my literary voice sparks maturity and insight. I always try to find the right balance between evocation and elegance which must leave a lasting mark on my readers.