Digital marketing shifted quickly in 2025. Generative search rolled out in stages, social platforms leaned harder into short video, and privacy updates kept limiting easy targeting. If you ran a stable plan last year, you might be asking whether those methods will still deliver in 2026. The short answer is yes, with smart adjustments. Core principles still hold, but tactics need tuning for new search behaviours, attribution limits, and rising content quality bars.
Let’s break down what still works, what needs a rethink, and how to refresh a Perth marketing strategy so it performs across 2026. It avoids hype, focuses on practical moves, and maps workstreams you can start now.
What Still Works From 2025
The fundamentals did not vanish. They evolved. If you doubled down on these last year, keep going in 2026 with small upgrades.
First-Party Data and Owned Audiences
Email lists, CRM segments, and consented first-party data remain your strongest levers. They power personalisation, lookalikes, and performance even when paid targeting narrows. Maintain clean capture on site, point sign-ups to clear value, and sync audiences to your key ad platforms. For a Perth marketing strategy that spans B2C and B2B, strong first-party data reduces paid waste and stabilises results during platform shifts.
Evergreen SEO and Topic Ownership
High quality topic hubs, useful how-to content, and service pages that match search intent still compound. What changed is the delivery surface. AI summaries may answer simple questions, but users still click for depth, price, local detail, and trust signals. Keep building clusters with clear internal links. Refresh pages quarterly with updated examples, local proof, and FAQs that reflect real customer language.
Creative Testing and Conversion-First Pages
Ad platforms keep automating bidding. Creative and landing pages are now your main levers. Keep testing hooks, social proof, and formats, then roll winners into your long-running campaigns. On pages, lead with the problem, show proof early, remove dead weight, and make forms effortless on mobile. This held true in 2025 and will matter even more in 2026.
Email, SMS, and Lifecycle Journeys
Welcome flows, cart or form recovery, post-purchase upsell, and re-engagement sequences continue to print reliable returns when built on clean data. Focus on concise subject lines, plain design that loads fast, and segmentation by behaviour, not demographics alone.
Community and Creator Partnerships
Smaller creator partnerships, user-generated content, and niche groups still drive trust at sane costs. Micro creators often beat big names on cost per qualified action. Use clear briefs, give product, and request usage rights up front so you can repurpose the content in paid.
What Needs a Rethink For 2026
Some 2025 habits will underperform if copied directly into this year. Adjust early.
Search With AI Overviews and New SERP Blocks
Generative and AI-assisted results reduce clicks on thin content. Pages that only restate generic info will fade. Double down on depth, local specificity, and comparison content. Include pricing frameworks, checklists, and scenario-based advice that AI summaries cannot compress well. Structure pages with clear subheadings and concise answers so you can win both the summary and the click.
PPC Economics and Budget Guardrails
Auction pressure rose in 2025. Expect the same in 2026. Broad automation works, but it needs exclusions, negatives, and creative rotation to stop creep. Set hard CPA or ROAS guardrails, redirect budget to branded and high intent non-brand, and keep a test lane for new terms. Match ad copy to landing page headlines to lift Quality Score and blunt CPC rises.
Social Distribution, Not Just Posting
Organic reach alone is inconsistent. Plan for distribution. Spark key posts with small paid budgets, collaborate with creators for amplification, and repurpose winning short videos across platforms. Treat editing and captions as performance levers, not afterthoughts.
Content Quality and E-E-A-T Signals
Thin AI-only content will struggle. Prove experience and expertise. Include bylines, client quotes, local case detail, and data you collected yourself. For a Perth marketing strategy, reference WA regulations, seasonal timing, and regional challenges to raise relevance without bloating copy.
Will 2025 Methods Still Work?
Yes, if you keep the core and adapt the edges. Own your data, win with depth, design pages for conversion, and run disciplined tests. Stop relying on thin content or set-and-forget paid campaigns. A well tuned Perth marketing strategy in 2026 blends strong fundamentals with nimble execution across search, social, content, and retention.
