Social media marketing is the use of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok to reach customers, build trust and win enquiries.
For a Perth business, it is one of the most direct ways to stay in front of local people in the months between the times they need you.
Done well, it takes a plan and steady effort. Posting now and then, with no clear purpose, rarely brings much back.
This guide explains what social media marketing involves, how it fits with the rest of your marketing, and how to get started without wasting time or money.
It covers two broad kinds of activity.
The first is organic activity. This is the content you post on your own pages and the conversations you have with followers. It costs nothing except your time.
The second is paid advertising. You pay the platform to show your posts or ads to people you choose, based on location, age, interests and other signals.
Most businesses that get steady results use both. Organic content builds trust with people who already know you, while paid ads put your business in front of new people and can be switched on or off as needed.
Social media also differs from older advertising because it runs both ways. People can comment, message and share, so it works more like a conversation than a billboard.
Choosing the right platforms
You do not need to be everywhere. Pick the one or two platforms where your customers already spend time, and do them properly.
- Facebook: Still widely used by Australian adults, and useful for local businesses, community groups and events.
- Instagram: Suits visual businesses such as hospitality, fashion, beauty, design and trades with strong finished work to show.
- LinkedIn: The natural home for business-to-business services, professional firms and recruitment.
- TikTok and YouTube: Strong for short video and how-to content. YouTube also works like a search engine for people looking for answers.
Australia’s social media minimum age rules took effect in December 2025. Platforms covered by the law must take reasonable steps to stop Australians under 16 from holding accounts. If your products are aimed at teenagers, you may need to speak to their parents instead.
Content
Content is anything you post: photos, short videos, written updates, stories and polls. It should sound like your business and speak to what your customers care about.
Good starting points include:
- Answers to the questions customers ask you every week
- Behind-the-scenes looks at your work, team or premises
- Finished jobs, new products or seasonal offers
- Local news or events your business is part of
Short vertical video gets strong reach on most platforms at the moment. A phone, good light and clear sound are enough to start.
Community and conversation
Replying to comments and messages matters as much as posting. People notice when a business answers quickly and politely, and so does everyone else reading the thread.
Treat your inbox as a customer service channel. Many people now message a business on Facebook or Instagram before they think to email or call.
Complaints deserve care. A calm public reply, followed by a private message to sort out the detail, usually works better than deleting the comment.
Paid advertising
Meta’s ad tools (covering Facebook and Instagram) and LinkedIn’s ad platform let you choose who sees your message. You set the budget and can pause at any time.
Ads work best when they send people to a clear landing page with one job to do, such as booking, calling or requesting a quote. Set up conversion tracking before you spend, so you can see which ads actually lead to enquiries.
Creators and influencers
Working with local creators can introduce you to an engaged audience. Choose people whose followers match your customers, and agree in writing what will be posted.
Paid posts must be clearly identified as advertising. Both the ACCC and the advertising industry’s own code expect this.
Reviews and customer content
Photos, tags and reviews shared by real customers often carry more weight than your own posts. Ask permission before you reuse them.
If you run a regulated health service, such as a dental, medical, physiotherapy or cosmetic practice, the rules are stricter. Ahpra’s advertising guidelines ban testimonials in your advertising, restrict incentives and offers, and limit how before-and-after images can be used. Your social media pages count as advertising, so check the current Ahpra guidance before you post.
Social media rarely works best on its own.
Activity on social platforms does not directly lift your Google rankings. It can, however, send visitors to your website, help people find and remember your business name, and lead to the kind of mentions and links that support your SEO.
It also pairs well with email marketing. Followers can be invited onto your email list, where you control the relationship rather than a platform’s algorithm.
Your website needs to be ready for the visitors social media sends. A slow or confusing mobile site will waste good content and ad spend, which is why web design and social media planning go hand in hand.
Measuring what matters
Every platform gives you plenty of data. Focus on the few numbers linked to your goals.
- Reach and impressions: How many people saw your content, and how often.
- Engagement: Likes, comments, shares and saves, which show whether the content is landing.
- Link clicks: How many people moved from a post or ad to your website.
- Enquiries and sales: Calls, form submissions, bookings or orders that came from social media. This is the number that pays the bills.
Check these monthly rather than daily, and look for patterns over several months before you change course. Google Analytics can show how social visitors behave once they reach your site, provided tracking is set up correctly.
Getting started: a simple plan
- Write down what you want social media to do for you, such as more enquiries, more bookings or a stronger local profile.
- Choose one or two platforms where your customers spend time.
- Tidy up your profiles with current contact details, opening hours, a clear description and a link to your website.
- Plan a month of posts in advance, then set aside one session a week to post and reply.
- Add a small, focused ad campaign once your organic content is in place.
- Review the numbers each month and adjust.
Consistency matters more than volume. Two good posts a week, kept up all year, will usually do more than a burst of daily posting that stops after a month.
If you are just starting out, our guide on how to start social media marketing for your business goes into more detail.
SLINKY is a Perth digital agency that has been helping businesses with their marketing since 1998. If you would like a hand planning or running your social media marketing, you will deal directly with senior people, with no lock-in contract. Get in touch for a chat about where to start.
