Your Facebook page is still one of the best free tools a local business has — if you use it like a local, not a billboard.
Plenty of people have written Facebook off, but for local businesses it's still one of the most valuable free channels going — especially here, where suburb community groups are hugely active. The trick is to behave like a local, not a billboard.
Keep the basics current: hours, contact details, services, and a steady drip of real posts. Many locals check your Facebook before they call — a dead page costs you customers as surely as a locked front door.
Across Bayside, Kingston, the South East and Inner South of Melbourne, suburb "recommendations" groups drive enormous word-of-mouth. When someone asks for a good plumber or hairdresser, being genuinely present and well-reviewed in the community is worth more than any ad. Be helpful, not spammy — the businesses that give value get tagged again and again.
Behind-the-scenes, real work you've done, happy customers (with permission), local news and events, and the occasional offer. People follow local businesses that feel like part of the community, not a catalogue.
Facebook recommendations, like Google reviews, are social proof that converts. Make it easy and normal to ask happy customers to leave one.
A well-kept page makes your paid Meta ads work harder — people who click through land somewhere active and credible. The two reinforce each other.
ClickLocal is a local agency for Bayside, Kingston, the South East and Inner South. We'll review where you stand and show you exactly how to get found — and we're happy to meet locally over a coffee.