Social Media Marketing Checklist for Australian Businesses

How to use this social media marketing checklist

Work through each section in order. If you already have social running, use this as an audit to find gaps. Prioritise tasks that connect to revenue first (tracking, landing pages, CTAs) then scale content and paid social.

Quick links

• Strategy and goals
• Profiles and brand foundations
• Content pillars and calendar
• Posting cadence and timing (AEST/AEDT)
• Community management
• Paid social setup
• Tracking, UTMs and reporting
• Conversion and landing pages
• Compliance and brand safety (AU)
• Resourcing and workflow
• 30‑day fast start plan

Checklist 1: Strategy and goals

• Define the primary objective for the next 90 days: awareness, engagement, lead generation or sales.
• Confirm your audience, buyer roles and where they spend time (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest).
• Map social to your broader funnel: awareness → consideration → conversion → loyalty.
• Set 3–5 KPIs that match the objective (examples below) and a realistic budget or time allocation.
• Choose platforms to prioritise and deliberately de‑prioritise the rest for focus.
• Decide measurement cadence (weekly pulse, monthly deep‑dive) and what will trigger changes.

Checklist 2: Profiles and brand foundations

• Complete profiles fully (bio, categories, services, location, contact methods, website link with UTM).
• Pin core posts (offer explainer, case study, testimonial, how to start).
• Use a consistent brand kit: logo variants, colour, fonts, tone of voice and post templates.
• Set up branded link hub or direct to focused landing pages per campaign.
• Enable page roles, two‑factor authentication and backup admin access.

Checklist 3: Content pillars and calendar

• Pick 4–6 content pillars: educate, proof (case studies, reviews), product/offer, behind‑the‑scenes, industry POV, FAQs.
• Create a simple weekly calendar mixing formats: carousels, short video, Stories/Reels, text posts, Lives.
• Plan at least 3 months of pillar ideas; script the first month with hooks and CTAs.
• Design templates sized for each platform (1080x1080, 1080x1350, 1920x1080 etc) and compress media.
• Include at least one “hard” CTA post per week that leads to a page built to convert.

Checklist 4: Posting cadence and timing (AEST/AEDT)

• Baseline: Facebook/Instagram 3–5 feed posts weekly + daily Stories; LinkedIn 2–4 posts weekly; TikTok 3–5 weekly.
• Post when your audience is active in AEST/AEDT; test early morning, lunch and early evening mid‑week.
• Batch create and schedule 1–2 weeks ahead to stay consistent.
• Track saves, shares and profile visits to refine timing and topics.

Checklist 5: Community management

• Reply to comments and DMs within one business day; set saved replies for FAQs.
• Use social inboxes to triage leads quickly to phone, booking or chat.
• Identify 20 partner or industry accounts to engage with weekly for reach.
• Document an escalation path for complaints and negative reviews.

Checklist 6: Paid social setup

• Install and verify pixels/tags: Meta Pixel + CAPI, LinkedIn Insight Tag, TikTok Pixel.
• Configure conversion events in GA4 and platform events (Lead, Purchase, CompleteRegistration).
• Build audiences: website (30/90/180), engaged users, customer lists (with consent), lookalikes.
• Create campaigns mapped to the funnel: Awareness (Reach/Video), Consideration (Traffic/Engagement), Conversion (Leads/Sales).
• Write 3–5 ad variations per ad set; test creative first, targeting second, bids/budgets last.
• Set daily/weekly budgets and guardrails (CPA/ROAS targets) and a change log.

Checklist 7: Tracking, UTMs and reporting

• Use consistent UTM parameters on every link (source, medium, campaign, content, term as needed).
• Validate events in platform diagnostics and GA4 DebugView.
• Create a one‑page dashboard with: spend, reach, LP views, leads, CPA/ROAS, assisted conversions.
• Set weekly checks (data quality, anomalies) and monthly reviews (creative winners, messaging insights).

Checklist 8: Conversion and landing pages

• Send traffic to focused landing pages with one job to do and a clear CTA.
• Match creative, headline and offer between ad/post and landing page.
• Add trust blocks: reviews, photos, logos, guarantees, FAQs and proof of work.
• Test forms, phone links and booking flows on mobile; track form start and completion.

Checklist 9: Compliance and brand safety (Australia)

• Confirm permissions and usage rights for all creative and music.
• Industry rules: AHPRA (health), TGA (therapeutic goods), AFSL disclosure (financial services), alcohol advertising codes, prize/competition rules in your state.
• Privacy and consent: align with the Australian Privacy Act and platform policies for customer lists.
• Brand safety: exclude sensitive placements where needed and enable comment moderation filters.

Checklist 10: Resourcing and workflow

• Define roles: strategy, creative, copy, scheduling, community, reporting.
• Create SOPs for content approval and ad changes (who approves what, by when).
• Maintain an idea backlog and asset library (B‑roll, testimonials, product shots).
• Hold a monthly retro: wins, losses, learnings and next tests.

30‑day fast start plan

• Week 1: Confirm goals, audience, platforms, KPIs. Fix profiles. Install pixels and GA4 events.
• Week 2: Lock content pillars and build 2 weeks of posts. Design templates. Create audiences.
• Week 3: Launch organic calendar. Start 1–2 paid campaigns (awareness + remarketing).
• Week 4: Review early data. Replace low performers. Tune landing pages. Document learnings.

Metrics cheat‑sheet

• Awareness: reach, impressions, video 3‑second and thru‑play rates, CPM.
• Engagement: saves, shares, comments, profile visits, CTR, click share.
• Performance: LP views, leads, CPA, sales, ROAS, assisted conversions in GA4.
• Quality: hook rate on short video, save rate on carousels, hold time on key posts.

Related social media pages in this topic

Helpful related checklists and guides

Common problems this checklist prevents

• Posting without a commercial goal or matching metrics.
• Inconsistent cadence that stalls growth.
• Sending paid traffic to weak or slow pages.
• No UTMs or broken events causing bad decisions.
• Non‑compliant industry claims or missing disclosures.

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