Social media marketing

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This page explains social media marketing for Canadian business owners and marketing managers who want social to produce enquiries, bookings and sales rather than likes alone. It covers what an agency actually does, how to choose platforms, how often to post, when to pay for reach, how creator partnerships and disclosure work, how to measure results, and what drives the fee. Canada Create is a Toronto digital agency with an office at 126 Willowdale Avenue, Suite 3, serving businesses across Canada since 2008. Each section links to the page where we explain one part of the work in depth.

Contents

• What a social media marketing agency does
• The services inside this hub
• Choosing platforms by audience
• Content pillars, calendars and posting rhythm
• Replies, approvals and difficult moments
• Organic posting and paid reach together
• Measuring what social produces
• Social, search and AI answers
• Where social works hardest
• Rules and privacy to plan for
• How we work
• What drives the cost
• How to choose who runs your social
• Your next step

What a social media marketing agency does

Social media marketing is the planned use of platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn and YouTube to reach the people who buy from you, earn their attention and move them toward a purchase or an enquiry. An agency carries four jobs that most owners do not have the hours for.

Decide who you are talking to

Before a single post goes out, someone has to name the buyer, the platforms that buyer actually opens, the reason they would follow a business at all, and the action you want them to take. A dental clinic, a craft brewery and a software firm selling to finance teams give three very different answers.

Make and publish the work

Photos, short videos, carousels, captions, Stories and the occasional long video, made on a calendar and approved before they go live. This is the visible part, and the part that eats the most time inside a small business.

Look after the audience

Comments, direct messages, tags, reviews left on a Facebook page and questions under an ad all need replies, in your voice and quickly enough that the person is still interested.

Pay for reach and measure the outcome

Organic reach on most platforms is limited, so most accounts that sell need some paid distribution. The final job is connecting all of it to the enquiries, bookings and orders it produced, and changing the plan when the numbers say so.

The services inside this hub

Each part of social has its own page, so you can hire one piece or the whole program. Here is how they fit together.

Strategy and planning

A written plan names your goal, your audience, the platforms in priority order, the content themes, the posting rhythm, the paid budget split and what will be measured. Our social media strategy work produces that plan, which is useful even when your own team does the posting.

Content and short vertical video

Vertical video now leads reach on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube Shorts. Good social content is shot for the phone screen, hooks in the first seconds, carries captions for people watching without sound and shows real people and real work. Posts and video made for your brand covers the regular flow of content, and social video production covers planned shoots for campaigns, launches and series.

Day to day posting and community care

Publishing on schedule, answering comments and messages, hiding spam, flagging complaints and keeping the profiles current. When you want this handled every week, our social media manager service takes it on with an approval step that suits how your business signs off on content.

Paid reach across platforms

Paid campaigns put your strongest content in front of new audiences and bring back people who visited your site. Our paid social advertising service plans and runs campaigns across platforms, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger ads on Meta covers the platform most local businesses start on, and Reels, Stories and feed ads on Instagram focuses on the visual side. Pages for TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Pinterest ads, Snapchat ads and Reddit ads are on the way.

Creator partnerships

A creator with the right audience can introduce you to buyers who trust their recommendations more than any ad. The work is finding a real fit, agreeing on deliverables and usage rights, briefing them without scripting the life out of the post, and making sure the partnership is disclosed. Our influencer marketing service handles that matching and management.

YouTube channels

YouTube works as both a social platform and a search engine. How to videos, product demonstrations and answers to common customer questions keep earning views long after they are published, and Shorts reach people who have never heard of you. Growing a YouTube channel that brings customers covers channel setup, video planning, titles, thumbnails and YouTube ads.

Choosing platforms by audience

The right platforms are the ones your buyers already use with the attention you need. Being present everywhere with thin content is weaker than being strong on two platforms.

Facebook and Instagram

For most local service businesses, restaurants, clinics, salons and retailers, Facebook and Instagram are the starting point. Facebook still reaches adults in community groups and events and carries reviews and messages; Instagram carries visual work, Reels and Stories. Both share one ad system, which makes testing and retargeting simpler.

TikTok

TikTok rewards personality and frequent, unpolished video. Food, beauty, fitness, fashion, home improvement and anything with a satisfying process can find large audiences quickly, even from a new account. It suits businesses willing to show people on camera and post often.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is where decision makers in companies read, comment and research suppliers. It suits B2B firms, professional services, recruiters and technology companies, and it works well when founders and senior staff post under their own names alongside the company page. Ads are precise by job title, company size and sector, and they cost more per click than consumer platforms.

YouTube

YouTube suits anything people want explained or shown before they buy: renovations, software, equipment, treatments, courses and complex products. A small library of useful videos can answer the same questions your sales team answers every day.

Pinterest, Snapchat and Reddit

Pinterest is a planning tool for home, wedding, food, fashion and craft decisions, with a long life for each pin. Snapchat reaches younger audiences through Stories and camera features. Reddit hosts topic communities where people ask detailed questions and dislike obvious selling. Each can work for the right business; none is a default choice.

Content pillars, calendars and posting rhythm

The content plan is what keeps an account from going quiet for three weeks and then posting five sales messages in a row.

Content pillars

Most accounts do well with three to five recurring themes. A renovation company might rotate finished projects, behind the scenes on site, homeowner questions answered, team introductions and seasonal advice. Pillars make planning faster and teach followers what to expect from you.

The calendar

A monthly calendar shows each post, its platform, format, caption and publish date, with room for timely posts that cannot be planned. It also marks the dates that matter in your trade: launches, sales, holidays, school calendars, patio season, tax season or whatever moves your buyers.

How often to post

Consistency beats volume. A local business that posts a few strong pieces each week, every week, usually does better than one that posts daily for a month and then stops. TikTok and Stories reward higher frequency; LinkedIn and YouTube reward depth. The right rhythm is the one your business can keep up with content worth watching.

Posting in English and French

Businesses serving Quebec, Ottawa, New Brunswick or francophone communities elsewhere often need French posts that read as if they were written in French, not translated word for word. Our team works in English and French, and a bilingual calendar can run separate posts or combined captions depending on the audience.

Captions, alt text and accessibility

Many people watch video with the sound off, and some rely on screen readers. Burned in or platform captions on every video, alt text on images, readable text sizes on graphics and hashtags written in camel case make your content usable by more people and clearer for everyone.

Strong visuals start with a consistent look. Graphic design for social templates and brand identity work give every post the same colours, type and logo treatment, and photography of your team and work replaces stock images with real ones.

Replies, approvals and difficult moments

The comment section is part of your customer service. People notice when questions go unanswered and when complaints get a defensive reply.

Response handling

Routine questions about hours, prices, availability or bookings should get quick, friendly answers, ideally pointing to where the person can act. Compliments deserve thanks. Spam and abuse get hidden or removed according to rules you agree in advance. Messages that need your staff, such as a booking change or an order problem, get passed on with the details.

Approvals

Decide who approves posts, how far ahead, and which kinds of replies need sign off. A regulated clinic or a law firm may want every caption checked; a café may approve the monthly calendar and let routine replies go out directly. Clear approval rules avoid both delays and surprises.

When something goes wrong

A product recall, an angry viral post, a staff mistake or a bad review shared widely needs a plan before it happens: who decides, what gets paused, what the first public reply says and when to take the conversation private. Scheduled promotional posts should stop until the situation is handled. Brand reputation management supports owners when a problem spreads beyond one platform.

Organic posting and paid reach together

Organic posting builds trust with people who already know you. Paid reach finds people who do not. Most businesses that sell through social need both, in proportions that change with the goal.

Boosting a post versus running a campaign

The boost button is quick but offers limited control over objective, audience and placement. A planned campaign sets a clear objective, such as leads, bookings or sales, tests several creatives, excludes current customers where that makes sense and tracks the result on your site. Boosting has a place for event announcements; campaigns do the selling.

Retargeting and lead forms

People who watched your videos, visited your website or messaged you are far more likely to act than strangers. Retargeting brings them back with an offer or a reminder. Lead forms inside the platform let someone request a quote without leaving the app, and those leads need instant follow up to be worth anything.

Social commerce

Shops on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok let people tag products in posts and browse a catalogue inside the app. For retailers and product brands, a connected catalogue means ads and posts show current stock and prices, and the path from seeing a product to buying it is short.

Measuring what social produces

Followers and likes are signs of attention, not sales. A useful report connects social activity to business results and says plainly what changes next.

What to count

• Enquiries, calls, bookings and orders that started on social, by platform and campaign.
• Cost per lead or per sale on paid campaigns, with ad spend shown separately from fees.
• Reach and engagement on organic posts, to learn which themes work.
• Profile visits, website clicks and direct messages.
• Response times and how many messages became customers.

Connecting social to CS+

Leads from social forms, messages and website visits are easy to lose between apps. CS+ is our CRM: we set it up and connect it so each lead from social lands with its source, gets a follow up task and can be traced to a sale. CS+ CRM and automation explains how that pipeline works, and lead generation programs cover the wider job of filling it.

Monthly reporting

A monthly report should fit on a few pages: what was published, what it reached, what the paid budget bought, how many enquiries and sales came from social, what worked, what did not and the plan for next month. Data comes from the platforms and your own site and CRM, in accounts you own.

Social, search and AI answers

People do not keep social and search apart. They see a post, search your name, read your reviews and check your website before they call. Younger buyers often search on TikTok or Instagram the way older buyers search on Google, and AI assistants now summarize what the web says about a business.

Brand searches follow social attention

A good month on social often shows up as more searches for your business name. Those searches should land on a website and a Google Business Profile that match what the posts promised. Our search engine optimization service and Google Business Profile management make sure that second step works.

Showing up in AI answers

AI assistants draw on websites, reviews, video transcripts and public discussions. Clear, consistent information about what you do, where you work and who you serve, repeated across your site, profiles and YouTube descriptions, makes it easier for those answers to describe you correctly. AI search optimization focuses on that visibility. No one can promise a mention, but accurate, consistent facts help.

Where social works hardest

Social suits nearly every business, but the platforms, content and goals change from one trade to the next.

Restaurants, cafés and bars

Dishes, drinks, the room and the people behind the counter make natural short video. Instagram and TikTok drive discovery, Facebook carries events, and every post should make reservations or ordering one tap away.

Salons, spas and studios

Transformations, technique clips and team introductions build trust before the first booking. Consent from every client shown on camera is essential.

Retailers and online stores

Product video, try ons, new arrivals and creator content feed both organic posts and catalogue ads, and social shops shorten the path to purchase.

Clinics and health practices

Education posts, team profiles and practical tips work well, within the advertising rules of each profession and without patient details or outcome promises.

Real estate teams

Listings, neighbourhood guides and market explainers suit Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, following the advertising rules of each province. Social media for realtors covers this in detail.

B2B firms

LinkedIn posts from leaders, case explainers and short video answers to buyer questions support long sales cycles. B2B social media marketing covers that work.

Private schools and education

Campus life, teacher profiles and open house promotion reach parents during the admissions season, with parental consent for every student shown. Read about social media for private schools.

Nonprofits, events and venues

Charities use social for stories, volunteer calls and campaign moments; event organizers and venues use it to sell tickets, show past events and keep attendees excited before the doors open.

Rules and privacy to plan for

Social posts and ads are advertising, and the usual rules apply. This is a marketing observation, not legal advice.

Disclosing paid partnerships

When a creator is paid, given free products or has any other material connection with your business, the post must say so clearly, at the start and in plain words, using the platform's paid partnership label where available. Ad Standards publishes influencer disclosure guidance, and the Competition Act prohibits misleading representations, which can include undisclosed endorsements. Your business shares responsibility for what creators post on your behalf.

Restricted categories

Platforms set their own advertising policies. Health, finance, alcohol, cannabis, housing and employment ads face special rules or restrictions on some platforms, and some limit targeting options for those categories. Campaigns in these areas need extra review before launch.

Contests and giveaways

Contests in Canada generally need published rules, a statement that no purchase is necessary, clear prize and odds details and, where winners are drawn by chance, a skill testing question for the winner, because of the Criminal Code and the Competition Act. Each platform also has its own promotion rules.

People, children and music

Get written consent from anyone identifiable in your photos and videos, and parental consent for children. Music must be licensed for business use; platform libraries often separate tracks cleared for business accounts from tracks licensed only for personal use.

Messages and data

CASL applies when you follow up social leads by commercial email or text: you need consent, clear sender identification and an unsubscribe. PIPEDA sets general expectations for personal information. Keep sensitive personal details out of ad audiences and analytics.

How we work

Whether you hire us for one platform or the full program, the steps are the same and each one ends with something you can read.

1. A free review: we look at your profiles, recent posts, ads, follower audience, website and how leads from social are followed up, then tell you what we see.
2. A written plan and proposal: goals, platforms, content themes, posting rhythm, paid budget and fees, quoted in writing, with ad spend shown separately. You get a proposal in one business day.
3. Set up: profile clean up, tracking, CS+ connections, brand templates and the first content calendar, at agreed milestones.
4. Publish and run: content goes out after your approval, replies are handled and campaigns run.
5. Monthly reporting: what was published, what it reached, leads and sales from social and the plan for next month.

Your accounts stay yours

Business pages, profiles, ad accounts, the business manager, pixels and catalogues are created in your business name and you hold owner access. Canada Create is added as a manager, so your audiences, history and data stay with you.

Your voice

Captions and replies are written to sound like your business. Content writing supports longer posts, LinkedIn articles and video scripts, and email marketing keeps followers who join your list hearing from you between posts.

What drives the cost

We do not publish prices. Fees are quoted in writing after a free consultation, because a café that needs a few posts a week and a brand running campaigns on four platforms need very different work. Ad spend and any software subscriptions are paid to the platform and shown separately from our fees.

What changes the fee

• The number of platforms and how often each one is posted to.
• How much original photo and video content is produced, and whether shoots are needed.
• Whether community replies and messages are handled every day.
• The number of paid campaigns, audiences and creative variations.
• Creator partnerships, including finding, briefing and managing them.
• Bilingual posting in English and French.
• Regulated trades that need careful review of every caption and ad.
• CS+ setup and the reporting depth you need.

Starting small

A small business often starts with one or two platforms, a monthly calendar and a modest paid budget aimed at its strongest offer. More platforms and more content come once the first ones are producing enquiries.

How to choose who runs your social

You can hire a social media manager, a freelancer or an agency. A manager on staff knows your business intimately but is one person covering strategy, design, video, replies and ads. An agency brings several skills and continuity when someone is away. Either way, ask the same questions.

Questions to ask

• Who owns the accounts? The answer should be you: pages, profiles, ad accounts, business manager and pixels.
• Can you show work for businesses like mine, and explain what it was meant to achieve?
• Who writes the posts, who approves them and how fast are messages answered?
• How will you report results, and will the report show leads and sales, not only reach?
• How do you handle a complaint that gets public attention?
• Which platforms would you leave out for my business, and why?
• How do you make sure creator posts are disclosed properly?

Signs to watch for

Be careful with anyone who promises follower numbers, sells followers, wants the ad account in their own name or cannot explain how a post leads to a sale. A capable team asks about your customers, how much time your team has and your goals before talking about posting frequency. You can read more about Canada Create before you call.

Your next step

Share the handles of the accounts you run today and the result you want social to deliver, whether that is bookings, quotes, store visits or online orders. We will read through your recent posts, ads, replies and lead follow up and answer with a free review and a written social plan, fees quoted in writing. Phone (416) 273-9030 at our Toronto office, call the 24/7 toll free line at +1 (800) 808-9235, or reach us through our contact form. We reply within one business day.