Social media managementPhotography & contentPromotional strategyContent trainingAudience analytics
The brief
I was introduced to this client through a mutual friend. The café — a family-run business in the Perth CBD — was doing well during peak hours but struggling to fill the floor for most of the day. They weren't looking for a polished agency pitch. They just needed someone who could figure out the problem and fix it.
I proposed a deal: I'd develop and run a strategy first, and we'd sort out payment after the campaign based on whether it actually worked. It was early days for Cirkall, this was a friend of a friend, and there was a lot riding on it personally. That pressure made me want to get it right.
"We proposed the solution ourselves. If it didn't work, there was no invoice — so there was every reason to make sure it did."
The situation
When I first looked at their Instagram, the account existed but hadn't been given much attention. The owners were elderly and unfamiliar with social media — posts were basic phone shots of food, inconsistent, and without any real strategy behind them. Around 300 followers. Engagement was low: 20–30 likes per post, no comments.
The food, however, was genuinely excellent. That was immediately clear. The problem wasn't the product — it was that nobody knew about it, and the people who did weren't being reached at the right time.
The approach
1
Identify the real opportunity
The café had great food and a genuine family story. Rather than reinvent the brand, I focused on making what was already there visible. Professional photography and short-form video to show the food as it deserved to be shown — and testimonial-style clips of real customers reacting to it.
2
Design the promotional mechanic
I built a happy hour campaign across breakfast, lunch, and dinner — targeting the café's slowest periods. The call to action was simple and trackable: show the post at the counter and get a free item. This directly connected Instagram activity to people walking through the door, with no ambiguity about what was driving results.
3
Train the family to create content
The owners had adult children who were willing to learn. I brought them into the process — showing them how to shoot, what to caption, and how to think about content. This meant the account could stay active even when I wasn't on site, and gave the content an authentic behind-the-scenes quality that audiences responded to.
4
Optimise posting times using data
Early in the campaign, posts were getting positive comments but lower-than-expected reach. I checked the analytics and noticed we were posting outside of peak activity windows. Once I shifted posting times to match when the audience was actually active, engagement climbed quickly.
Before & after
Before
Followers~300
Avg. likes/post20–30
Avg. comments/post0
Covers per time slot~8
Posting consistencyIrregular
After (3 months)
Followers900–1,000
Avg. likes/post~200
Avg. comments/post10–15
Covers per time slot~12 (+50%)
Posting consistencyRegular, strategic
Results at a glance
3×
Follower growth in 3 months
~7×
Increase in avg. likes per post
+50%
Covers per targeted time slot
Ongoing
Became a retainer client and referred others
The campaign worked well enough that the café wound down the promotion early — organic foot traffic had grown to the point where the free-item offer was no longer needed to bring people in.
Photography & content
Why this matters
The real win here wasn't follower count — it was proving that social media could drive real foot traffic in a measurable way. The promotional mechanic gave us a direct signal between Instagram activity and people walking through the door. When the promotion wound down early because organic traffic had already grown past the point where the incentive was needed, that was the clearest possible sign it worked.
Training the family to create content themselves meant this didn't die when the campaign ended. They stayed on as retainer clients and referred new clients to Cirkall. For early agency work, that's the best possible outcome: a client who's better off, and who tells others about it.
Tools & skills used
Adobe PhotoshopAdobe Premiere ProInstagram & MetaAudience analyticsContent schedulingClient training
Case study published
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