Social ads
for venues.

Social ads interrupt people who weren't looking for you. That's the job: put a reason to come in front of the right people before they've made plans. The ads that do it are specific and dated. 'Lamb shoulder for two, Sundays in winter' or 'Trivia, Tuesdays from 7' gives someone a night to pick. 'Come and see us' doesn't.

Keep the map tight. A café in The Entrance doesn't need people in Penrith unless it's selling a day trip. Meta treats location and minimum age as audience controls it must respect, while an age range and interests are only suggestions under Advantage+ audience. That difference matters for every venue that serves alcohol.

Show the real room and the real food. A short video of a dish being finished at the pass, or a full Friday room in Newcastle's East End, does more than a stock-style shot of a wine glass.

• Before the weekend: event nights, live music, new menus. Run Wednesday to Friday.
• Quiet services: one offer, one night. The quiet night planner shows what a table is worth.
• Accommodation: people planning a trip. Show the room, the view and what's walkable.
• Functions: Christmas parties and private events, months ahead, sent to the functions page.

Meta's policy says alcohol ads must follow local law and, at a minimum, may not be targeted to people under 18. In Ads Manager that means setting 18 as the minimum age in audience controls. Since 10 December 2025 Australians must be 16 or over to hold a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok account, which still leaves 16 and 17 year olds on the platforms. The new law doesn't do the job for you.

The ABAC Responsible Alcohol Marketing Code covers retailer advertising, influencer posts and user-generated content. Part 4 says available age restriction controls must be applied to exclude minors, and Part 3 bans showing rapid or excessive drinking, anything with strong appeal to minors, and paid models or influencers under 25 shown prominently. ABAC is an industry scheme, but its panel has ruled on complaints about bottle shops and venues, including a bottle shop's Facebook post. Treat it as the standard your ads will be judged against.

TikTok's alcohol ad policy bans ads that target or appeal to people under the legal drinking age, show anyone under 25, or show excessive drinking, and only allows alcohol ads in approved countries under separate market rules. Check that your ad type is allowed in Australia before you make it.

On top of ABAC, licensed venues answer to their state regulator. In NSW that's Liquor & Gaming NSW, whose liquor promotion guidelines rule out promotions that encourage rapid or excessive drinking or appeal to minors. They were updated in 2025 to add voluntary best practice for promoting liquor through digital marketing and social media. NSW has acted on this before: in 2013-14 its regulator restricted or banned 66 promotions, including State of Origin drink deals.

Queensland lists unacceptable promotions under section 142ZZ of its Liquor Act: 'beat the clock', 'drink till you drop', drink cards for big volumes in a short time, and anything designed to appeal to children. Victoria's guidelines say licensees are responsible for what's published on their social media, including other people's comments and the influencers they engage, and list a competition with unlimited free alcohol as the prize as unacceptable. A post isn't exempt because it's on Instagram rather than a chalkboard.

A random draw for a prize is a trade promotion lottery, and some states want a permit. NSW Fair Trading requires an authority when the total value of all prizes is over $10,000. The ACT needs a permit above $3,000. South Australia needs a licence for draws over $5,000, and for instant scratch or break-open tickets at any value. The NT needs one over $5,000 unless a permit is already held elsewhere, according to a July 2026 summary by law firm Gadens. Victoria, Queensland, WA and Tasmania have no permit system, though you still need proper terms.

Here's the part most venues miss: the permit question follows the promotion, not your postcode. A Facebook giveaway open to 'anyone in Australia' runs in NSW, the ACT and SA too. Limit entry to your own state, or check every state it's open to. Games of skill, where entries are judged, don't need a permit anywhere, but they still need terms.

Meta adds its own rules. Promotions must be run from a business page, not a personal profile, and Meta's guidelines don't allow personal timelines or friend connections to be used to run them. 'Share this to enter' and 'tag a friend to enter' are the common breaches. Every promotion also needs a line saying Facebook or Instagram isn't sponsoring it, and entrants must give Facebook a complete release.

Meta reports reach and clicks. Neither pays the rent. Give each promotion its own booking link or a word to mention, and count bookings and covers for that service against the same night in the four weeks before. If the night didn't move, the ad didn't work, whatever the reach number says.

If you want Meta to find people who book rather than people who click, it needs to know when a booking happens. Ask your booking provider whether it can pass bookings back to Meta. Without that, the ads get better at finding clickers, and clickers aren't always diners.