Australian ad dollars ‘shifting directly to creators’
Jessica Nguyen, with 104,000 Instagram followers, topped Fabulate’s list of most-searched Australian creators.
Almost a quarter of social media budgets in Australia now go to content creators, according to influencer marketing platform Fabulate.
Fabulate’s chief revenue officer Ben Gunn said 20–30% of media budgets are now being allocated directly to creators, as the local influencer economy approaches $1 billion and creators become a standard line item in media schedules.
In particular, Gunn said a “disproportionate amount of Tiktok media dollars” is going straight to creators, rather than through the platform’s own marketing tools.
Speaking to Mumbrella, Gunn highlighted one of the biggest shifts he’s seen: media agencies are treating influencer marketing as a core part of their offering.
“Media agencies and brands are now putting influencer front and centre,” he said. “Influencer marketing is now part of big media pitches. Budgets are large enough for agencies to pay attention, meaning creators are being planned the same way as any other media channel.”
The local trend mirrors last year’s move by Unilever, which allocated 50% of its marketing budget to influencers as part of its “social first” strategy, aiming to help brands connect culturally with audiences while boosting earned-media activity.
Anthony Svirskis, CEO of Melbourne-based influencer marketing platform Tribe, said the biggest evolution has been larger-scale media buying through creators.
Anthony Svirskis, CEO of Tribe
“A few years ago, creator marketing was largely about content and organic reach,” he told Mumbrella. “Now, on all platforms, you can buy media against that creator,” he said. “Agencies bring a whole new skill set: it’s not just picking the right creator or content, but layering a media-buying strategy to reach the audiences you want.”
“All the platforms have switched on to this,” Svirskis added. “Creator marketing isn’t a hope-and-pray exercise anymore; it can operate like any other sophisticated, targeted media channel.”
He also noted that content isn’t confined to the creator’s channels and can be repurposed across brands’ social accounts, websites, and e-commerce platforms. “That’s why budgets are shifting,” he said.
According to Fabulate’s latest report, mid-tier influencers, those with 50,000 to 500,000 followers, are taking a bigger role in marketing plans.
Food and lifestyle creator Jessica Nguyen, who has 104,000 Instagram followers, topped the list of most-searched Australian creators in 2025.
“Those mid-tier creators are really about middle-of-funnel activity, and that’s what creators do better than anyone,” Gunn said. “That power of consideration is a big part of marketing plans today.”
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