Influencer marketing will become a $1b industry in Australia this year
Sharyn Smith, founder and CEO of Social Soup, explains that influencer marketing has truly gone mainstream, with Australian brands set to spend over $1b in the sector this year. Here’s how to get involved if you aren’t yet part of that billion-dollar spend.
Sharyn Smith - author
Influencer advertising is now the second-fastest-growing digital vertical in the country, behind only online retail.
Meltwater and We Are Social’s Digital 2026 report found Australian brands spent A$830m on influencer marketing over the past twelve months: a 13.5% year-on-year increase. For those of us who’ve spent years making the case that influence deserves a permanent seat at the media table, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for.
Influence is finally getting its flowers, but while the budgets have arrived, so have new challenges for CMOs.
So what experience or credentials does one need to be an ‘influencer’ and how do you become one? I hope they all have a back-up plan when things start to go ‘south’!