Understanding the Landscape
Fifteen years ago, influencer marketing wasn’t really a thing. Maybe a beauty blogger on YouTube would shout out a product, or a fashion-forward friend on Instagram would tag a brand in their #OOTD, but it was all pretty low-key. Fast-forward to today, and influencer marketing has become one of the most powerful tools in the digital marketing toolbox, and it’s not just for the big brands with even bigger budgets.
In Australia, influencer marketing is on the rise in a big way, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. What started as a bit of a buzzword has grown into a full-blown industry, fuelled by one simple fact: people trust people. Especially people they follow online who feel more like a mate than a marketing machine.
To make influencer marketing work for your business, it’s worth understanding the current landscape, because it's not just about celebrities or mega influencers anymore. These days, it’s all about relevance, relatability and real engagement.
You have different tiers of influencers, each with their own strengths. At the top are the mega influencers and celebs with hundreds of thousands (or millions) of followers. These accounts can bring eyeballs, but often come with a hefty price tag and, sometimes, less genuine engagement.
Then there are macro influencers who are still big, still polished, but maybe more niche. Think of them as semi-pros with a loyal audience and slick content.
But the real sweet spot for many SMEs? Micro influencers. These are everyday content creators with followings that might range from 3,000 to 50,000. They’re not “internet famous” but they are incredibly powerful. Why? Because they’re trusted voices within their communities. Their followers actually care about what they’re sharing. It feels more like a recommendation from a friend than a brand ad, and that’s gold.
Micro influencers often deliver higher engagement rates, more meaningful interactions and, let’s be honest, they’re way more accessible when you’re working with a small to medium budget. They’re ideal for localised campaigns, niche audiences or anyone trying to build brand love without breaking the bank.
So if you're an SME wondering whether influencer marketing is worth the effort, it absolutely is. But the key is to play smart. Forget chasing follower counts and start focusing on connection, content quality and whether that influencer truly gets your brand.
Beyond the Initial Post: Amplification Strategies
So, maybe you have a great post from an influencer. It’s live. It’s vibing. People are liking, saving, and commenting. But now what?
While organic influencer posts are brilliant for visibility and trust-building, the real magic happens when you amplify that content and use it to bring future customers into your world. Because let’s be honest, not everyone you want to reach is already following that influencer, but that doesn’t mean they won’t connect with the content if it lands in their feed.
This is where smart amplification strategies come in.
User-generated content = long-term trust
Let’s not overlook the long game. When people see real customers or creators repping your product, it builds serious brand credibility. UGC (user-generated content) feels authentic and social feeds are flooded with it for a reason, because it works. Over time, this kind of content helps position your brand as the one people actually use, not just one that throws a flashy ad in their face.
But if you want those real, trust-building moments to work harder, you’ll need to amplify them. That’s where paid ads step in.
Understanding Meta’s ad options (without the jargon)
Meta (aka Facebook and Instagram) gives you two main ways to put more eyeballs on that influencer content: boosted posts and proper Meta ads. Here’s how to know which to use, and when.
Boosted Posts
This is the “quick and easy” option. Take an existing post (like the influencer’s reel or story) and put a bit of spend behind it. It’s great for getting extra visibility, likes and comments, basically, it pushes that content in front of more people who might be into your brand. If you want more reach and engagement without diving too deep into strategy, boosting is a solid move.
Meta Ads via Ads Manager
This is where things level up. Meta’s Ads Manager allows you to create custom campaigns using influencer content, with real targeting power. Want to reach women aged 28–35 in Melbourne who like oat milk, reformer Pilates and vintage markets? Done. Meta ads let you control the creative, the audience, the format and the outcome, whether that’s website clicks, leads or actual conversions.
And the best part? You get detailed performance insights so you can track what’s working and tweak as you go. It's like turning your influencer content into a high-performing piece of your marketing puzzle.
More smart ways to amplify
- Content repurposing: Don’t let that amazing UGC disappear after 24 hours. Reuse influencer content in your email newsletters, on your product pages, and across your other social platforms. If someone’s created something great for your brand, use it everywhere you can.
- Collaborative campaigns: Influencer marketing works best when it’s consistent. If someone sees your product popping up again and again from someone they trust, it starts to stick. Longer-term or multi-post campaigns help build recognition and deepen the brand connection.
In short, amplification helps turn that one-off post into something bigger. By pairing the trust of UGC with the reach and targeting of Meta ads, SMEs can do more than just keep up — they can cut through.
Measuring Success
You’ve briefed the influencer, approved the content, and amplified it through Meta ads. Now it’s time to get a bit nerdy, because without knowing how your campaign actually performed, you’re just guessing.
Tracking the right metrics is essential if you want to understand the real impact of influencer marketing and make smarter decisions for the next round. It’s not just about likes anymore (although yes, we all love a juicy like count). It’s about how that content is helping your brand grow.
Here’s what to keep an eye on:
Engagement rate
This is a big one. It shows how actively people are interacting with the content by liking, commenting, saving, sharing. Higher engagement usually means the content felt authentic, relevant and worth pausing for. It also helps the algorithm push it further.
How to track it:
Most influencers will send you a screenshot of their post insights (especially if it was a Story or Reel). If you’ve amplified the post, you can also see engagement stats through Meta Ads Manager.
Website traffic
Did people tap through to your site after seeing the content? This is a great sign that the content sparked real interest and action.
How to track it:
Set up UTM links for each influencer and pop them into Google Analytics. This helps you see exactly which influencer drove which clicks, and what those people did once they landed on your site.
Conversion rate
It’s one thing to get clicks, but what happened next? Did they sign up, buy something, or abandon cart? This is where you start tying your influencer campaign directly to business outcomes.
How to track it:
Use tracking pixels (Meta’s or Google’s) to follow the user journey. You can also provide influencers with unique discount codes or affiliate links to help measure conversions.
Brand sentiment (aka vibes)
Sometimes success isn’t just numbers. It’s how people are talking about your brand. Did the post generate positive comments? Did anyone tag a mate and say “you’d love this”? That’s gold. Screenshots of this kind of feedback are also great to share internally or use in future pitches.
Tools that make life easier
If spreadsheets make your brain melt, don’t worry! There are tools that do the heavy lifting:
- Meta Ads Manager for reach, impressions, engagement and ad performance
- Google Analytics for traffic and behaviour on your site
- UTM builders (like Campaign URL Builder) to track specific links
- Influencer platforms (like RISER) for aggregated results and campaign summaries
At the end of the day, the most important thing isn’t just collecting data, it’s learning from it. Maybe one influencer drove loads of traffic but no sales. Maybe another had a smaller audience but converted like crazy. That’s the kind of insight that helps you refine your strategy and make every dollar count.
So, measure what matters, learn what works, and keep testing. Influencer marketing isn’t just about the post, it’s about the momentum you build after it.
How to Tie It All Together
Influencer marketing, when done right, is more than a one-off post. It’s a full-funnel approach, from building brand trust with relatable content to amplifying that content to reach new audiences, and measuring what works so you can keep growing.
That’s where RISER comes in.
We help brands flood the feed with hundreds of pieces of scroll-stopping UGC, sourced from micro-influencers who actually care about what they’re sharing. Whether you're looking to build awareness, drive sales, or create a bank of ad-ready content, we make the process seamless from start to finish.
We handle the heavy lifting, from influencer sourcing and onboarding, to briefing, dispatching product, and collecting content. We’ll even negotiate usage rights for you, so you can repurpose or amplify the best-performing posts with confidence.
In short: we make influencer marketing scalable, strategic and seriously effective - without the usual admin chaos.
Ready to turn your next campaign into a RISER moment? Let’s chat.
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