How to strengthen support with customer service automation

Scaling customer care without sacrificing quality is one of a care teams’ biggest challenges.

Today’s customers expect fast, thoughtful support across every social network—and according to the 2025 Sprout Social Index™, 73% say they’ll buy elsewhere if they don’t get it. That makes automation a necessity, not a luxury.

But meeting customers everywhere they are isn’t realistic without the right tools. With helpful software and a clear strategy, you can deliver consistent service that drives loyalty and retention.

Discover how to implement customer service automation that scales across channels so you can strengthen brand reputation and keep customers happy.

What is customer service automation?

Customer service automation uses technology—ranging from rule-based systems to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and social media management platforms—to manage and resolve customer support tasks that once required human intervention. Automation gives teams faster, smarter ways to serve customers.

This technology can include AI-driven chatbots for instant answers, automated ticket routing to get issues to the right experts and intelligent auto-responders. The goal isn’t to eliminate human support, but to empower teams to deliver faster, smarter and more efficient service 24/7.

According to Zendesk’s CX Trends 2024 report, CX leaders expect generative AI to significantly influence chat support, email communications, search functionality and voice-based interactions in the next couple of years.

Zendesk’s 2025 report reinforces the growing importance of AI solutions, noting that 70% of customers already recognize a significant difference in the quality of experience between companies that use AI effectively and those that do not.

Why is customer service automation important for support teams?

Customer service automation is a necessary part of customer care, especially as the Index reveals that consumers view personalized service as companies’ top social media priority in 2025. Overcoming the bottlenecks that prevent teams from delivering high-quality support is essential for anticipating and meeting customer needs.

According to McKinsey, one of the main challenges to care is rising call volumes. On top of that, forward-leaning companies are already adopting the latest digital technologies, which raises the bar for everyone and puts increasing pressure on staff and leadership at other companies.

With expectations climbing and ticket volumes mounting, automation and conversational AI are becoming vital for reducing strain and keeping pace. As customers demand more personalized and timely support (especially through social channels), customer care teams and social media marketers must continue to adapt.

With the best customer service automation tools, teams can do more than streamline taks—they can provide a connected experience across platforms that delivers the seamless service customers expect.

Key customer service automation benefits

Customer service automation delivers ROI that fuels growth by creating positive customer experiences, timely support and a tight feedback loop. Here are some of the biggest benefits you can expect:

24/7 availability and faster response times

According to the Q2 2025 Sprout Social Pulse Survey, when social users reach out to a brand and don’t get a response, only 49% try again via traditional channels and 19% don’t try again at all. These missed opportunities often lead to churn, frustration and negative experiences.

By building chatbots and rule-based automation systems, you can assist customers wherever they are, on their schedules. Faster responses and helpful prompts improve customer experiences and boost retention by addressing issues immediately.

For example, with a social media management tool like Sprout Social, you can respond to customers across channels from a centralized inbox. Sprout’s automation capabilities identify the most urgent messages so your team can respond right away, either via chatbot or manually. After the interaction, the customer can provide real-time feedback, which helps you continuously improve your automation and the overall customer experience (CX).

Here’s an example of how to use Sprout Social to automate feedback:

Significant cost savings

Automation helps you achieve significant cost savings by handling repetitive, low-level tasks, such as password resets or order status checks, without requiring agent intervention. This directly deflects a significant portion of inbound tickets that would otherwise go to an agent’s queue. By filtering out these simple requests, automation helps free up your team to focus their expertise on complex issues, reducing the overall cost-per-resolution.

Automation also helps lessen agent burnout and decrease costly employee turnover. It achieves this by reducing the volume of manual, repetitive tasks that clog an agent’s day.

Equipping agents with better tools and streamlined workflows helps them work more efficiently, leading to higher job satisfaction. These operational savings free up resources you can put toward scalability and future growth.

Sprout tip: Track savings by comparing cost-per-resolution before and after automation to prove ROI to leadership.

Improved customer satisfaction (CSAT)

Faster responses often increase customer satisfaction, and personalization enhances those positive experiences. Fortunately, personalization doesn’t have to be time-consuming or hard to scale.

Automation makes it easier to deliver customized experiences efficiently. For example, AI Assist lets you quickly tailor responses to engage authentically with more customers in less time.

Enhanced agent productivity

Automating routine customer service tasks like copy-pasting responses, routing tickets and updating systems gives teams more time for meaningful customer interactions.

Integrating your customer relationship management (CRM) platform with a social media management solution provides the context needed for faster, more personal support. With Sprout’s Salesforce integration, social conversations and customer records live in one place. Your agents can instantly access past purchases, interactions and support cases, cutting down on repetitive questions and manual searches so they can concentrate on resolving issues.

Greater accuracy and consistency

Automation ensures consistent customer experiences across channels while allowing human agents to provide the nuanced care only people can deliver. By pairing the two, you can offer faster, more accurate and reliable responses that drive satisfaction.

For example, Sprout’s Saved Replies automates responses to common questions, enabling your team to quickly send vetted replies to save time without sacrificing quality.

In the image below, you can see how an agent uses Sprout to provide relevant responses on X:

Proactive customer support

According to HelpLama’s customer service survey, 83% of buyers want brands to reach out about issues before they do—showing how much customers value proactive service. With automation and social listening, you can catch small issues before they become bigger problems.

Sprout Listening, for example, lets you track brand mentions and industry keywords so you never miss important customer moments. If someone complains about a product on Facebook or Instagram, you can spot it though mentions or keywords, then respond directly by messaging or commenting to resolve the concern. You can also use Listening to identify broader service trends or frustrations and use those insights to improve your product or business.

Scalability

Automation can help you grow on budget without lessening quality. It’s not about replacing people but about empowering your team to use AI to expand support capabilities.

This approach allows you to hear and resolve every customer concern across social. As your brand grows, automation keeps you connected without losing that essential human touch. It helps you stay ahead of customer conversations, engage consistently and build a loyal community through genuine connections.

10 key customer service processes you can automate

Here are 10 ways you can use customer service automation in your current support processes:

1. AI chatbots for instant answers

Customer service agents can usually name the top few questions they get without hesitation. For example, a fast food restaurant worker knows most phone calls are about directions, business hours, catering or an order gone wrong.

While complex tasks still require a human touch, AI chatbots can easily handle common questions by pulling from your database of documents, web pages and uploaded instructions to assist customers.

Here’s an example from 1-800-Flowers. Not only does the chatbot answer questions, it also guides website visitors through the customer journey with prompts like “Where’s my order?” or “Change my order:”

(Source: 1-800-Flowers)

Effective chatbots should be convenient and helpful, not a barrier to human contact. Bots should also always include an option to connect with a live agent if the customer needs more help.

2. Automated ticket routing and triage

In high-volume social support, manually routing every message wastes time and slows responses. Automated triage solves this by using rules or AI to sort social requests and assign them to the right team. For instance, an urgent X (formerly Twitter) DM about a product issue can be routed directly to the care team, while an Instagram comment asking about a partnership can be sent to the marketing queue.

Advanced systems can even factor in history, sentiment and agent capacity to balance workloads. With Sprout automations, you can control your social message workflow and integrate with your customer service tools to see all your messages across every channel.

3. Automated message classification and prioritization

When message volume is high, it’s easy for urgent issues to get lost. Instead of just sending a basic “we received your message” auto-reply (which is often limited by network), a smarter approach is to automatically identify what needs follow-up and what doesn’t.

Sprout’s automated tools use machine learning to classify messages so agents can quickly spot which need immediate attention and which can wait, ensuring no concerns slip through the cracks.

4. Self-service knowledge base suggestions

You’ll also want your customer service automation to include relevant responses from your knowledge base. For example, if a user sends a message to a chatbot or DMs your brand account, you can provide automatic responses with links to additional resources and help. Providing these enriched, targeted responses guides customers through their journey and gives them the in-depth support they need to get the most out of your product or service.

For instance, when someone messages 1-800-Flowers on Facebook asking for gift ideas, the brand replies instantly with a prepared response and a direct link to its catalog:

(Source: Facebook)

5. Automated customer feedback surveys

To improve customer service, you need to measure it, and surveys are one of the best ways to gather feedback.

By automating survey requests, you can present them to customers quickly and consistently, increasing the chances they’ll respond right away. This boosts response rates and the quality of your data over time. Plus, automation saves your team time by handling survey distribution.

For example, after a customer called Amazon support about a stroller dispute, they immediately received a feedback survey. This quick turnaround made sending a response more likely since the experience was still fresh:

(Source: Amazon)

6. Intelligent voice response (IVR) systems

When your customers call a support line, IVR can add a warm, automatic touch to their interaction. Instead of standards like “Press 1 for billing,” AI-powered IVR systems uses speech recognition to handle common requests more naturally,

For example, the system might say, “Briefly tell me what you need help with,” and then route callers to the right place based on the response. This approach improves routing accuracy and speeds up the customer support process.

7. Proactive support messaging and outreach

Automating proactive messaging means setting up systems that notify or engage customers based on certain events or data insights. For example, if your product monitoring team detects an outage or glitch, the system automatically sends an email or text to impacted users acknowledging the issue and providing a resolution timeframe.

Combining continuous monitoring with social listening helps you spot issues early so you can address them before the DMs flood in. Sprout Listening makes it easy to monitor keywords and brand mentions, helping you quickly identify these opportunities.

8. Automated onboarding and welcome series

First impressions matter, especially for customer experience. For example, delivering a welcome series through emails, app messages or chatbot guides can help users fully understand your product or service. Automating these experiences guarantees consistent, reliable experiences across every touchpoint.

9. Order status and relevant information lookups

It’s common for customers to try to find answers on their own rather than contacting you right away. By automating troubleshooting, you save them time, increase satisfaction and free up your support team. Whether through your website, a chatbot or automated emails, you can provide your customers with the tools they need to access order updates, fix an issue or learn more about how your product works.

10. Social media comment moderation and routing

Managing high volumes of social media comments, mentions and DMs can overwhelm teams. Automation helps by moderating and routing these interactions efficiently.

For example, you can set rules to flag or hide inappropriate comments rather than having your team manually weed them out. For comments you do want to address, you can create Cases in Sprout and connect your CRM or customer service solutions like Zendesk, HubSpot and Salesforce to route messages to the right team members.

How to implement customer service automation effectively

Here’s how to get started implementing customer service automation today:

Step 1: Audit your current processes and identify bottlenecks

Before you adopt new tools or processes, begin by assessing your current performance. To do this, review your support tickets to identify the most repetitive, time-consuming questions.

For example, a brick-and-mortar small business with online ordering and a subscription service might encounter frequently asked questions like:

• How do I place an order? A chatbot could automatically provide a phone number and a direct link.
• What’s your return, exchange or refund policy? Your social media management tool could instantly send a link to a help article.
• Do you offer discounts for bulk orders or returning customers? Your customer service agent can automatically use a pre-determined response with a link to your resource hub.
• Why hasn’t my shipment arrived yet? A chatbot can send a tracking number with more information.
• Can you help me change or cancel my subscription? You can develop a response workflow that provides instructions and asks for more information to reduce future churn.
• What’s the difference between product A and product B? Your support agent could auto-reply with comparison content from your asset library.
• Is there a warranty or guarantee for this item? Your chatbot can ask a series of questions to get purchase details to provide a quick answer.

Step 2: Set clear customer automation goals and KPIs

Success looks different for every company and industry. While benchmarks are useful, the most important metrics reflect your own challenges.

To set relevant KPIs, start by analyzing baseline performance for support and social media metrics like response times, CSAT, feedback survey ratings and first contact resolution. Then, define clear goals, such as:

• Reduce first response time by 30%
• Deflect 25% of tier-1 tickets via automation
• Cut support costs by 15% in 3 months
• Improve CSAT by 5 points

Step 3: Choose the right customer service automation tools

The right customer service tools will integrate with your existing CRM platform and unify all your customer touchpoints to achieve a true omnichannel strategy. Not force you to build from scratch. This enhances your scalability, facilitates holistic analytics, improves security and promotes a more comprehensive approach to high-quality customer service.

• Seamless integration: Select a customer service automation tool that connects to your existing systems, like Salesforce, Zendesk or HubSpot. This prevents data silos and ensures agents have a 360-degree view of the customer.
• Omnichannel support: Today’s customer journey isn’t linear. Look for a customer support tool that can manage inquiries across all your channels—especially email, social media and live chat—from a unified inbox so your team can stay consistent and responsive.
• Scalability: Pick a solution that grows with you and handle increased message volume without a drop in performance.
• Analytics and reporting: You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Seek out automation software with robust analytic capabilities that can track the KPIs you set in Step 2 to prove ROI.
• Security and compliance: Choose a partner that meets global standards, like GDPR compliance and SOC 2 certifications, to protect your customer data.
• User-friendly interface: Select a platform that’s intuitive and enjoyable for your customer service team to use.

Customer Care by Sprout Social supports all your customer service needs across social channels while also offering integrations that keep the customer journey connected.

Step 4: Implement, test and avoid common challenges

AI can transform support, but without the right approach, it can also create fragmented and impersonal experiences. Over-automation often results in poor data integration and disjointed systems that frustrate customers instead of helping them.

As you roll out your automation, be prepared to test, iterate, and avoid these common challenges:

• The Challenge: Over-automation. Customers can tell when they’re in a “chatbot jail” and can’t reach a human.
  • The Solution: Use automation to augment your team, not replace it. Automate repetitive tasks (ticket routing, common questions) but always provide a clear, easy path to a live agent for complex or sensitive issues.
• The Challenge: Poor integration and data silos. Your chatbot doesn’t know what a customer just emailed support about, forcing the customer to repeat themselves.
  • The Solution: Prioritize tools that integrate. When data flows freely between your social platform and your CRM, agents have the full context to personalize support.
• The Challenge: No testing or iteration. Your automation rules are based on assumptions, not real-world data, and they quickly become outdated.
  • The Solution: Continuously analyze performance. Use your tool’s analytics to find trends, spot where customers get “stuck” in a bot flow, and refine your rules based on real feedback.

Avoiding these issues while taking an AI-powered approach to customer service means prioritizing tools that enhance human interactions rather than replacing them. All-in-one social media management tools like Sprout use AI and automation to help agents respond faster and deliver more personalized, connected support at scale.

How to measure automated customer support success

To drive measurable results, you need to track performance and iterate based on what you learn. While the following KPIs are standard in customer support, they’re particularly helpful for comparing the performance of automated workflows to those handled by human agents.

Use these key metrics to quantify the impact of your customer service automation:

Efficiency metrics

These metrics help you evaluate how timely and effective your communication and resolution processes are with automation in place:

• Ticket deflection rate: The percentage of customer issues resolved through self-service, bots or automated workflows without the need for a human agent

• First response time: How quickly a customer receives an initial reply from either an automated system or a live agent

• Average resolution time: The average amount of time it takes to fully resolve a customer issue

Cost metrics

These KPIs help quantify the operational impact of automation:

• Cost per resolution: The average cost to resolve a support ticket

• Agent handle time reduction: The decrease in time for agents to handle an issue after automation

• Agent workload: The increase in ticket volume each agent can manage with automation support

Customer satisfaction metrics

These metrics measure how automation affects the overall customer experience:

• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT): How satisfied your customers are with pre- and post-automation support

• Net promoter score (NPS): The likelihood that a customer will recommend you to others

Sprout tip: Evaluate your NPS responses on a 1–10 scale using these categories:

• Promoters: 9–10
• Passives: 7–8
• Detractors: 0–6

• Customer effort scores: How easily customers resolve their issues using your support system (rated on a scale from 1–10, where 1 = very difficult and 10 = very easy)

These metrics help you assess the success of your customer service automation strategy. But gathering the data, evaluating it and creating reports tying your efforts to ROI requires the right tools.

Sprout Social’s platform, for example, offers built-in analytics and reporting capabilities designed to measure these metrics. This allows teams to see how their automation and analytics are working together to drive consistent, meaningful customer care.

The future is human and AI partnerships

Effective customer service automation isn’t about replacing humans. It’s about combining AI and human strengths to deliver faster, more empathetic support. Taking a hybrid approach allows automation to resolve routine requests while making space for people to step in at the moments that matter most.

By combining efficiency with human connection, you don’t just meet expectations, you exceed them. You build loyalty, increase satisfaction and turn customer care into a competitive advantage.

With Sprout, you can support customers quickly, authentically and at scale. Sign up for a Social Customer Care by Sprout demo today to see how you can improve customer service and increase satisfaction across social.

The post How to strengthen support with customer service automation appeared first on Sprout Social.

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Automotive social media marketing: How brands like Honda drive success

The automotive industry has always been highly competitive; a new car is a significant investment for individuals and businesses, and there’s often a lengthy consideration stage before a purchase is made. It’s also a crowded market, with multiple global brands competing for attention through distinct offerings and brand appeal.

Marketing and sales for vehicles and parts used to be handled almost entirely offline, but times have changed. As buyers continue to turn to online channels when considering their options, a strong social media presence is more important than ever. By aligning social goals with companywide brand and sales targets, automotive companies can set themselves apart and build a more significant presence in the wider market.

In this article, we’ll explain which strategies automotive companies should be investing in, based on active trends. We’ll also share real-world examples of successful social media marketing for automotive, including from one of the world’s biggest automotive brands, Honda.

What is automotive social media marketing?

Automotive social media marketing is any tactics and strategies used by car or vehicle parts brands on social networks.

This might include the types of content automotive companies are creating, the channels they prioritize and the processes they follow to increase their reach. Typically, this form of marketing is used to drive sales, further a brand’s identity and build loyalty.

The importance of social media in automotive marketing

Gone are the days when people would simply walk into a dealership and buy based on sight and sales pitches. The rise of online shopping has completely changed the way people research and buy cars, and the parts they need for them.

Social media is at the forefront of that change. In the US, 44% of people believe that social media is the most influential form of media when it comes to marketing new vehicles. Similarly in the UK, 40% of people say that social media adverts would influence their decision of whether or not to buy a new car. Meanwhile, 46% of Chinese buyers rely on a car’s social media reviews before they make a purchase.

This is consistent with larger trends in social media. According to The State of Social Media in 2025, 41% of Gen Z turn to social media first when searching for new information, and 76% of people overall said they’ve been influenced by social media when purchasing in the last six months.

Social has a vital role to play in wider automotive marketing strategies. Used effectively, social campaigns can help reduce overall marketing costs and increase a brand’s reach. It’s also an essential channel for direct communication with customers, particularly during a crisis.

By using advanced tools like Sprout Social Listening, an automotive social account can also be used to better understand customers’ feelings and intentions, which can then help with refining marketing approaches over time.

All of these factors point to social being the central point for consumers to discover and love brands, which is why automotive brands should be investing in their social media presence.

Social media trends for automotive

We’ve identified several current trends that automotive brands are using to set themselves apart on social media. While not all of them are unique to the industry, the way you approach these trends can help set you up for success when plotting your automotive social media marketing strategy.

Direct engagement

The power of social media isn’t just because of the reach it can offer; it also offers brands opportunities to directly engage with their audience. Through replying to comments, managing DMs and social inboxes and leveraging user-generated content (UGC), social media allows automotive companies to communicate with and encourage interactions from their fans.

Honda is one such global automotive brand that’s benefiting from direct follower engagement. One of the company’s social media marketing goals is to use social as the primary engine for a two-way dialog between the brand and its customers. To achieve this, they’ve been using Sprout Social’s social media management tools.

Since shifting to Sprout, in their first year, Honda achieved a 251% increase in community engagement. In year two, they focused on refining the quality of these conversations through automation and a smart use of filtering tools.

This focus on high-quality engagements meant Honda could reduce queue times by 40%, freeing up approximately 40 hours a month. Giving them more time to refine their content strategies and conduct proactive data analysis. It also enabled them to achieve a 91% high-quality engagement rate as a brand, far higher than the automotive industry standard of 75%.

Learn more from Honda’s social team about the success and value they found with direct social media engagement while using Sprout.

Strategic influencer and creator partnerships

The Q2 2025 Sprout Social Pulse Survey found that 64% of all social users say when a brand partners with an influencer they like, they’re willing to buy more from that brand.  Purchases can be significantly impacted by strategic influencer and creator collaborations, but success is dependent on careful research and audience alignment.

It’s important that you spend time finding the right influencer or collaborator for your particular brand. This same rule applies if you’re hoping to create collaborative content with traditional celebrities, like actors or athletes. The more an influencer’s content and audience aligns with your automotive brand, the more likely the content you create together will resonate.

For Honda, that meant partnering with content creators like @mobile_mama_reviews. Her understanding of the industry, and partner-focused content, align well with a specific market Honda is targeting: drivers wanting family-friendly cars.

Capture niche interests

A proven way to stand out in the market is to lean into your niche audience, appealing to specific segments of the market that your brand can uniquely support.

For example, some brands focus primarily on segments within the luxury market, like premium sports vehicles or accoutrements, while others market themselves as affordable family cars. But in vehicle marketing, it’s possible to drill down into those segments even further to achieve a stronger connection with consumers.

One example of niche interest targeting in social automotive marketing is Subaru. A Japanese company that used to be associated with sports and motorbikes, Subaru uses its online and social strategies to market its vehicles to dog owners. They launched the BBC Countryfile Dog of the Year competition in 2025, and recently posted this social campaign in partnership with the ASPCA.

These campaigns put Subaru front-of-mind for people who value durable, adventure vehicles, but who also use them to transport their dogs. By targeting this niche, they’ve been able to speak directly to what a segment of their audience is passionate about. This helps their brand resonate more strongly with those within this niche of pet lovers.

Virtual experiences through AR/VR

Since buying a car is such a personal experience (and investment), many buyers want to see a car in person and drive it themselves before they commit. Car dealerships still serve this important function, but new technologies can support virtual experiences that lead buyers to the dealership. Crucially, they’re also a great way to stand out from your competition, enticing new and loyal fans to test drive the latest model.

AR/VR experiences can showcase new vehicle models, offering users an opportunity to inspect a car from several angles. You can also create short-form videos for feature showcases or long-form activations that link up with campaigns. By getting creative with these immersive experiences, you can offer customers a more unique buying journey. This can also help your brand feel more innovative and tech-focused, which can be an important affiliation to have in today’s market.

In Honda’s “Wall of Dreams” AR/VR campaign, they set up AR murals in LA, supported by sky segmentation technology, meaning their art could merge with the sky. They used this interactive experience to promote Honda’s mission for carbon neutrality with their suite of EV vehicles.

7 social media marketing strategies for the automotive industry

Now that you’re aware of some of the leading trends in automotive social media marketing today, let’s dive into proven strategies you can use to boost performance. We’ll also share insights from Honda’s social media team on how some of these strategies guide their approach.

1. Align social content with the customer journey

Every piece of content you post across social should fit somewhere along your customer journey. Content like a brand showcase Reel can build awareness, while a new model reveal could capture viewers at the consideration or decision stages.

Regardless of stage, aim to embed a story within your content. Look at how you can build a narrative around your brand and its products, and weave this into everything you create. Here’s a recent example from Discount Tire’s Instagram, where they’ve combined storytelling with interaction, encouraging their followers to engage through emoji comments around a common problem their brand can solve.

Social media marketing tools can also help you connect social posts with your buyer’s journey through CRM integrations, like Sprout’s Salesforce integration. Integrations like this connect your content with data collected from your sales team so you have a more holistic view of your sales and marketing efforts.

2. Identify key social channels and adapt your content accordingly

An effective social strategy means putting your content in front of the right people, and choosing your channels is the first (and arguably most important) step. In the automotive industry, networks like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are all vital for growing your brand’s reach.

Other networks like TikTok and LinkedIn might also be useful for your brand, depending on the age of your target audience and if you’re trying to attract B2B customers. Once you select the right social channels for your brand, make sure you dedicate enough time to creating content for each account.

As an example, Honda has built a significant following of 5.6 million people on Facebook, and has started expanding onto TikTok, where they’ve achieved almost 500,000 followers. As you grow your following across networks, think about what content you can repost or repurpose, like using Instagram content for TikTok (shown below), or Facebook posts across LinkedIn. Honda often repurposes its Instagram Reels content for TikTok, so it can build a presence on both networks efficiently.

3. Build trust with community management and social customer care

According to Allie Coulter, Honda’s Social Media Director, “Social is so much beyond content…This isn’t just videos and photos anymore. It’s the community management piece that’s truly the dialog.”

Your community is just as vital as the content you’re publishing. Alongside content, you need to manage the social inboxes of your accounts regularly so that you’re providing the right level of customer care. As Honda’s Senior Social Media Strategist, Heather Epstein, shares, it’s about “Working with our customers 1-to-1, making sure that we’re answering all of our customer’s’ questions, and also making sure that our customers know about everything that we’re doing.”

If your social or care teams are spread too thin, consider implementing a chatbot that can filter conversations before you get to them. Tools like Sprout offer a Bot Builder that enables you to easily build and automate unique chatbots for Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). By setting auto-responses, you can react quickly to common questions or issues, and save your team’s time for addressing complex customer requests.

As well as fielding messages, think about how you can build an active community through your social content. Create interactive posts like polls, contests or UGC campaigns that encourage followers to engage directly. Alongside boosting engagement, this type of content also gives you insight into customer opinions and behaviors, which can be used to refine your sales approach. Replying to comments can also surprise and delight your customers and show you’re listening to them.

4. Invest in paid social advertising

Paid social campaigns offer greater reach and can boost the successful content you’ve already created. They can be particularly beneficial when paired with an influencer, creator or celebrity campaign, as you’ll multiply the benefits of your campaign by getting it in front of more people.

Paid social strategies can also be used to support omnichannel activations. As one example, BMW promoted its BMW Intelligence film series across YouTube and other video-based social networks, with each video linked to a feature of its cars.

5. Unlock customer insights with social listening and media monitoring

Listening to customers is another core part of Honda’s social media success. As Coulter says, it “…goes back to that two way dialog that we really wanted to create, to make sure that we are the company that listens and that we are incorporating what our customers wants and needs are into our content.”

Epstein says social listening is a particularly useful technique for content planning and understanding Honda’s audience: “When it comes to producing a lot of our content, we look to social listening to see what types of features people are talking about, like what features really make the difference between buying or not buying a certain vehicle. And we make sure to emphasize those features when it comes to producing that content.”

Advanced social listening and media monitoring tools offer you more detailed insights into current trends, audience behaviors and automotive news. By leveraging these tools, you can gain more value from your social networks by turning them into actionable data generators as well as reach growers.

NewsWhip by Sprout Social enables automotive companies to access predictive media intelligence so you can react to trends before they hit the mainstream. By coupling this monitoring with Social Listening, you can gain full visibility into what your customers are saying right now and what they expect from you and your competition over the longer term.

6. Enable your partners with social media campaigns

Vehicle brands don’t perform in a vacuum; their success is dependent on a web of dealerships, franchises, suppliers and other partnerships. By enabling your partners on social, you’ll have the dual benefit of strengthening your connection with them while also creating engaging content.

Coulter refers to this approach as a way of building a center of excellence: “There’s so many factions of our business. Which we know makes it complicated but awesome. And that’s where we know that…those brands need their own ability to communicate what they need. But the brand also needs that consistency as well. So that’s why we’re building that center of excellence.”

Honda understands that each section of their brand and business needs its own communication method, but that they all need to be aligned to a core identity. A recent example of this is Honda’s collaboration post about their F1 vehicle, the Williams FW11. Honda collaborated on this post with five different Instagram accounts, including their main brand, their sub-brands like Honda Racing and the personal account of their racecar driver, Takuma Sato.

Campaigns like this one further the reach of you and your partners, and show your customers how diverse your brand is.

7. Measure, optimize, repeat

The only way to effectively improve your social efforts is by gathering data, analyzing it and using it to refine future strategies.

Invest in analytics tools that can offer greater visibility into your social strategy performance. Use this data to identify which campaigns are resonating the most with your audience, and where further refinement is needed. Then, use these insights to guide your upcoming content campaigns.

By tracking campaign performance, social data can also help you improve other areas of your organization. Embed the insights you’ve gained from these strategies into your quarterly reviews, and combine the data to uncover market changes and demands, and the actions your brand should be taking next.

Fuel your automotive social media marketing with social data

Social media is already a key channel for consumers to discover brands, so it’ll continue to be an important and growing channel for automotive brands. By using these social strategies and injecting social data into your broader strategies, you’ll refine your approach to automotive social media marketing while staying deeply connected to your audience across touchpoints.

Learn how you can position your social media strategy to impact the bottom line of your automotive business with The 2025 Impact of Social Media Marketing report.

The post Automotive social media marketing: How brands like Honda drive success appeared first on Sprout Social.

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20 Australian travel influencers driving tourism campaigns in 2026

When Australians scroll Instagram or TikTok dreaming about their next holiday, it’s often a travel influencer—not a travel agent—who sparks their wanderlust. Their authentic stories turn destinations into must-visit experiences.

For travel, tourism and lifestyle brands, partnering with the right creators is key to building trust, boosting engagement and driving bookings. But finding influencers who genuinely connect with your target audience requires strategy.

Keep reading to discover 20 top Australian travel influencers and learn how to find, vet and partner with creators for measurable influencer marketing impact.

Why Australian travel influencers are vital for your marketing strategy

Authentic travel influencers guide Australian audiences from daydreaming about their next adventure to booking it. Their power lies in trust: Research shows that 64% of social users are more willing to buy from brands that partner with influencers they like. Why? Because these creators craft relatable narratives through immersive TikTok vlogs, stunning Instagram visuals and detailed blog reviews.

This insight is especially compelling since nearly every traveller (95%) checks reviews before booking. Partnering with trusted voices allows travel brands to showcase solo adventures, family road trips or romantic getaways authentically. And because top travel influencers often boast high engagement rates, their audiences are primed to hear about your brand. In short, collaborating with Australian travel creators isn’t just beneficial, it’s essential for connecting with modern travellers.

Solo Australian travel influencers

1. Gab Scanu (@gabscanu)

• Instagram: 539k
• YouTube: 61.1k
• TikTok: 60.8k

Known as Australia’s drone photography pioneer, Gab transforms landscapes into cinematic art. His aerial shots blend luxury and adventure, making him ideal for brands wanting bold, elevated destination showcases. Gab often partners with eco-tourism campaigns, promoting responsible travel while maintaining high engagement.

Source: Instagram

2. Hayley Hunter (@haylsa)

• Instagram: 512.8k
• TikTok: 430.7k
• YouTube: 72.4k

Hayley Hunter (Haylsa) captivates with sun-drenched visuals—think turquoise seas and golden light. From Bali escapes to sustainable local trips around Australia, her content inspires wanderlust while her popular Lightroom presets add extra value. She’s a perfect fit for travel brands, resorts and tourism boards aiming for aspirational content.

Source: Instagram

3. Jorden Tually (@jordentually)

• Instagram: 482.9k
• YouTube: 2.6M
• TikTok: 3.7M

Often called the #1 Australian travel content creator, Jorden excels in solo adventure photography and detailed guides for independent travellers. He connects with his highly engaged audience by sharing itineraries and budget tips across Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, which makes him ideal for travel tech, photography gear and off-the-beaten-path experience campaigns.

Source: Instagram

4. Em Lethlean (@em.leth)

• Instagram: 134.9k
• TikTok: 61.8k
• Facebook: 127k

Em Lethlean connects with the wild through fishing, boating and camping adventures. With over 130k Instagram followers, her gritty, unpolished visuals offer a refreshing take on the outdoors that’s perfect for outdoor gear, marine and adventure travel brands.

Source: Instagram

5. Elise McLean (@elises.traveldiary)

• Instagram: 83.4k
• Facebook: 13.3k

Melbourne-based Elise turns misty forests, hidden waterfalls and road trips into heartfelt, immersive stories. Having partnered with Lonely Planet and Visit Victoria, her authentic “average explorer” vibe resonates well for tourism boards, adventure gear brands and regional travel campaigns.

Source: Instagram

6. Tiffany Lawrence (@_tiffanylawrence)

• Instagram: 29.9k
• YouTube: 15.4k

Queensland-based Tiffany focuses on 4×4 exploration, camping and coastal road trips. Her authentic, unfiltered content and travel guides on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube connect with outdoor enthusiasts and solo travellers keen on immersive experiences.

Source: Instagram

7. Lachie Meiss (@meissymate)

• Instagram: 29.8k
• TikTok: 10.5k

Lachie Meiss shares rugged landscapes and off-road adventures across Australia. His content appeals strongly to adventure seekers and 4×4 enthusiasts. Collaborations with brands like Custom Cords highlight his influence within the overlanding community.

Source: Instagram

8. Mark Fitz (@_markfitz)

• Instagram: 106.6k
• Facebook: 18.4k

Mark Fitz is an award-winning wildlife and travel photographer creating cinematic, scroll-stopping content. Brands partner with him to reach engaged travel and nature enthusiasts through high-quality visuals of beautiful places. His experience with Tourism Australia, Tourism Queensland and global campaigns adds extra credibility and reach.

Source: Instagram

Family travel influencers

9. Justin and Bec Lorrimer (@tripinavan)

• Instagram: 259.5k
• Facebook: 242.9k
• YouTube: 196k

Justin and Bec share family road trips across Australia, offering practical tips for travelling with children, accommodation reviews and activity ideas on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Their blend of humour and actionable guidance builds trust with family audiences.

 

Source: Instagram

10. Jack and Amy Bell (@_the_bell_family)

• Instagram: 91.3k
• YouTube: 10.1k
• Facebook: 7.6k

Jack, Amy and their three children explore Australia off-grid in their 4×4 and caravan. As ambassadors for Lotus Trooper, their content features gear reviews and family travel tips, connecting with audiences interested in overlanding and family adventures.

Source: Instagram

11. Evie (@mumpacktravel)

• Instagram: 131.4k
• Facebook: 27.3k
• TikTok: 1.1k

Evie and her daughter Emmie have explored the world together since 2015. Initially a year-long trip, their adventure spanned 2.5 years across Asia, Europe and beyond. Now based in Australia, they continue inspiring families through their blog and social channels.

Source: Instagram

12. The Blonde Nomads (@theblondenomads)

• Instagram: 38.1k
• Facebook: 28.9k
• YouTube: 2k

Rob, Tracy, Marli and Ziggy embraced life on the road after their first child was born. Their blog and social media inspire families to explore together. Eco-conscious brands can particularly benefit from their engaged audience.

Source: Instagram

13. Wanderlust Storytellers (@wanderluststorytellers)

• Instagram: 41.2k
• Facebook: 2.8k
• YouTube: 3.8k

Jolene and Andrzej Ejmont have been traveling with their kids and educating families on planning stress-free trips and saving money since 2015. Their blog is a go-to resource for family travel tips, destination guides and gear reviews. They’ve been featured by National Geographic, The Washington Post and Queensland.com.

Source: Instagram

14. The Feel Good Family (@thefeelgoodfamily_)

• Instagram: 15.5k
• Facebook: 21.6k
• YouTube: 66.9k

Paul, Katie and their son Jasper started a full-time Australian road trip in 2019. They document their journey via weekly YouTube episodes, a podcast and a blog, covering travel destinations, gear and tips to inspire others to explore Australia.

Source: Instagram

Couples travel influencers

15. Nicholas and Helmi (@nickandhelmi)

• Instagram: 148.2k
• TikTok: 141.3k
• YouTube: 124k

Based in Sydney, Nick and Helmi transitioned from maintaining corporate careers to creating high-quality cinematic travel and food guides. Their content offers immersive experiences across Asia and Australia, providing travelers with insightful tips and culinary adventures.

Source: Instagram

16. Alex and James Lock (@twosometravellers)

• Instagram: 401.8k
• YouTube: 41.4k
• Facebook: 142.2k
• TikTok: 112.4k

James and Alex have explored the world together since 2014. They share cinematic videos, detailed itineraries and practical tips to inspire adventure. Using Instagram, YouTube and their travel blog, they showcase unique travel experiences and hidden gems.

Source: Instagram

17. Kate and Olly (@kotravellers)

• Instagram: 289.2k
• TikTok: 195.5k

Kate and Olly showcase domestic and international adventures, offering itinerary tips and destination guides. Their photography-rich Instagram account and blog are ideal for brands promoting luxury hotels, romantic excursions and cultural experiences to an engaged audience.

Source: Instagram

18. Alesha Bradford and Jarryd Salem (@nomadasaurus)

• Instagram: 83.1k
• YouTube: 7.9k
• Facebook: 50.8k

Alesha and Jarryd have run NOMADasaurus, one of Australia’s top adventure travel and photography blogs since 2008. They share compelling stories and stunning visuals from remote treks to cultural explorations and are also Sony Australia ambassadors.

Source: Instagram

19. Lochie and Kaylah (@wishyouwerehere_aus)

• Instagram: 65.5k
• TikTok: 4.8k

Lochie and Kaylah have travelled Australia for over four years in their Troopy, ‘Bessie.’ Their platform, Wish You Were Here Australia, documents their off-grid adventures through stunning travel photography and videography, inspiring exploration of remote landscapes.

Source: Instagram

20. Katrina and Erol (@thetravellingkangaroos)

• Instagram: 55.4k
• Facebook: 25.9k

Katrina and Erol have travelled to over 40 countries, sharing destination guides, travel tips and personal stories on their blog, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. They’ve also hosted group trips, offering a unique opportunity for their audience to join them on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Source: Instagram

How to find the right Australian travel influencers

Finding impactful travel influencers requires more than scrolling hashtags. You need to make sure their audience aligns with your target traveller profile and their content demonstrates consistent engagement. More importantly, their values should match your brand.

A structured approach, supported by tools like Sprout’s Influencer Marketing platform, transforms this process from guesswork into a measurable strategy.

Define your goals and ideal creator profile

Before searching, clarify your campaign objectives. Are you aiming for broad awareness, niche engagement or direct bookings? Define your ideal traveller persona. Then, consider the influencer profile that best aligns:

• Niche: Solo adventure, luxury travel, budget backpacking or eco-tourism
• Network focus: Visually driven Instagrammers, long-form YouTube storytellers or trend-savvy TikTok creators
• Content style: Cinematic drone footage, authentic vlogs or practical blog guides
• Values alignment: Sustainability, accessibility or other values important to your brand

This approach ensures your search is targeted and efficient.

Go beyond follower counts to vet true influence

A high follower count looks impressive, but it’s not a business metric. It doesn’t guarantee the audience is real, engaged or aligned with your brand.

Engagement, including Likes, comments, shares and saves, proves an audience is actually listening. Vetting engagement quality is crucial because it separates popular creators from influential ones. You’re not investing in followers, you’re investing in a creator’s ability to drive action.

You need data to see the full picture. The Sprout Social Influencer Marketing platform provides automated scores to speed this up and protect your brand:

• Brand Fit Score: Analyse a creator’s profile, content and audience to automatically assess their relevance to your brand. This score saves you hours of manual review by surfacing creators who are a strong match for your niche and values.
• Brand Safety Score: Review a creator’s post history for problematic language, sensitive topics or spammy behavior that could pose a reputational risk. This automated check is vital for ensuring your partnerships are built on a foundation of trust.

Analyse creator analytics to predict campaign ROI

Past performance is the best predictor of future success. But you need more than just a creator’s public-facing metrics. Sprout’s Influencer Marketing platform provides a deep-dive analytics section for each creator profile.

Once a creator connects their account, you get access to authenticated, private data, including:

• Impressions and reach: See the true visibility of their content, not just follower counts.
• Engagement rate by post type: Understand if their Reels, carousels or static posts perform better.
• Audience data: Get granular demographic details on followers’ locations (like specific Australian cities), age and gender to ensure alignment with your target audience.
• Historical performance: Track their content’s success over time to spot trends and consistency.

This data moves you from “I hope this works” to “I expect this to work” by helping you select the partners most likely to drive measurable results for your travel brand.

Streamline shortlisting and collaboration

Once you identify promising influencers, use a centralised platform to manage shortlists, share profiles with stakeholders for review and initiate outreach. The Sprout Social Influencer Marketing platform includes collaboration workflows to efficiently manage communication, contracts and content approvals.

Customisable workflows allow you to tailor the process, ensuring steps like influencer review fit seamlessly into your team’s operations. Connecting creators’ social accounts provides direct access to real-time performance data, simplifying reporting and analysis.

Build long-term trust with ethical, ACCC-compliant partnerships

Trust is your most valuable asset in influencer marketing. When working with Australian influencers, you must follow Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) guidelines. Non-compliant posts can quickly undermine the authenticity you gain by partnering with a creator.

This isn’t just about avoiding fines—it’s about protecting your brand’s reputation and showing your audience your partnerships are transparent. Audiences appreciate honesty, and ethical collaboration is the foundation of credible, long-term influence. The Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) also provides ethical standards to guide this.

Prioritise transparency with upfront disclosure

Audiences are savvy and can spot buried disclosures easily. The ACCC requires paid partnerships to be clearly and immediately identifiable. This means using unambiguous hashtags like #ad or “Paid Partnership with [Brand]” above the fold, in the first few lines of a caption or as clear, persistent text on a video.

Hiding a disclosure in a sea of hashtags or at the end of a caption doesn’t just violate guidelines, it tells your audience you’re trying to hide something, which erodes the very trust you’re trying to build.

Champion authenticity over exaggeration

The power of an influencer is their personal perspective. Don’t ask them to compromise it with claims your brand wouldn’t make itself. All promotional content must be truthful and verifiable.

Encourage creators to frame their opinions personally (e.g., “This was one of my favourite hotel stays”) rather than stating subjective claims as fact (e.g., “This is the best hotel in Australia”). This approach maintains authenticity, sets realistic audience expectations and ensures you stay compliant.

Formalise expectations with clear agreements

Assumptions are the enemy of successful marketing campaigns. A formal, written influencer contract is non-negotiable and protects both you and the creator.

Your agreement should clearly outline all expectations:

• Scope of work
• Content deliverables (formats, number of posts, etc.)
• Campaign timelines
• Payment terms
• Content usage rights
• Specific ACCC disclosure requirements

Documenting everything provides accountability and aligns performance metrics with your campaign goals from day one.

Measure the impact of your travel influencer partnerships

Want to launch a successful influencer campaign? You need to show business results. Measuring your partnerships is how you demonstrate marketing’s impact, secure future budget and refine your strategy. It’s the key to moving from hoping for results to knowing what works.

To prove impact, define what success looks like before you launch. This vital first step prevents chasing vanity metrics, like follower counts, and focuses your team on outcomes that matter, like driving bookings or destination awareness.

Align your KPIs with the travel marketing funnel

Aligning your KPIs with your travel marketing funnel is the clearest way to measure success. It ensures you’re measuring the right metrics to see how your campaign moves audiences from inspiration to action.

Here are some KPIs to monitor at each stage of the funnel:

• Awareness: Are you reaching new travellers? Track reach, impressions and brand mentions. This reveals the total visibility of your destination or travel brand and how far your message is spreading.
• Consideration: Is the content resonating? Monitor engagement (likes, comments, shares, saves) and click-through rates (CTR). High engagement signals that the audience finds the content valuable, while CTRs show they are actively seeking more information.
• Conversion: Are you driving bookings? Measure leads generated, promo code usage or direct bookings. This is the most direct link from influencer content to revenue.

Track performance to understand audience behaviour

Your metrics should tell a story about what your audience does after seeing a post. Are they just scrolling, or are they taking the next step? Connecting content performance to tangible audience behavior shows your strategy is working, monitors progress against influencer marketing KPIs and justifies your investment.

This means tracking actions that signal true intent, such as:

• Clicks: A click isn’t just a click; it’s a clear sign of active interest. It shows the creator’s content was compelling enough to make someone pause and seek more information.
• Website traffic: This metric indicates you’re successfully moving an audience from a “rented” platform (social media) to an “owned” one (your website), which allows you to control the narrative and capture leads.
• Bookings or sign-ups: These are the ultimate proof of impact. Tracking direct conversions, like holiday bookings or newsletter sign-ups, ties your influencer campaign directly to business revenue.

This level of analysis is hard to do manually, making a unified analytics dashboard essential for seeing the complete picture. Sprout Social lets you bring all your performance data together to monitor which content formats (e.g., Reels vs. carousels) resonate and which creators drive the most valuable actions.

To get this clarity, you need a reliable tracking method. For example, using UTM parameters on your campaign links allows you to attribute website traffic and conversions directly back to a specific influencer. This gives you undeniable proof of their impact and helps you identify your most valuable partners for future campaigns.

Evaluate true ROI beyond clicks and follows

True influencer ROI goes beyond immediate conversions. To understand the full value of your partnerships, you need to analyse metrics that reflect brand health and cost-efficiency.

Here are some key metrics for evaluating performance and brand impact:

• Earned media value (EMV): This is the monetary value of the organic engagement (likes, shares, comments) your influencer content receives. It answers: What would you have paid for this level of reach and interaction through traditional digital advertising?
• Cost per engagement (CPE): This metric calculates exactly how much you paid for each meaningful interaction. It’s a powerful way to compare the cost-efficiency of different influencers against each other and against your other marketing channels.
• Brand advocacy and social proof: This is the long-term, qualitative impact. Campaigns that generate positive user-generated content or sustained, authentic brand mentions build lasting social proof and credibility that traditional ads can’t replicate.

Turn your travel influencer strategy into measurable success

Effective travel influencer marketing starts with strategic partnerships—finding creators whose audience and values align with your brand. Whether you’re targeting family adventures or solo escapes, niche expertise ensures your message resonates.

How you collaborate is equally important. Ethical, transparent partnerships guided by ACCC and AiMCO standards build credibility. Measuring what matters with unified analytics reveals which partnerships drive tangible results, proving ROI and informing future campaigns for sustained growth.

See how Sprout Influencer Marketing connects data, creators and strategy to turn campaigns into measurable growth. Book a free demo today.

The post 20 Australian travel influencers driving tourism campaigns in 2026 appeared first on Sprout Social.

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29 Australian creators driving authentic engagement in 2026

Wondering how to reach local Australians and create influencer marketing campaigns that convert? You’re not alone.

Chasing trends is exhausting, and what works globally doesn’t always land locally. Still, influencer campaigns are highly effective in Australia, where 46% of residents purchase products that creators have promoted.

The most important thing to understand when finding influencers to work with, though, is that audience size isn’t the be-all, end-all anymore. Many top Australian influencers have built highly engaged followings, both large and small, across networks like TikTok and Instagram by sticking to their values and collaborating with like-minded brands.

Keep reading to learn how you can partner with influencers whose values match your brand’s and achieve greater return on investment (ROI) as a result.

The top 5 Australian influencers to collaborate with in 2025

The best Australian creators range from macro to mega influencers and represent a mix of networks and niches. This makes the following five influencers powerful choices for a wide range of brand partnerships and social media content:

1. Lachlan Power (@lachlan)

• YouTube: 15.3M
• Instagram: 1.5M
• TikTok: 4.9M

Source: Instagram

Brisbane-born gamer Lachlan Power, who founded the gaming organisation PWR, gained initial fame for his Minecraft and Pokémon Go content before skyrocketing on Fortnite. His millions of subscribers know him for his high-energy, family-friendly videos, making him one of the country’s top gaming influencers.

2. Tammy Hembrow (@tammyhembrow)

• Instagram: 16.9M
• TikTok: 2.3M
• YouTube: 1.27M

Source: Instagram

Australian fitness influencer and entrepreneur Tammy Hembrow has built a massive following by sharing her fitness routines, post-pregnancy transformations and honest family life. Her brand now includes the activewear line Saski Collection and the Tammy Fit app.

3. Kayla Itsines (@kayla_itsines)

• Facebook: 27M
• Instagram: 15.6M
• YouTube: 416k
• TikTok: 94.9K

Source: Instagram

Global fitness icon Kayla Itsines co-created the popular Sweat app. Audiences know her for her accessible workout programs and empowering approach. Her massive following makes her an ideal partner for brands that are promoting health and body positivity. In the past, she collaborated with international brands like Powerade, which promoted her app on its bottles.

4. Chloe Morello (@chloemorello)

• YouTube: 2.56M
• Instagram: 1.1M
• TikTok: 151.7k
• Facebook: 1.6M

Source: Instagram

Leading Australian beauty influencer Chloe Morello has built a massive following on YouTube and Instagram with her genuine approach and expertise, making her a powerful voice in the beauty community. Audiences have trusted her makeup tutorials, honest product reviews and lifestyle vlogs for over a decade.

5. Michael Finch (@michaelfinch)

• TikTok: 2.7M
• YouTube: 878k
• Instagram: 790k
• Facebook: 503k

Source: TikTok

Michael Finch is a prominent Australian male beauty and lifestyle creator. He rose to fame on YouTube with makeup tutorials and product reviews, and consequently became a key figure for male beauty influencers. He’s since pivoted his content to food and home cooking, which earned him TikTok’s Food Creator of the Year in 2024.

Top 3 Instagram influencers in Australia

In Australia, Instagram success is about resonance rather than just reach. That’s because audiences value authentic connection over follower counts.

These three Australian Instagram creators prove that genuine engagement is key to success on this platform:

6. Sarah Stevenson (@sarahs_day)

• Instagram: 1.3M
• YouTube: 1.55M
• TikTok: 300.7k

Source: Instagram

Sarah Stevenson (“Sarah’s Day”) is a health, wellness and lifestyle influencer who shares everything from holistic health advice to home renovations. As a result, she’s earned a reputation for her authentic vlogs. Her focus on self-care and a balanced lifestyle makes her a great partner for wellness, beauty and home brands.

7. Shani Grimmond (@shanigrimmond)

• Instagram: 1.3M
• YouTube: 1.42M
• TikTok: 458.2k

Source: Instagram

Shani Grimmond is a well-established beauty and lifestyle creator with a massive following on YouTube and Instagram. She’s built a reputation for being relatable through her makeup tutorials, honest product reviews and fun vlogs. Her long-standing presence in the beauty community makes her a trusted voice for beauty and lifestyle brands.

8. Larry Lim (@larrylim)

• Instagram: 40k
• YouTube: 2.85k

Source: Instagram

As a men’s lifestyle and travel influencer, Larry Lim is renowned for his stylish content and aspirational aesthetic. He also shares tips on photography, fashion and travel to create a curated feed, which resonates with an audience that’s interested in a modern, sophisticated lifestyle.

Top 3 TikTok influencers in Australia

TikTok drives Australian cultural conversations by connecting influencers and brands with audiences through short-form video. These three TikTok creators have mastered the platform’s fast-paced, authentic style to build massive, engaged communities:

9. Sarah Magusara (@sarahmagusara)

• TikTok: 18.2M
• Instagram: 1.1M
• YouTube: 347k

Source: TikTok

Sarah Magusara built her massive TikTok following on viral dance and lip-sync videos. Her content also often features her family, which adds a relatable, heartwarming element. As one of Australia’s most-followed creators, she’s an excellent choice for brands that are aiming to reach a broad, Gen Z-leaning audience.

10. Bridey Drake (@brideydrake)

• TikTok: 3.9M
• Instagram: 2.3M
• YouTube: 3.91M

 

Source: TikTok

Lifestyle and comedy creator Bridey Drake connects with her audience through humorous vlogs and relatable skits about daily life. She’s built a strong following by sharing candid, funny moments, which makes her a compelling partner for brands that want a genuine, authentic voice.

11. William Gibb (@will_yum_gibb)

• TikTok: 1.7M
• Instagram: 173k
• YouTube: 2.22k

 

Source: TikTok

Australian comedian William Gibb has earned his large TikTok following with his satirical and observational humour. His clever skits and comedic takes on everyday situations resonate with a broad audience, both young and mature. As a result, he’s a unique, engaging partner for brands that want to take a lighthearted, humorous approach to their content.

3 best beauty influencers in Australia

The Australian beauty community thrives on trust. Audiences seek creators with proven expertise, from professional makeup artists to skincare educators.

These three Australian beauty influencers have built loyal followings by demonstrating real authority:

12. Isabella Quinn (@issyquinnxo)

• Instagram: 62k
• TikTok: 47.1k

Source: Instagram

Professional makeup artist Isabella Quinn is well-known for her transformative looks and high-quality beauty content. She’s built a large following with her creative, clean aesthetic and has become a trusted authority for beauty tips and product recommendations as a result. She’s also a go-to inspiration in the home decor and lifestyle spaces.

13. Brandon Scott (@itsbybrandon)

• TikTok: 1.1M
• Instagram: 199k

Source: Instagram

Melbourne-based makeup artist Brandon Scott gained popularity through his viral beauty videos and strong production values. His creative content often draws inspiration from social media trends and pop culture, making him a compelling partner for beauty brands.

14. Max May (@maxmade)

• Instagram: 115k
• TikTok: 877
• Facebook: 12k

Source: Instagram

Makeup artist to the stars and beauty educator Max May has worked with some of Australia’s biggest names. Along with glam photos, he shares expert tips, product reviews and masterclasses in his content. This expertise makes him a highly respected and trusted voice in the beauty industry.

3 best fashion influencers in Australia

From street style to high fashion, Australian fashion influencers’ content runs on aesthetic alignment. These three creators move beyond simple trends to curate a distinct brand voice, making them powerful partners for brands that are seeking an artistic or luxury identity:

15. Maxine Wylde (@maxinewylde)

• Instagram: 479k
• TikTok: 221.4k

Source: Instagram

Maxine Wylde inspires fearless self-expression with her maximalist, vibrant style. She blends bold colours, statement accessories and unexpected layering to create playful looks that blur street style with high fashion. Her content radiates positivity, which encourages her followers to embrace creative styling in both their fashion and home decor.

16. Odell Mun (@odellmun)

• Instagram: 20.7k
• TikTok: 302.2k

Source: Instagram

Model and fashion creator Odell Mun curates unique, editorial-style content. His Instagram Feed is a portfolio of creative fashion shoots and collaborations with leading brands. This distinct aesthetic makes him an ideal partner for brands that value artistic, high-end fashion.

17. Jane Lu (@thelazyceo)

• Instagram: 280k
• TikTok: 149.7k

Source: Instagram

Jane Lu founded Showpo, a massively popular online fashion retailer for young Australian shoppers. On social media, she shares behind-the-scenes insights, business tips and style inspiration, in which she positions herself as a relatable figure for entrepreneurs and fashion lovers.

Top 3 fitness influencers in Australia

Australia’s fitness community is built on credible expertise. These influencers’ audiences seek proven authority from professional bodybuilders to certified trainers, and the creators in this space deliver.

The following three fitness creators have built trust with their followers by promoting everything from high-intensity workouts to holistic wellness:

18. Tom Mac (@tommacfitness)

• Instagram: 68.3k
• TikTok: 57.2k
• YouTube: 1.13k

Source: Instagram

Professional bodybuilder Tom Mac shares his workout routines, nutrition tips and personal journey. As an IFBB Pro, he’s a highly respected authority in the bodybuilding community and a trusted voice for fitness, nutrition and supplement brands.

19. Tanya Poppett (@tanyapoppett)

• Instagram: 343k
• Facebook: 73k
• YouTube: 1.16k

Source: Instagram

Personal trainer Tanya Poppett inspires followers with functional training and creative, accessible workouts. Since users can do her routines anywhere, she’s a popular choice for brands that want to share a practical, adaptable approach to fitness.

20. Jenna Louise (@jennalouise_jl)

• Instagram:130k

Source: Instagram

Australian fitness influencer Jenna Louise is a dynamic “hybrid” athlete. Her brand, which she’s built on positivity and the belief that “discomfort equals growth,” encourages followers to challenge themselves. She predominantly features “Move of the Week” workouts, mindset tips and honest reflections on personal obstacles in her content.

Top 3 food influencers in Australia

In Australia, food content is a powerful way to connect with highly engaged followers. That’s why food creators move beyond simple reviews to drive specific actions, from restaurant reservations to product sales.

These three creators have built their followings on visually engaging content and trusted recommendations, making them some of the best food influencers in Australia:

21. Lily Huynh (@biteswithlily)

• Instagram: 897k
• TikTok: 3.4M
• YouTube: 2.98M
• Facebook: 2.1M

Source: Instagram

Lily Huynh (“Bites with Lily”) shares culinary adventures and delicious finds from across Australia and the world. Her visually appealing content and engaging reviews have built a large, dedicated following, which makes her a go-to source for food recommendations.

22. Adrian Widjy (@adrianwidjy)

• Instagram: 434k
• TikTok: 414.4k
• YouTube: 301k
• Facebook: 1M

Source: Instagram

Sydney-based food creator and fine dining expert Adrian Widjy reviews luxury restaurants and high-end culinary experiences. Because his content appeals to a sophisticated audience that’s interested in gourmet food and unique dining, he’s a great partner for premium food and hospitality brands.

23. Nagi Maehashi (@recipe_tin)

• Instagram: 1.7M
• TikTok: 333.9k

Source: Instagram

Nagi Maehashi created the popular website RecipeTin Eats, where she shares practical, tested recipes that use affordable, fresh ingredients. Her bestselling cookbook, RecipeTin Eats: Dinner, set Australian sales records, and she also founded the RecipeTin Meals food bank. Nagi’s influence comes from her reliable, no-nonsense approach to promoting affordable home cooking and her Japanese-Australian heritage.

Top 3 Australian travel influencers

Australian travel content is equal parts inspiration and discovery engine. Audiences in this space trust creators to suggest destinations that are worth checking out so they can plan their next adventure.

The three travel influencers below have mastered authentic storytelling, building communities that love to take action after engaging with their social content:

24. Alesha and Jarryd (@nomadasaurus)

• TikTok: 1.5k
• Instagram: 82.8k

 

Source: TikTok

Alesha and Jarryd, the creators behind NOMADasaurus, have built their brand on adventurous and authentic travel storytelling. In their posts, they explore off-the-beaten-path destinations and share immersive experiences, which is ideal for audiences that seek genuine travel inspiration.

25. Lauren Bath (@laurenepbath)

• Instagram: 353k

Source: Instagram

As Australia’s first professional Instagrammer, Lauren Bath has pivoted from chef to pioneering travel photographer. She uses vibrant, bold imagery to capture the excitement of global destinations. And with their bright colours and remarkable natural light, her professional compositions appeal directly to travel enthusiasts and tourism boards.

26. Emma Lambert (@luxefamilytravel)

• Instagram: 186k

Source: Instagram

Australian travel influencer Emma Lambert showcases diverse travel experiences with a lifestyle-oriented approach that involves sharing relatable, engaging travel stories. Her content also highlights the cultural and natural aspects of her destinations.

Top 3 family influencers in Australia

Family content runs on authenticity. These creators are the ultimate guides, helping their audiences make purchasing decisions for everything from groceries to financial planning.

These three creators have built loyal followings by balancing relatable moments with authentic advice:

27. Jeraldine Blackman (@theblackmanfamilyofficial)

• Instagram: 3.1M
• TikTok: 3.7M
• YouTube: 813k

Source: Instagram

Jeraldine Blackman is a Filipino-Australian family influencer who creates highly relatable content that showcases everyday marriage and parenting scenarios. She’s gained traction on YouTube and TikTok with viral videos that have attracted millions of views. Her content emphasises connection and consistency by allowing followers to see themselves in her family’s experiences.

28. Lauren Gallagher (@laurenrgall)

• Instagram: 175k

Source: Instagram

Lauren Gallagher shares lifestyle-focused content about her daily family life and parenting journey with a warm, personal approach. Her posts share moments with her daughter and the realities of motherhood in an authentic way, which connects with audiences that are seeking genuine, everyday family stories.

29. Havea Matangi (@havea_676)

• Instagram: 1.6M
• TikTok: 2.6M

Source: Instagram

Havea Matangi is a Tongan-Australian dad from the Gold Coast who creates humourous and authentic content about fatherhood. His comedic skits and dance clips, which feature his three daughters, celebrate Pacific culture and show a witty, relatable portrayal of family life.

How to build high-ROI partnerships with Australian influencers

Finding the right creator to promote your brand is just the start. In Australia, sustained success comes from building trust, not just buying posts.

That’s why you should treat your influencer strategy as a scalable program rather than a transaction. This approach requires collaboration, a long-term view and a commitment to proving business value.

Here are some strategies you can use to find the best influencers for your brand and boost your ROI:

Find partners who align with your audience

A successful partnership starts with a shared audience. But follower numbers are deceiving. A creator with 50,000 engaged followers often delivers a better ROI than one who has 500,000 passive followers.

Instead of focusing only on follower counts, look for creators who spark genuine conversations. Analyse their audience demographics, interests and key engagement metrics to find authentic influence.

Vet for brand safety before you commit

Once you have a shortlist of creators who reach your target audience, the next step is to protect your brand.

Manually review an influencer’s past content and online reputation to spot red flags or values that don’t align with your own. This vetting process is crucial for ensuring a safe collaboration.

Move from creative briefs to co-creation

After vetting a creator for brand safety, the real collaboration begins. Research from Sprout Social’s 2025 The State of Influencer Marketing Report shows that 65% of creators want creative input in their collaborations.

Top brands trust their partners. Instead of restrictive briefs, co-create content that feels authentic to the creator’s voice. This authenticity drives higher engagement and builds a genuine connection with their audience.

Invest in long-term relationships for higher ROI

This collaborative spirit is the foundation for long-term partnerships, which often generate the highest influencer marketing ROI. One-off campaigns are forgettable, but sustained partnerships create familiarity and build deep audience trust. Repeated exposure from a trusted creator builds stronger brand recall and drives a higher return over time.

To build partnerships that last, establish clear expectations, deliverables and usage rights from day one. Treat your creators as true brand partners by providing seamless communication and fair compensation for their work.

Align campaign tracking from day one

Finally, a successful long-term partnership relies on transparent tracking. Establish shared KPIs with your influencer partners from the start. Whether your goal is clicks, conversions or brand awareness, a clear, agreed-upon target is essential.

Managing this entire lifecycle, from discovery and vetting to co-creation and campaign tracking, can become complex. An influencer marketing platform helps streamline this process. For example, Sprout Social Influencer Marketing (formerly Tagger) helps you analyse audience data, manage deliverables and see the cumulative impact of your influencer marketing efforts in one place.

Start building high-ROI influencer partnerships today

In Australia, influencer marketing is your opportunity to build genuine trust and drive conversions in a market that demands authenticity. Do it well, and you’ll connect with highly engaged communities, bypass ad fatigue and achieve a measurable ROI.

Turning that potential into a scalable program requires managing the entire process from creator discovery to campaign performance tracking. Our Influencer Marketing platform provides the tools to manage every step in one central platform.

Ready to find the right Australian influencers for your brand? Request a Sprout Influencer Marketing demo today.

The post 29 Australian creators driving authentic engagement in 2026 appeared first on Sprout Social.

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