Social Soup has been around longer than social media as we know it. B&T sat down with the agency’s founder and CEO Sharyn Smith in the wake of the agency’s 18th birthday celebration and B&T Awards win. The creator landscape has changed drastically, yet the agency has evolved through each transformation.
When Social Soup opened its doors in 2007, influence consisted of community panels, grassroots advocacy and word-of-mouth. Social Soup has been tapping into the creator economy through all its evolutions, a landscape that is flourishing more than ever in 2025.
Social Soup worked with influencers before they were even called ‘influencers’. Smith’s prescience has enabled her team to evolve into one of Australia’s fastest-growing social media agencies, working with more than 150,000 influencers to deliver results for clients including Coca-Cola and Aldi.
Social Soup was recognised at the B&T Awards as our inaugural Creator Agency of the Year.
“It was humbling to be the oldest agency in this space and to win it for the first time,” Smith said. “It’s such an exciting time to be working in the influence space as big brands are starting to recognise the value creator marketing can bring to long-term brand building and are creating an ecosystem of belief and trust around their brands. Next year is shaping up to be a big one.”
Back when she started, there weren’t many female-founded agencies. Although more have come into the mix in 2024, only one per cent of creative agencies are female-founded.
“The recognition is hugely important for me, personally, as the advertising and media agency landscape has come a long way since I started the agency 18 years ago. Back then, there weren’t a lot of female-founded agencies. Women are running many of the agencies now and there are a lot of fabulous female senior marketing leaders, so the ecosystem feels much more supported,” she said.
“Recognition like this one is really important. I loved seeing agencies like Special win, with strong female leadership driving them forward, and I hope this is inspiring to younger women in the industry”.
Smith said that to be a successful social media agency, fundamental marketing principles still apply. While trends and the latest platform content are important, agencies need strong strategic insights and bigger picture thinking to drive impact.
“Learn the skills of marketing so anything you do is grounded in more than just buzz,” she said.
“Also remember to have fun and find ways to do good in the industry, because we can use the power of influence to create positive change,” Smith added.
Social Soup’s 18th Birthday
Just one week before winning at the B&T Awards, Social Soup celebrated its 18th birthday at its swish Redfern office.
“Looking back over the past 18 years, the fundamentals haven’t changed as much as people think–influence has always come from people, and with that, trust and relatability,” Smith said.
“Everything around that core has changed, however. Algorithms have changed and with that, the content built for algorithms. You’ve also got the professionalism of influencers and creators – they’ve grown up so to speak – and they are now seen more as strategic partners. Then there’s the democratisation of media which has opened the door for anyone (not just celebrities or big publishers) to influence culture at scale,” she added.
The industry now operates in a fragmented ecosystem where human creativity sits alongside tech and data. As we move into an era of social search and AI-driven discovery, organic, human-centred content is increasingly more important.
The looming under 16 social media ban isn’t causing much consternation at Social Soup, and won’t change the way it operates.
“I think this change will ultimately be a positive one. It gives parents more control and helps normalise later use of social media over time, which I believe is better for mental health and development,” Smith said.
“In the short term, it may be messy and not everyone will abide–and there will always be workarounds–but long term, I believe it leads to a healthier digital environment overall.”
Social Soup has never marketed to under 18s due to a values-driven decision since it as set up.
“Influence is incredibly powerful, and we’ve always believed it should be directed toward adults making informed choices and not children,” she added.
Driving Successful Influencer Marketing
Smith said that success in influencer marketing is a matter of trust that is built over time.
“Influence doesn’t ‘wear out’ like most other advertising, it wears in. Long-term creator partnerships are where the real impact happens, and the latest System1 research backs this: creators deliver some of the strongest long-term ROI in marketing, outperforming many traditional channels,” she said.
“Success in influencer marketing comes from working with creators who are aligned with your brand, your message and the specific behaviour you’re trying to influence. It also comes from moving beyond those transactional, one-off paid posts that we still see so many brands do! The brands that do it best are the ones that build a bench of creators – think different voices, different roles – who can tell the story in a consistent and authentic way”.
Importantly, Smith said that everything must connect: PR, social, SEO, commerce; AI sees it all as one ecosystem. This is especially crucial given the recent launch of ChatGPT’s shopping research feature. Marketers have shifted their focus from SEO to generative engine optimisation (GEO) to ensure that content shows up as relevant to AI chatbots.
In response to this, Smith advises creators and agencies that consistency is the new currency. AI models reward ongoing, authentic conversation about a brand.
“Influence becomes infrastructure, that is something you layer over time, not just switch on and off,” she said.
“Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is truly one of the biggest shifts we’ve seen since SEO. At Social Soup, we’ve been early adopters, experimenting with programs, content and models to understand what teaches AI effectively. This learning phase is essential because the space is evolving pretty much daily.”
That led the agency to partner with AI search platform Brandlight, helping it to monitor and improve brand visibility inside AI search. This gives it the ability to see how creator content and social chatter feed into generative answers, which is something every brand will need to understand going forward.
Looking Ahead
Next year is set to be a big for creators as AI agents begin doing more tasks for consumers, including shopping.
“Always-on creator ecosystems will become standard. You have micro and nano creators delivering trust and depth, supported by the reach of the macro creators,” she said.
“There’s also demand for measurable, verified behaviour that’s increasing, and elements that have previously gone unmeasured (like gifting and sampling) will finally be replaced by tech-enabled tools – like our bespoke Shop & Scan one – that can validate trial and impact.
“Influence as a whole will become more measurable, more accountable and, ironically, more human. Authenticity is the one thing AI can’t fake.
Smith believes the industry has become increasingly crowded with pop-up influencer solutions, but it’s the strategy, experience and behavioural insights that will always separate specialists from opportunists.
“After 18 years in this space, I can confidently say that influence still starts with people and not algorithms, hacks or trends,”she said.
Marketers need to drive the strategy and set the behavioural objective. Creators can be incredible partners, but they’re not the strategists. In spite of advances in technology, a human-led approach will never go out of style.
