A micro influencer is a creator with roughly 10,000 to 50,000 followers. That's the whole definition, and it's the least interesting thing about them.
What actually matters for a restaurant is narrower: how many of those followers live near you, how many of them act on what she posts, and what she'll charge. Those three questions decide whether a creator is worth it, and follower count answers none of them.
This guide covers the tiers, the going rates in Australia, and how to work out which size of creator your venue actually needs.
1. What counts as a micro influencer
The tiers aren't official and different platforms draw the lines slightly differently, but the working definitions in Australia are fairly settled:
- Nano: 1,000 to 10,000 followers
- Micro: 10,000 to 50,000 (some guides stretch this to 100,000)
- Mid-tier: 50,000 to 500,000
- Macro and above: 500,000+
The reason the tiers exist isn't vanity. Engagement falls as follower count rises, and price rises at the same time. Those two curves moving in opposite directions are the entire reason a small venue should think carefully before paying for reach.
2. The tiers, and what each one costs
| Tier | Followers | Typical engagement | AU rate per post |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nano | 1k–10k | ~8.2% | $50–$300, often a comped meal |
| Micro | 10k–50k | 4–8% | $400–$1,200 |
| Mid-tier | 50k–500k | ~2.3% | $1,000–$5,000+ |
| Macro | 500k+ | 0.5–1.5% | $5,000+ |
Rates and engagement from published 2026 Australian rate guides and platform data. Treat them as ranges rather than fixed prices, since video costs more than stills and usage rights are charged on top.
Read the first two rows together, because that's the decision most venues are actually making. A micro influencer costs somewhere between $400 and $1,200 per post. A nano creator will often come for a good meal. The engagement gap runs the other way: the cheaper tier is the more engaged one.
The part that surprises people
Gifted posts and paid posts get almost identical engagement, around 2% either way in a 2026 sample of over 100,000 posts. Paid posts get roughly three times the views, so cash buys reach, not enthusiasm. For a venue that needs people within a fifteen-minute drive, that trade is often the wrong way round.
3. Why the middle tiers suit restaurants
Restaurants are an unusual advertiser. Most brands want reach, because anyone in the country can buy their product. You need something much more specific: people who can physically be at your door on a Tuesday.
That changes what a follower is worth.
- A local audience converts. A creator with 6,000 followers concentrated around Brunswick is worth more to a Brunswick venue than one with 40,000 spread nationally.
- Smaller creators get more engagement per follower, and comments and saves are what push a post beyond the existing audience.
- They feel like a recommendation. Nano and micro creators post about places they actually go, so the content reads as a tip from a friend rather than an ad.
- Food is the best-converting category for gifted work, which is why the comped-meal model works here in a way it wouldn't for a laptop.
4. Micro or nano: which does your venue need
Both work. They solve different problems, and the honest answer depends on how many venues you have.
Choose micro when
- You want reach across a whole city rather than a few suburbs
- You're opening a second or third site and need volume quickly
- You want a higher production standard and are willing to pay a fee for it
- You need one big moment, like a launch, rather than a steady drip
Choose nano when
- You're a single venue serving a local catchment
- Your budget is well under $1,000
- You'd rather have five posts across a month than one post in a week
- You want to test whether creator content works for you at all before spending real money
For most independent Melbourne venues, a handful of nano creators outperforms a single micro influencer at the same total cost, because you get more posts, more locations tagged, and more chances for one to travel. The exception is a genuine launch, where concentrated reach in one week is worth paying for.
5. How to find micro influencers in Melbourne
You don't need a platform for this. The creators worth working with are already visible.
- Search the geotags near you. Open the location tag for venues within a few blocks and see who's posting. These people already eat in your area, which is the hardest thing to verify any other way.
- Use suburb hashtags, not just city ones. #brunswickeats and #fitzroyfood surface local creators; #melbournefood surfaces everyone.
- Look at who tags your competitors. If a creator has covered three venues like yours nearby, they'll cover you, and their audience is already primed for the category.
- Check who your regulars follow. Your existing customers are the audience you want more of.
- Watch who's already tagging you. Plenty of venues have creators posting about them unprompted and never notice.
Our guide to finding food creators in Melbourne covers the outreach side in more detail, including what the agencies charge to do the same thing.
6. What to check before you approach anyone
Follower count is the number you should check last. In order of what actually matters:
- Where the audience is. Ask for the audience location breakdown from their insights. Any serious creator has this and will share it. If most of their followers are interstate, the number is irrelevant to you.
- Engagement rate. Divide likes plus comments by followers on recent posts. Under 2% at the micro tier is a warning sign. Over 4% is healthy.
- Comments that read like people. Generic one-word comments and emoji strings suggest bought engagement or a pod.
- Posting consistency. Someone who posts twice a week has an audience that shows up. Someone who posts once a month doesn't.
- Whether the food looks good. Obvious, and routinely skipped. Their last few videos are exactly what yours will look like.
7. What to actually offer
At the nano tier, a comped meal is a normal and accepted offer. Industry guidance puts the minimum gift value around $50, with roughly $150 retail as the sweet spot. In practice that means a real meal for two, not a discount code.
At the micro tier, expect to pay a fee on top, and expect to negotiate usage rights separately if you want to reshare the content on your own channels. Get that in writing before the visit, because it's the most common thing venues forget and the most awkward to ask for afterwards.
Whatever the tier, be specific in the approach. Name the dish you want filmed, the nights you're quiet, and what you're happy to comp. A vague "we'd love to collab" gets ignored; a clear offer gets answered.
Where RealEats fits
We match Melbourne venues with local food creators, mostly nano and micro, chosen on where their audience actually eats rather than on follower count. You approve every match before anything happens, there's no retainer and no percentage of anything.
Every campaign also produces a write-up on our Melbourne food guide, built around the searches that suit your venue. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
What is a micro influencer?
A creator with roughly 10,000 to 50,000 followers. Some definitions stretch to 100,000. Below that sits the nano tier at 1,000 to 10,000, and above it mid-tier and macro. The tiers matter because engagement falls as follower count rises, and price rises with it.
How much does a micro influencer cost in Australia?
Published 2026 rate guides put micro influencers at roughly $400 to $1,200 per post for the 10,000 to 50,000 follower range. Reels and TikTok sit at the higher end because they cost more to produce, and usage rights or exclusivity are charged on top. Nano creators are far cheaper and often work for a comped meal.
Do micro influencers work for restaurants?
They can, with one condition: their audience has to be local. A creator with 30,000 followers spread across Australia is worth less to a single Melbourne venue than one with 6,000 followers who all live within a few suburbs. Location beats size for a business that needs people to physically walk in.
Are micro or nano influencers better for a restaurant?
For a single venue, nano usually wins on value. Engagement is higher at around 8.2% for creators under 10,000 followers against 4 to 8% for micro, the audience tends to be more geographically concentrated, and many nano creators will visit for a comped meal rather than a cash fee. Micro makes more sense when you need reach across a whole city or you're launching several sites.
How do I find micro influencers in Melbourne?
Search local hashtags and geotags, check who is already tagging venues near you, and look at who your existing customers follow. Verify that the audience is actually local before you approach anyone, because follower count tells you nothing about where those people eat.
What should I pay a food creator who visits for free?
Industry guidance puts the minimum gift value at around $50 with roughly $150 retail as the sweet spot. In practice that means a proper meal for two rather than a discount voucher. Gifted posts average about the same engagement as paid ones, so a good meal is genuinely competitive with a fee at the nano tier.
The short version
Micro influencers are the 10,000 to 50,000 tier, they cost $400 to $1,200 a post in Australia, and they're a reasonable choice when you need reach across a city. For a single venue filling a quiet Tuesday, the tier below them usually does more for less, because the audience is denser, more engaged, and often happy to come for a meal.
Either way, check where the audience lives before you check how big it is. That's the number that decides whether anyone walks in.
If you're weighing this up more broadly, we've also written about what working with food creators involves, how we compare with a traditional agency, and getting your restaurant found on Google.