Thirteen local social media influencers were contracted for the campaign. Photos: Screenshots.
“Looking for things to do these school holidays?
“The city is where you need to be. With an epic line-up of free daily shows, places to eat and drink and activities for the kids, a trip here needs to be on your to-do list.”
So reads a recent post by ‘Canberra Mamas‘, one of 13 local social media influencers to have received a slice of $32,000 in a new advertising campaign by the ACT Government’s City Renewal Authority (CRA).
With Civic basically turned into one massive construction site for light rail for the next three years and many local businesses unsure of how they’ll survive the drop in traffic – as well as the annual festival ‘Winter in the City’ running until 19 July – the government has taken a novel approach to selling the city to visitors.
For the first time, it’s paying local social media stars for their ability to engage with Canberrans.
Canberra Mamas has more than 7000 followers on social media platform Instagram, and its video reel showcasing “winter in the city” has racked up more than 8000 views.
“We stopped in for delicious food at Roy Jr. and the performances from Mission to the Moon, Circus Firemen and the epic evening fire performance and it got the big tick of approval from us AND the kids. Oh, and we of course had to go treat ourselves at Oliver Brown,” the caption continues.
According to a statement, the CRA contracted local marketing firm, The Mark Agency, to find content creators with “strong local followings, consistently high engagement and alignment with Canberra’s lifestyle and event audiences”.
Canberra Mamas’s Instagram video reached more than 8000 people. Photo: Screenshot.
Of the 13 influencers who made the cut, the number of followers range from 159,000 for Jody’s Diary to Canberra Mamas’s 7000.
“Each content creator was commissioned to produce one Instagram post during July 2025,” a CRA spokesperson said.
“The posts focused on promoting Winter in the City activities and showcasing at least 40 local businesses in the City Centre and Braddon precincts. The content was designed to highlight local experiences and encourage community participation.”
The total budget of $32,000 included “payments to creators, campaign strategy and coordination, and advertising on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram)”.
The CRA said the rates charged by each influencer were “commercial-in-confidence between each creator and The Mark Agency”, but they “varied”.
“The campaign’s success is being measured using standard digital metrics, including reach (unique users), impressions (total views), and engagement (likes, comments, shares),” the spokesperson continued.
As of 14 July, the content has reached more than 179,000 people, and the CRA credits it with attracting more than 1800 people per day to Civic – including more than 4000 people on Saturday 12 July alone.
“This is the first time the City Renewal Authority has used paid content creator partnerships as part of its precinct promotion efforts.
“It’s a cost-effective and community-focused way to encourage Canberrans to explore and support local businesses.”
Since light rail works began in earnest along London Circuit in February, the government has provided free evening parking from Wednesday to Sunday for certain Civic carparks, waived fees for outdoor dining permits and lowered fees for liquor licences.
But many businesses along or near the route have seen their customer base fall by more than half, with some having to lay off staff.
Antony Arena, who co-owns Molly, Highball Express, and Black Market, took a loss of $50,000 in April alone.
Construction fencing outside Mooseheads. Photo: Screenshot, Mooseheads, Instagram.
Winter in the City draws to a close this weekend with ‘The Forage’, from 12 to 9 pm on Saturday 19 July, including acrobatic and trapeze stunts by Circus Oz and fiery pyrotechnic performances from Jessy Spin and Flux Entertainment.
“Featuring more than 40 food and beverage vendors offering gourmet street eats, craft drinks and sweet treats, The Forage is the perfect end note on a Winter celebration,” the CRA said.
Winter in the City is free to attend.
Here’s the full list of content published via the social media campaign so far:
