March 28th 2022

Publisher Spotlight is an ongoing series, where our Publisher Development Team shines the light on innovative publishers from across the globe.

This month Viviana chatted to 'Domenic Carosa, Co-Founder and CEO of Crowd Media'about his role, how they work with influencers, and how brands can leverage influencer marketing globally. Find out more below'

Hi Dom, can you tell our readers about you and what your role involves at Crowd Media Group?

Crowd Media is an Australian Stock Listed company and hence my role as CEO involves promoting the company to shareholders and potential shareholders around the World while also being involved in setting the strategy of the company and ensuring we are meeting our financial and corporate objectives.

How did Crowd Media Group start?

Crowd Media started in 2010 as a mobile product and marketing company. We built our own products and marketed them across various channels. Back in 2010 TV advertising was still important while these days social media and influencer marketing are now our core channels.

What is Crowd Media Groups goal in 2019?

Our goal in 2019 is to continue building our Agency business across 'brand love' and 'performance' divisions while at the same time maximising the profit from our old legacy mobile business.

What's your definition of an 'influencer''?

In the purest terms, an influencer is someone that is able to truly influence others in their decisions through recommendations on social media channels. In the best industry practice terms, an influencer is a credible content creator that encourages others to become consumers of branded services and products, inspires trends, and stands as a voice over loyal fans on multiple social media channels.

What's your view on micro-influencers compared to celebrity influencers?

I think both micro and celebrity influencers have value, but the effects of each on a campaign are dependent on the clients business goals.

Micro-influencers are great for seeding a campaign and creating guerrilla marketing. They are small enough to have an authentic connection to their audience that is relatable, and their cost is typically affordable. A brand is able to utilise multiple voices within different markets and demographics to bring awareness to their product or service.

Celebrity-influencers have more of an aspirational admiration from their fans. This makes them the perfect ambassador for a brand, ideally on a long-term basis to showcase consistency towards a brand. They should be valued and used parallel to the advertising and PR efforts of the brand they promote.

What are the key metrics an advertiser should consider when working with influencers'?

My teams look at the influencers engagement and authenticity.'We measure the engagement rate of their audience through the reach of each specific posts, whether its on Instagram or YouTube, not just followers due to algorithms.'Today anyone can be an "influencer" thanks to the magnitude of social media channels. When my company casts for clients, they look at the quality of the content and the authenticity of the followers. This is based on if the influencer is an innovator or at least an early adaptor to this industry, which means that they have been building a loyal audience for a minimum of 3-4 years, they post as an expert about an actual topic versus just selfies, and that the audience follows them for inspiration on that niche topic.

How do you ensure that the influencers you decide to work with are a good match for your client?

First and foremost, we do our research. I believe its a mutual journey to create the best campaign possible. This includes a thorough review and consulting session of the brands business goals, campaign goals, mission, vision, marketing initiatives, etc. Once the team has the information, they can begin creating a campaign that will achieve success and finding influencers that fit the aesthetic of the brand and campaign theme. This service on its own is actually what we call our Innovation Lab, and it allows for our company experts in research, creative, design, strategy, marketing, paid social and casting to come together for the client.

How do you measure the results and ROI of your influencer marketing work?

Because we specialise and are able to execute both influencer creative strategy and paid social, we provide as much insight as we can for every unique campaign that we run. This includes numbers of each promotional content created by the influencers, such as interactions, engagement, reach, impressions, clicks, views, and comments. However,'our goal is to educate our clients by creating an overall analysis of the campaign, which includes numbers but also the strengths, weaknesses, and the next steps for continued success through digital marketing.

What does the future of influencer marketing look like in your eyes?

One direction that is becoming clear for the future is that brands have to have'the right digital strategy, not just for creative concepts with credible influencers but for paid social as well. In the future,'you will no longer be able to invest in influencer marketing without amplifying the reach of a branded campaign.'Overall, though, this is an incredibly exciting time for the industry as we are at a moment of change. It is slowly becoming just as important to understand the analytical numbers of each campaign as it is the positioning of the brand itself. We are lucky to have experts that have been in the industry for years and that can use their insight into the progression of influencer marketing to grow the success of our clients for the future.

Last word: A recommendation, an idea, a quote to live by?

  • The stronger the wind, the stronger the tree
  • Cost is the enemy

If you would like to find out more about our AP Publisher Development Team or would like to take part in our Publisher Spotlight' series please get in touch with our Publisher Development Team'today.

If you would like to find out how our team of affiliate marketing experts can help grow your affiliate program,'get in touch with our team today.