For many young people, the internet has been all they've known their entire lives. However, in the grand scheme of things, the World Wide Web is still relatively young and constantly in a state of flux, and it's only within recent years that its true potential for creativity and marketing has been discovered and exploited. Traditional advertising campaigns have fallen by the wayside and social media influencers and content creators are now being recognized by businesses as being THE hottest new way to get the attention of the masses when pushing their products and services.

That being said, an exciting new digital app – developed right here on Long Island, New York – is coming to the forefront in this regard, creating an effective means of matching brands and influencers to create highly effective and lucrative digital advertising campaigns.

Invite is a new app that streamlines the process of communication between brands and influencers, helping to forge sponsorships. It helps brands find the right influencers and to quantify what they're doing; currently, many advertisers know that social media awareness is important, but they may not know who the right people are to hook their campaigns up with, how much to spend, or their expectations when it comes to results.

After all, with so many influencers out there peddling their digital wares, it's vital for a brand to understand the reach these individuals have on social media, and if the circles they run in are indeed the circles that they wish to advertise within.

Invite is available for all Apple devices, with Android and web-based versions currently in development, with plans to launch them in early 2025.

Invite Technologies, Inc. was started back in 2017 by co-founders Anthony Napolitano and Brianna Russo. The Invite app itself has been in development for the past 4 years, and after numerous bouts of testing and fine-tuning it launched earlier this year, immediately turning heads in the business and social media spheres.

"Invite is a technology app that is connecting brands and influencers and content creators," Anthony said. "The two parties are matched up for social media marketing campaigns on all the major social media channels, including Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest...practically any platform where they can get word out about exciting new goods and services, creating mutually beneficial and highly effective marketing campaigns."

Previously, Anthony was a biology major and doing research at Harvard Medical School with dreams of becoming a doctor; meanwhile, Brianna was working on her Master's Degree at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. But circumstances eventually paired the two entrepreneurs up and set them down completely different paths, and they found themselves venturing forth into the technology sector instead.

“Things just kind of fell into place, and we just noticed an extreme need in the marketplace to facilitate this connection between the two parties, that being brands and influencers,” Brianna said.

And aside from his business instincts, Anthony was also quick to point out that his faith was a motivating factor for his pivot into a completely different field as well, humbly noting that "God had saved my life and put me down this new path."

Invite Technologies, Inc. co-founders Anthony Napolitano and Brianna Russo (third and fourth from left) speaking at a recent Discover Long Island panel.
 

The evolution of what would one day become the Invite app has taken several twists and turns over the years, but with help from advisors and professors – as well as the fact that the tech-savvy Brianna had been studying the concept of artificial intelligence as far back as 2016 – they managed to fine-tune their concept to promote effective advertising synergy in the digital age.

Response to the app so far has been overwhelmingly positive, Anthony said, both from brand and social media influencer standpoints.

“On the brand side, it's a way for them to be able to vet, negotiate, and get posts approved all in one place, and manage their campaigns all in that one space as well,” he said. “And for influencers, it's helping to connect them with brands and it protects them from not getting paid and being able to charge the right amount. The Invite app helps both sides in this equation.”

“So far, we've had campaigns between $100 and $15,000, and there's no such thing as a campaign being too big or too small,” Brianna added. “It's an easy tool to utilize, it has a nice, streamlined interface that makes it very intuitive and simple to use.”

The versatility of advertising possibilities when it comes to Invite is not limited to merely product-based businesses; indeed, just about any field can benefit greatly from having social media advertising, including local restaurants, companies, boutiques, real estate agents, interior designers, home builders and more.

“Just about any business can benefit from having a relationship with influencers,” Anthony said. “This ecosystem is called the ‘Creator Economy,’ and the buying and selling of these goods and services through social media is exploding now. Last April, Goldman-Sachs projected that this field was a $250 billion industry, and by 2027, it's projected to go as high as $470 billion.”

To find out more about the invite app, please visit https://www.invitestars.com.