At just 22, Asti Wagner turned a problem she’d experienced first-hand as a creator into Invyted, a tech platform simplifying how brands and influencers collaborate. Frustrated by the endless DMs, manual bookings and lack of structure in influencer marketing, Asti set out to build something that felt as seamless as booking a restaurant table, but designed specifically for creators and brands. Today, Invyted sits at the intersection of authenticity, data and community, powering smarter, more transparent partnerships and positioning Asti as one of the young female founders shaping the future of digital marketing.
- You founded Invyted at just 22, what inspired you to launch the platform, and what problem in the influencer space were you determined to solve?
I actually experienced the problem first-hand as a food influencer. Getting complimentary meals at restaurants was amazing, but the process to book those meals was so manual. Normally, anyone can book a table in seconds through platforms like OpenTable or Sevenrooms but for influencers, it’s all done through endless Instagram DMs or email threads. I remember thinking, why isn’t there a proper booking system for this? Once a restaurant confirmed, they’d still have to add you to their usual system anyway, which just felt so inefficient. That’s really what inspired me to build Invyted, a platform to make the whole collaboration experience smoother for both influencers and brands.
2. Influencer marketing has exploded in recent years. From your perspective, what’s driving brands to invest such a large share of their budgets into creators?
I think it really comes down to authenticity and trust. People aren’t resonating as much to traditional ads, but they still listen to people they follow and relate to online. Influencers have built genuine communities with their followers, so when they recommend something, it feels much more personal rather than promotional. I think brands have realised this and know that partnering with creators doesn’t just drive awareness but actual conversion. It’s also much more measurable since you can track social engagement and analytics, so brands can have a true sense of what partnerships are working for them.
3. How have you seen the definition of influence evolve – especially as audiences increasingly value authenticity over polish?
I think influence has completely evolved with authenticity playing a key role in this shift. Audiences and followers can spot inauthenticity straight away, so the creators who are growing now are the ones who are relatable, honest, and consistent. It’s less about how clean and polished your content looks, and more about showing the raw, unfiltered versions which allow people to trust you a lot more. I think this shift has also really changed how brands approach collaborations too, making sure they are collaborating with influencers who resonate with their brand values.
4. Micro and nano influencers are often said to have more impact than celebrity campaigns. Why do you think that is, and how should brands approach these partnerships differently?
I completely agree, and the industry is definitely seeing brands tap into more micro and nano influencers since they often have more impact since their audiences are genuinely engaged. Their followers know them, trust them, and see their recommendations as real and personal. At Invyted, we really encourage brands to work with a large number of micro and nano influencers as opposed to one macro influencer or celebrity so they can tap into different audiences and ultimately drive wider spread awareness.
For these types of collaborations, brands really need to give creators their creative freedom with their content as opposed to being super strict on a brief. Creators know their audience and what performs well, so when brands enforce on specific messaging that ultimately may sound fake, the content never performs as well.
5. At Invyted, how do you help brands identify the right creator fit? Is it more data science, intuition, or a mix of both?
Invyted is an exclusive community of vetted influencers, where everyone needs to apply to the platform before joining. We only accept creators with over 10,000 followers on Instagram or TikTok who align with our core categories including food and drink, travel, lifestyle, fashion, beauty, fitness, and family.
Once influencers have been approved, they get access to our exclusive collaboration opportunities, where they can request to collaborate with various brands directly through our platform. Brands always have the final say on who they collaborate with, and we make that process as informed as possible by sharing detailed social data, including influencer niche, follower counts, engagement rate and audience demographic breakdowns. We ultimately want to make sure brands have everything they need to make confident, data- driven decisions that also feel like the right creative fit based on their specific criteria.
6. What metrics actually matter when it comes to measuring the ROI of influencer marketing today?
I think the metrics that really matter depend on the goal of the campaign. At Invyted, we give brands access to all the core social metrics in real time including content views, reach, shares, likes and comments, because these numbers are key to understanding performance. However we always say it’s not just about reach, it’s about relevance. The best ROI comes when the creator’s audience actually cares about the brand they’re promoting, and to see that long term impact, brands need to be working with influencers consistently. This will ensure the brand stays top of mind, appears regularly in people’s feeds, and builds ongoing awareness and engagement over time.
7. What are the most common mistakes brands still make when it comes to influencer strategy – and how can they avoid them?
One of the biggest mistakes brands still make is expecting influencer marketing to always go viral. Social media is unpredictable and brands need to understand that timing, algorithms, and audience behaviour all play a huge role, so it’s not guaranteed that every post will be a hit. Another common issue is brands pushing products that aren’t quite ready to be shared, so if the product doesn’t deliver, no amount of influencer promotion will help.
We also see brands assuming influencers will post a huge number of deliverables without proper compensation. At Invyted, we encourage creators to share a minimum of 2x Instagram Stories or 1x TikTok video if they enjoy their collaboration, because forcing content is never authentic, and influencers just won’t want to collaborate with the brand. We’ve actually seen that the less forceful a brand is with the influencer, typically the more content is posted.
I mentioned this earlier but brands not allowing creative freedom is a huge downfall. Influencers know their audiences best and the campaigns that perform highly are the ones where creators have the trust and freedom to make the content feel natural and genuine to their followers. The more trust a brand gives an influencer, the better!!
8. As a young female founder in tech, what challenges have you faced in building credibility and growing your business in such a fast-moving industry?
When I first started Invyted, I found that people would sometimes underestimate me because of my age or gender, from both investors and brands, which was difficult since I had to really try my best to prove myself and the business. However now having operated for over 2 years, working with thousands of influencers and hundreds of brands, we’ve built up more credibility and strong brand believers which has really helped supercharge our growth.
At the same time, the industry is moving incredibly fast so myself and my team need to be agile and confident while constantly learning on the go!
9. How do you personally balance the creative side of influencer marketing with the analytical and commercial demands of running a tech platform?
Influencer marketing is such a creative space although brands are increasingly becoming more in tune with the analytics and results behind influencer campaigns. I think the creative side has to come first, letting influencers lead with the content because they know what resonates best with their audience. Then the data comes in to validate the results and help brands understand the real impact. Invyted really sits at that intersection between both allowing influencers to have creative freedom with campaigns but having smart technology to track the content and metrics post collaboration.
10. Looking ahead, how do you see influencer marketing evolving over the next five years – and what role do you hope Invyted will play in shaping that future?
I think influencer marketing is going to become even more of a core part of every brand’s marketing strategy. I definitely think there will be a much bigger focus on authenticity with brands increasingly relying on them to build trust and community over long periods of time, as opposed to a one off collaboration.
At Invyted, we can be the go to platform to power these always on, authentic collaborations globally, giving influencers access to exclusive opportunities whilst sharing brands the true data behind each partnership. Our goal is to shape the future by making influencer marketing easier, more transparent, and more scalable for everyone involved.
