In this episode of Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast, titled "Mastering Influencer Marketing in Regulated Industries: Navigating Compliance, Aligning Brand Goals, and Driving Success," host Kerry Curran sits down with Joelle Moroney, CEO of Creator Collective, to uncover how regulated brands can leverage influencer marketing effectively. Joelle shares her expertise on balancing authentic creator content with the strict compliance needs of industries like financial services and healthcare. She details the steps to develop influencer strategies that align with brand goals while staying within legal boundaries, including selecting vetted creators, crafting clear brand guidelines, and utilizing tech platforms for monitoring compliance. From aligning with brand safety standards to achieving measurable ROI, this episode provides valuable insights for leaders looking to navigate the complexities of influencer marketing in highly regulated spaces.

Podcast transcript

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:01.067)

And welcome Joelle, please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background and extensive experience.

Joelle Moroney (00:08.724)

Hi, Kerry. So great to be here today. Joelle Moroney, CEO of Creator Collective. We are an advisory boutique firm working with creators, empowering creators, curating technology, as well as a global brand strategy for social impact.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:26.081)

Excellent. So I know, Joelle, you've been in the, you've had a front row seat really in the, to the evolution of influencer and creator and ambassador strategies. So share a bit about what you've seen and how it's changed.

Joelle Moroney (00:42.996)

Absolutely. So thanks for that tee-up for sure. Starting in, what I would call the first-gen version of influencer marketing in the creator economy with Timing and Conde Nast whereby it was at the time more celebrities and editors that were endorsing and or promoting the best in the breed for services and products through editorial and thought leadership.

I was lucky enough to be with InStyle, RealSimple, and Gourmet at the time. And then evolved into analytics, right? Because we all have to monetize the work that we do, which is of course a revenue boost platform. And in doing that, I went into what was cutting-edge technology with Data Zoo which was acquired by Roku, as you may know. And then also of course Yahoo. So.

Now here we are fast forward into what I would call 2.0, 3.0 creator version with influencer marketing. I feel that this will continue to proliferate the marketplace as we're looking to have influencers and creators tell brand stories in a very authentic manner that lands with their audiences.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (01:55.821)

Yeah, so as you've seen the explosion in the 2.0, as you said, what has been the most exciting to you?

Joelle Moroney (02:04.268)

Well, when I look at this, I think it's more about the fact that we're all creators in our own right. And it's also about letting authentic voices ring clear in verticals that we all care about, whether it's finance, food, travel, technology, there are ways to lean in and learn more about the best places to go, the best places to eat, the best guidance and principles in terms of your investments. We know for a fact that people are now leaning on TikTok and Instagram for advice with their healthcare as they are with their finances. So this is a very powerful platform and the accrued economy is starting to drive not just Fortune 500 companies, but also smaller companies as well.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (02:56.237)

No, excellent. And you're right. We've seen just how prevalent and pervasive really the TikTok people are getting your rate, financial advice, and healthcare advice. When I was involved with some research last year and actually a number one source reported that, in the survey, the number one source for information related to financial services was actually influencers. So at first, it made me a little bit nervous.

Because obviously, you don't want your Tick-8, you know, just a TikTok celebrity giving you investment advice, but then realizing, you know, it looked into it more and it's, there's so much even just general 101, let's get, you know, Dave Ramsey type of, let's get your finances in order type of, type of content out there that is useful, valuable and beneficial.

And to your point, having that, the brand kind of drives that conversation or builds the framework for that conversation can be so powerful for brands, financial institutions that want to build those connections with those audiences that are consuming that information and trying to learn and change their financial road.

Talk about, so I love about kind of what your POV and your experience, what you've, you've shared with me is really how you help those kind of more highly regulated brands and institutions build those influencer strategies through that really authentic brand storytelling through brand ambassadors. So share a bit of how you build that framework and kind of start to make sure that you're helping brands connect and drive that audience engagement.

Joelle Moroney (04:59.05)

Absolutely. So just Kerry, there is a little lag. I don't know if it's on your side or my side with the wifi. You were freezing up a couple of times.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (05:04.535)

Yeah, it's okay, it'll be okay. It downloads to your computer and then.

Joelle Moroney (05:07.606)

Okay, cool.

Yeah, so I'm glad you brought that up because I do specialize in highly regulated industries, financial services in particular, as well as healthcare. And I say that because there are very strict guidelines that the creators must adhere to, right? In terms of making sure that they are landing within the guardrails of the guidelines for the company. Also, FTC guidelines we have to be mindful of as part of that.

And there are very experienced creators that we can curate to make sure that we know they are tried and true and also vetted properly within the selection. So I work with, again, empowering creators directly via talent agents and or creators directly that I have relationships with. Also curating different tech platforms that specialize in those particular areas to make sure that we are properly vetting these creators.

It is important because what we're finding more than ever, the CFO and CEO are very concerned, especially in our economic and political environment, that the influencers are going to stay on brand reputation, which is critical, certainly with financial services and different guidelines. And when you're providing this sort of advice, whether it's medical and or financial, there have to be some disclosures.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (06:25.177)

Mm-hmm.

Joelle Moroney (06:35.626)

I found in my work with healthcare that there were often ISI guidelines that we would have to put through the feed, which may look like a sort of impediment to some of the actual creator flow, but it's part of the disclosure and it lands well. It's fine. The audience knows that that's an important constituent to that as well.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (06:56.483)

That's great. And so when you're working with brands, you want to make sure you're tying it back to everything based on their business objectives. know creator and influencer, it can be a shiny objective. We need to do this. I saw a TikTok is big, but talk about how you make sure it really kind of connects to that, that is what they're trying to achieve with their other marketing strategies.

Joelle Moroney (07:17.804)

Yes. Yes. So I did mention that first and foremost, we want to make sure that we are building out a strategy that is in direct alignment with the business objectives. And then also the key metrics for success. What do the brands care about? What are they being held accountable for? This is where ultimately the ROI comes in and certainly the revenue model. But what we will also do is build out a brand brief so that we are very clear on the targets, the personas, and who they're looking to reach.

As well as the actual creator that will be representing the brand specifically. Then we look at the narrative that the client, in my case client, but a brand will want to make sure they're communicating to their audiences, keeping it tight and simple so that we are being very efficient with the creator's content and storytelling. The third element is looking at KPIs, right? Because we want to make sure that we're monetizing this and looking at the analytics.

Often I recommend or we look at a hybrid KPI because we're looking to build out awareness, certainly with revenue boost in your platform, you're doing this regularly with different clients, but we're also making sure that we're monetizing this from a building a greater awareness, upper funnel, as well as lower funnel conversions. That said, that will also help predicate what type of creator and who we want to align with the brand because their following will help with the engagement.

And for example, there are often brands that want to have awareness with a mega or a celebrity. Let's say Dunkin' Donuts, for example, with Charli D'Amelio. But then you're also going to want to have lower funnel conversion and have micro, and macro influencers who are regular customers at Dunkin' to share their story because we find call to action works well … 

Kerry Curran, RBMA (08:45.571)

Yeah.

Joelle Moroney (09:09.998)

… when we have audiences that are super hyper-engaged with the micro and mega influencers.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (09:17.261)

No, that's great. And so you're working with the brand team at the, the, the marketing team and kind of brand lead at the con, the client side, and then building that brief, making sure you're aligned on the creators and the KPIs. And then, you know, talk about kind of how you help them navigate choosing the right creators or influencers to be part of the program?

Joelle Moroney (09:43.466)

Absolutely. So once we've identified all of the different sorts of framework elements, we then start to look at the influencer discovery process. And a lot of it can be a heavy lift on, certainly on my side, I have different constituents that I work with based on verticals specifically for experts. If we want a financial expert, for example, I tap into my Yahoo Finance category, talent recruitments.

But also looking at those tech platforms, I mentioned that curate the different influencers, most recently with Lincia in terms of being an advisor for them. There are, let's say, over a million influencers on the tech platform. There are maybe 20 million in the ecosystem, and two million are actually making money. But what we're doing is using AI tech recognition for logos to look at text logos.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (10:27.064)

Mm-hmm.

Joelle Moroney (10:38.47)

… and also just throughout their social feed, the affiliates that they may already have with the current brand. But most importantly, we're also looking at category exclusivity. We're looking at availability. So often you'll pick a sample set of creators to then build that out so that we know that they're on point with the brand strategist and build out different lookalikes to make sure that we have enough influencers that are properly curated so that we know to prove out the success of a campaign.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (11:11.083)

Excellent. And I know you also talked about diversity being an important aspect of kind of building out that mix of ambassadors and creators.

Joelle Moroney (11:21.582)

100%. So we definitely make sure that with every program that we recommend and build our strategy for we have at least 20 % of the creator portfolio filling into the diversity areas, depending on what the brand focuses and their target and persona. It's important to have a different share of voice, and different perspectives as we build out these programs.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (11:39.683)

Mm-hmm.

Excellent. And so as you're building out, especially in the heavily regulated industries, and you mentioned how to make sure you have all of the ISI data, but how do you communicate with the creators to make sure they really understand the brand safety guidelines? I think that's what I would guess is one of the biggest hesitations for specially regulated brands to want to kind of test into the influencer space.

Joelle Moroney (12:00.654)

Hmm.

That's a great point. I think we might've been talking earlier, there's this fine line between allowing the creator to have a free license to build out their creative and keep it very real and genuine and authentic with their audience, but then also staying adhering to the guidelines that are presented to them within the brand brief when we're working with the creator specifically.

But it is important that they do stay within those guidelines when speaking to the different brand safety call-outs for a particular program. And they know that going in, but it's also a part of the curation and monitoring that will take shape with the tech platforms to make sure that they're adhering to these guidelines. And the content is reviewed and it is often reviewed by the brand specifically so that we're making sure that we're on point before we go live.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (13:09.537)

Excellent. So, you know, with creator content, you're reaching their followers and the algorithms are not always the most dependable from that perspective. So it seems it's become more prevalent to add paid media amplification to expand the reach. How are you going about building that into all of your strategies?

Joelle Moroney (13:32.394)

Absolutely, Kerry. So part of this is we know that we can build out different types of models in working with creators. The organic is fluid. We can estimate and do predictive modeling on impressions and engagement, but it's the paid media amplification boosting, and whitelisting from the influencers handle where we know that we can provide that guaranteed ROI, whatever the KPRs are specifically, whether it's impressions, clicks, or engagements.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (13:44.738)

Mm-hmm.

Joelle Moroney (14:01.518)

So that's where we leverage those best assets that we know the creative landed super well in terms of that content engagement with their audience. And then we can build out tests, iterate, and learn what is the best creative assets to leverage into the paid media amplification. And in most cases, we can find 3X lift by leveraging that influencer's handle to do that.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (14:25.037)

Yeah, so smart. it just extends the kind of value and usage of all of that unique content.

Joelle Moroney (14:32.578)

That's right. Another component to that is it's just such an efficient way to build out content for O &O channels, for CTV, for programmatic, for display, for recruitment, and for internal. I've done this with other financial services companies where they're doing this with their B2B channel. The influencer may or may not boost within their platform or externally, but they were also using those assets for webinars.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (14:38.009)

Mm-hmm. That's great. That's great. I mean, there's so much value and the whole benefit to the influencer and ambassador is to make it more relatable and kind of allow the creators to build that promotion, but also share value with their audiences. So it sounds, I know it's easy and amazing and kind of turnkey, but there are still a lot of challenges, especially, with brands that are kind of just getting newer to this. So what are some of the bigger challenges that you've seen and run into that you've had to kind of navigate and help clients with?

Joelle Moroney (15:39.638)

Yeah, I think that's a fair point. And I was sharing with you too, that just being at Adweek recently in New York, it was evident that most brands realize this is table safe. They should be leveraging the creator economy and influencers to help boost their overall marketing mix. It's proving the ROI. So that's one of the biggest challenges. And part of it is yes, on the creator and or agency tech platform … 

Kerry Curran, RBMA (16:00.44)

Yeah.

Joelle Moroney (16:08.48)

… models, but it's also on the brand to have that tight API integration with third-party measurement, looking at media mix modeling and attribution to make sure that there's synchronization so that there aren't any inefficiencies in the way in which there's tracking. So that requires a media optimization team to thoughtfully look at the plan to build out that revenue and make sure that we're driving the conversions and or brand lift.

Whatever the case may be, whatever tools they may be using specifically. often there will be recommendations, but then it's more about the implementation that is very much a partnership opportunity. And I think there's a lot of growth that needs to happen in that particular area.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (16:53.453)

Yeah, definitely. Meaning, tying back the investment to actual business results, I know is always a challenge for any media strategy. And especially these days, I think brands are more and more leaning into kind of those lower funnel direct response initiatives because you can measure the click and the web form complete or the purchase. But to your point, it's like this, the kind of...

Awareness and engagement strategy-building aspects are so important and I think more brands should be looking at brand lift studies as part of their measurements.

Joelle Moroney (17:29.346)

That's right. And we know that I think eMarketer just gave a data statistic that there will be 20 billion dollars invested in the creator economy over this next year. That is extraordinary. And that, in my opinion, creators are becoming many media companies in their own right. So back to our original part of the conversation, whether it was Time Inc. in Stoudal, Symbiocor, or May as media companies.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (17:39.928)

Yeah.

Joelle Moroney (17:54.794)

Now these creators are individual media companies. So it will be who these brands and or agencies to not lean in, but to learn how best to work with them and to to have a middle zone. Right. Again, we want to make sure that this is landing real and genuinely aligning with the brands, but also within the context of it making the most sense with their brand safety guidelines and what they're building their trust and loyalty with their …

Kerry Curran, RBMA (18:07.043)

Mm-hmm. 

Joelle Moroney (18:24.014)

… consumers in an authentic way.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (18:26.753)

No, you're so right. You know, when I speak with a lot of kinds of leaders and the influencer and creator space and over and over, I keep hearing that brands, that's the biggest challenge. Let the creators create the brands they want to control. They're used to, you know, being part of the production and having the actors follow a script. So it's really hard to take that step back and think about, you know, the creators know their audiences, they know what resonates, they know how to get that engagement and the shares. so it's trusting the creator to be the expert on your point. And a lot of them now have their camera crew and their own producers. So it is just a more nimble approach to the more traditional scripted production.


And sure, there probably is are still scripted points, but at the end of the day, as you said, as long as it follows the brand guidelines, and especially you can include any legal requirements, whether it's financial or healthcare related, let the creators create, because that's what's going to be most successful for your strategy and execution.

Joelle Moroney (19:49.418)

Exactly. And then just really completely holistically leveling up the fact that there's a real opportunity to make a social impact in doing this. And I've seen this firsthand with a creator, I work with Sheena Malwani, you know, where she will go on for the American Heart Association to work with the TikTok platform and do a fundraiser live just spontaneously. And when she can do that, …

Kerry Curran, RBMA (19:57.527)

Yeah, for sure.

Joelle Moroney (20:16.064)

… and engage your audience to garner revenue for the greater good, and then have a TikTok that will then match those donations. The numbers are exceptional and the revenue can be significant. And I think that's where the kind of spreading the joy aspect of the work that we do can have a lot of social impact on a global level with brands that want to lean into those different categories. So.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (20:29.145)

Mm-hmm.

Joelle Moroney (20:43.416)

When I'm working with brands specifically, I think it is important to have a sustainability message and or social impact like a city does with No Kid Hungry. There are just so many different opportunities to find real authentic, genuine connections that are driving revenue. Yes, from a profitability perspective, but certainly also to generate social impact.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (21:06.679)

Yeah, no, I love that. That's excellent. And so, Joelle, I know, thank you for sharing so much of your expertise with us. One last question is, what is your recommendation for a brand that's ready to get started, especially one in a regulated industry?

Joelle Moroney (21:25.686)

Yes, I think first and foremost, it's finding a trusted advisor to do that. found great success in having a lot of experience in different verticals, platforms, content, areas to monetize specifically for that brand, finding the vertical of focus in a brand and or tech platform that will help deliver on the KPIs that are most important.

But then really aligning with the activation and execution team to do that, to see it through. It's also important that there's an always-on methodology, not just a one-and-done because that can lead to more inefficiencies in doing that.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:04.801)

Excellent, and let the creators create.

Joelle Moroney (22:07.498)

Let the creators create and have their authentic voice shine through because consumers are super smart.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:11.747)

Yeah.

Kerry Curran, RBMA (22:15.171)

Definitely. Well, thank you so much, Joelle. I really enjoyed having you on today and thank you.

Joelle Moroney (22:22.061)

Thanks, Kerry, appreciate it.