Matador Network is at the forefront of innovation in the creator industry.
The independent travel publisher has evolved dramatically throughout its nearly 20-year history. It’s still a digital media outlet with some of the most vibrant travel journalism out there, such as a deep dive into the economics of wolf tourism and endlessly stunning roundups on the best destinations for solo travelers or the best small mountain towns.
But it’s also a brand partnership powerhouse routinely collaborating with creators on projects such as surprise getawayswith Southwest Airlines or setting up a skate ramp in the mountains for Shaun White to drive to in a Jeep Wrangler. If it’s engaging and memorable and it involves creators, Matador is probably involved.
Enter CREATOR: The Podcast, in which Matador Network CEO Ross Borden interviews creators in travel and other industries about everything from how they book brand deals to their family life to mistakes they made along the way. The first two episodes feature photographer Chris Burkard and travel creator Monet Hambrick. We chatted with Borden to learn more about his latest endeavor.
Tell us about CREATOR: The Podcast. What made you want to launch this show? What do you hope listeners/viewers will get out of it?
The podcast is really about the creator’s journey. Each episode features a highly successful creator in fields like travel, photography and parenting, and we explore how they got their start, challenges they’ve faced and lessons they’ve learned along the way. It’s about the entrepreneurial mindset needed to make it in this industry.
Since there’s no single path to becoming a successful creator, my hope is that our audience is able to get a well-rounded perspective on the industry, become inspired and apply some of the wisdom of our guests toward building their own career.
In the trailer for the podcast, you say that you think creators are the “future of all global advertising.” Do you really think it will be all advertising? How fast will that transition occur and what will it look like?
Disruption is coming to the advertising industry and big ad companies are going to be disrupted by the creator economy. It’s not going to happen overnight, but yes, I believe basically all global media spend will be creator-first over the next 10-15 years. Currently, major brands spend millions of dollars to create a TV commercial, and then millions more to buy airtime for it.
Increasingly, they’re realizing there’s more value in spreading that spend across multiple creators and producing content they can use in a 360 campaign on TV, streaming platforms and social media. The content is more authentic and performs better as well, typically outpacing celebrity endorsements for return on investment. Old-school TV commercials are not just overly expensive to produce, but also overly thought out, overly debated, maybe even over-measured.
We’re already seeing big advertising agencies asking, “What’s our creator strategy?” and it’s only going to continue.
From the interviews you’ve done so far, what are some common threads you’ve noticed among the experiences of these successful creators?
One thing that has come up a lot is that the quality of followers and your relationship with them is far more important than the total follower count. The overall followers one has is not really necessarily indicative of the revenue they earn by being a creator. That’s because creators are increasingly monetizing through a variety of revenue streams.
Long-term ambassadorships and relationships with brands are more lucrative for creators than one-off posts. Creators are also writing books and using their platforms to promote them, then using the success of the book to parlay into new brand deals.
They’re building a content flywheel with different formats, from social media to showing up at events, that they can tap into for lucrative partnerships with brands. And some are creating their own brands too. Cole Walliser, who is in an upcoming episode, launched his own coffee brand.
What’s something one of the upcoming guests on the podcast told you that really surprised you?
A lot of our guests have been happy to share financial figures, and I’ve been surprised by how much creators are making. It’s extra surprising because I own an agency that puts together brand partnerships for creators. But with books, events and all the irons in the fire I mentioned, some of the creators we’ve had on the show shared that they’ve made more than $2 million on brand deals.
It’s also surprising that almost all of our guests are earning more than they did in their 9-to-5. You’d think some might have taken a pay cut for a life they find more fulfilling, but pretty much across the board the opposite is true. After a period of adjustment, they’re earning more now than they did before.
Matador Network has a history of working with creators. Can you tell us about that?
Matador Network was created as a platform for travel creators even before the terms “creator” or “influencer” appeared. We started as a place to share travel stories and grew to become the largest independent travel publisher on the internet. In 2021, we launched Matador Creators, which has rapidly grown to a community of more than 60,000 creators who can apply for and bid on opportunities from brands. This year we’ll top a cumulative total of over $100 million in brand deals.