The Creator Funnel: How to Run Content Creators Like a Real Part of Your Business | Sarah Colgate
Most operators treat content creators like a favour.
A free ticket, a vague hope of a post, fingers crossed.
Then they are surprised when nothing comes of it.
I get why. When I ran Aquaduck we had the same instinct. Endless requests for a free ticket, maybe they had a decent following so we would say yes and we would never see a single useful photo. No reel. No tag. Nothing we could use.
That is not a creator strategy. That is giving away seats.
So when I worked with the team at Hot Air Balloon Gold Coast & Cairns we developed a real strategy and funnel to capture content and secure imagery and video we could use long term. It worked and since then the Hot Air Team has built an Ai agent to run their creator program.
At Arival in Brisbane this year I sat in the session on creators and social commerce and operators like Hot Air Balloon are getting real value because they are not winging it. They have a funnel. They make creators go through steps, same as any other part of the business. So let me walk you through how to build one.
Step one: stop saying yes to everyone
When a creator asks for a free experience, you do not say yes on the spot. You send them into your funnel.
Think of it like a job application, because it sort of is.
You want to know their numbers, their audience, and whether their followers are actually your customers. A creator with 80,000 followers in another country is worth less to you than a local with 4,000 who all live an hour from your tour.
Set up the steps. A simple form. What do you post, who follows you, what would you deliver, and what do you want in return. The good ones will fill it in. The ones just after a free day out will not bother. That filter alone saves you a fortune in wasted seats.
Step two: put your offer out and let them come to you
There is a model called a collab map, and I like it because it flips the work onto the creator.
Instead of you chasing creators, you put out your offer. Here is what we give, here is what we expect, here is how it works. Then it is up to the creators to raise their hand. The ones who want in, opt in. You are no longer begging. You are choosing.
This is calmer and it scales.
You set the terms once and let the right people come through the door.
Step three: agree the model and get it in writing
I have said this before and I will keep saying it. Pay your creators and put it in a contract.
You have a few options, you can mix and match;
A flat fee plus a free ticket, then a bonus tied to views, so you reward the content that performs.
A free ticket with collaborator post where the reel lands on both accounts and you accept or decline.
A free ticket plus $500 and life long use of anything they create on your tour. $500 is the payment for their content.
A free ticket plus an affiliate code, a 5% promo, tracked, so they earn when their audience books. Affiliate is making a comeback and it ties their reward straight to your bookings.
Whatever you choose, if you purchase the content you need the rights to use that content for the long term. If that reel is still selling your tour in two years, you want to own the right to keep running it. A handshake does not give you that. A contract does.
This is the step operators skip. Do not be that operator.
Step four: make the content do its job
A reel that just looks nice is a missed opportunity. Build the booking into it.
Have the tour information inside the content. When someone comments, reply instantly with a DM and send them the itinerary. Many creators set up an auto reply so every comment becomes a conversation while the person is still keen. That is where a casual viewer turns into a booking.
And focus on the right numbers. Saves and shares, not likes. A save is someone planning to book. A share is someone recommending you to a friend. Those are the signals that turn into money.
One more thing on the format. Sub accounts and personal-style accounts get more traction than polished company pages. In social search, brand accounts barely show up. A real person on a real account is what people find and trust. So lean into creators and consider a more personal voice for your own channels too.
Step five: track it on the booking, every time
This is the step that separates a real strategy from a nice idea.
Put it in your marketing plan. Decide which creators you are working with, what each one costs, and what you expect back. Then track it where it counts, on the booking. Add a line to your booking form asking how they heard about you. Tag every booking that came from a creator.
When I ran Aquaduck I tracked everything. Capacity across every day and every tour. My channel mix, direct versus OTA and agents, reviews every single month. That discipline is how we shifted bookings from around 4% direct to 47% direct, and lifted net profit per passenger from one dollar to three.
Content creators are no different. If you do not measure which ones drive bookings, you are guessing. And guessing is expensive.
What to do in the next 30 minutes
Build the bones of your funnel today. It does not need to be fancy.
Write down your four steps.
The intake form questions you will ask every creator.
The offer you will put out for them to opt into.
The payment model you will use, and a note to sort out a contract.
And the one line you will add to your booking form to track it.
That is a creator funnel. Not a free ticket and a prayer. A system that brings you content every week and sends people straight to your direct booking page.
For me, the operators who treat content as a tracked part of the business, the same way they track capacity and cashflow, are the ones who will pull bookings back from the OTAs. You can be one of them.
Want to see where your direct booking channel is strong and where the resellers are quietly taking your margin?
