On Workweek, practitioner creators can expect CPMs up to five times the industry average, according to Ryan, with some newsletters netting around $75 per 1,000 readers. Two of its top creators are banking over nine figures in revenue per year, while others can make five figures annually with just one send per week.
Workweek takes a percentage of the revenue it generates across this ad network, although the cut varies, according to Ryan.
Now that any practitioner creator can create their own newsletter, the expansion should grow the volume of content created and shared, both inside and outside the Workweek platform, helping to more quickly scale its audience.
The strategy is a bet on the growing prominence of B2B creators, whose field combines the efficacy of creator marketing with the lucrative returns of B2B advertising. Other companies in the space, including Marketing Brew and Smooth Media, are making similar investments in these so-called knowledge creators.
The strategy is not without its challenges, according to Brian Morrissey, industry analyst and author of The Rebooting.
Primarily, the amount of capital Workweek has raised means it will have to generate a substantial exit to justify its investment, per Morrissey. Following the fundraising excesses of the last decade, in recent years media startups have tried to raise as little funding as possible. The $36.5 million Workweek has tallied is by no means exorbitant, but it is nonetheless substantial.
The five-year-old company also faces friction in the discovery process, per Morrissey. By dent of its exclusive nature, showcasing content only to approved members of its franchises, Workweek content is not highly visible on purpose. Its decision to operate as a federation of franchises, rather than under the Workweek brand, also complicates that effort.
Enabling more practitioner creators to create and distribute content should mitigate these issues, according to Ryan.
“In the age of the For You algorithm, having relevant vertical social networks for professionals is a necessity,” said Ryan.
