Meet Antoinette Smith, Onboarding Operations Manager

What’s your role on Raptive’s onboarding team?

For the past five years I’ve been working to onboard new creators, and I’ve recently stepped up into a position that’s more of a product manager role. It’s exciting because I can take everything I’ve learned and apply it to improving the onboarding process for creators and our internal teams. 

The onboarding journey is designed to be smooth, stress-free, and supportive from day one. I’m focused on creating a great experience for incoming creators by doing things like making our onboarding platform more user friendly and maintaining an updated information library. 

Each creator business is so unique. How do you personalize the onboarding experience?

Every creator is different, so personalization is essential. We find the best and most efficient ways to squeeze in as much information as possible without overwhelming them. If someone is under contract with another ad provider, we help them navigate the transition. 

We also tailor each ad setup to match their priorities whenever possible, whether that means supporting shorter posts, customizing homepage ads, or disabling ads for logged-in readers. Our goal is always to meet creators where they are.

How do you hope creators feel at the end of the onboarding process?

I always want creators to feel supported and championed. Onboarding isn’t a series of checklists. It’s listening, understanding what each creator cares about, and helping them see all the ways we’re in their corner. Especially in a time where AI and shifting algorithms can feel overwhelming, we want creators to know that we’re fighting for them.

A successful onboarding means the creator finishes the process feeling confident, excited, and already seeing the value of joining Raptive. Their ads are live, their strategy is clear, and they know where to go for support and insights. 

What do you enjoy most about welcoming new creators into the Raptive community?

I love seeing their relief and excitement when they realize they’re not alone anymore. So many of the creators we onboard are solo entrepreneurs or have small teams.

Creators pour so much into their work, and it’s incredibly rewarding to tell them, ‘We’ve got you.’

Helping them earn more money, feel valued, and be part of a thriving community—that’s the best part.

What’s something new creators are surprised to learn about Raptive?

Many creators are surprised by how much we offer beyond ads and by how many people are working behind the scenes to support them. So many creators have been creating content for ten years or more, and maybe they feel like they’ve exhausted every avenue of content. Sometimes they’re not sure what to do next.

When they learn about Content Optimization, they’re excited to tap into new ways to create content, especially evergreen content that gets readers coming back to their site. We want to empower all incoming creators—from Rise to Luminary—to use our tools to the best of their ability, to help them achieve that longevity they’re looking for. 

In such a fast-moving space, longevity can seem elusive. What makes you hopeful about the future for creators?

Everything is cyclical. I remember my parents saying “things always come back in style.” The same thing is true with this industry, and websites are even more important now. TikTok, for example, is fun and great for quick engagement, but it’s not built for stability.

Websites, on the other hand, are where longevity lives because creators own the space, the traffic, and most importantly, their IP. With talk of TikTok shutting down, many creators are scrambling to figure out where their content should go. If creators’ reels were hosted on their own websites they wouldn’t be scrambling, they’d be in control. 

Creativity will never go out of style, and neither will creators.

What’s something people might not know about you?

Content creation is close to my heart, even outside of work. I’ve helped friends and family start websites and YouTube channels—my partner launched his own gaming YouTube channel in 2020, and my dad did the same more recently after retiring. I’ve been cheering them both on every step of the way!