Each month, industry news media organization XBIZ spotlights the career accomplishments and outstanding contributions of Women in Adult. WIA profiles offer an intimate look at the professional lives of the industry's most influential female executives.
Natalia is a passionate, earnest and tireless Pornhub evangelist, preaching the brand’s powerhouse potential for content creators.
My primary duties are to grow the Model Program, help models increase their earnings and promote constant brand awareness.
As the Model Program Marketing Manager, she weaves together far-reaching campaigns and in-the-trenches recruitment at industry events, helping talent take advantage of the mega brand’s free-to-watch ad revenue and monthly subscription fan club opportunities, as well as the paid-only Modelhub video-selling platform.
Backed by the well-oiled machinery of an adult industry traffic titan and a deeply collaborative team, she is dedicated to taking risks in a consumer landscape increasingly eager for the authenticity and intimacy of amateur porn. Attuned to this surging trend, she has witnessed how — month over month — users are seeking out all manner of amateur-themed tags and categories with more zeal than ever.
And in just one year of working at the company, she has rapidly accelerated the momentum of the Pornhub Model Program under her purview, becoming a vanguard player in the modern market’s hottest sector.
To chronicle her ascendancy and enlightening perspectives, XBIZ sat down with the Woman of the Month for this interview.
XBIZ: Tell us about your professional/educational background prior to working in adult.
Natalia: I’ve got a bit of an unusual background — I first did a double major in sciences and Women’s Studies, and then worked in research labs studying human sexuality before changing gears and going back to school. I ended up getting recruited into marketing for the beauty industry. Don’t judge my profile picture, I’m better at marketing than I am at using makeup. Looking back, I have been lucky to have such a diverse background. Everything I had experienced and gone through shaped me into who I am today.
XBIZ: What led you to join Modelhub/Pornhub?
Natalia: A chance meeting. I was invited to a work party for Pornhub. I made fun of the director, he thought I was funny (I’m not) and after a chat, I was invited for an interview. Just this chance meeting re-sparked my initial passion and love for human expression in sexuality, and I knew that I couldn’t go back to my job in beauty.
XBIZ: How has your role at the company evolved over time?
Natalia: I just had my one-year anniversary at Pornhub! I joined in November 2018. My position is the Marketing Manager for the Pornhub Model Program.
XBIZ: Discuss your primary duties for the brand, and the main ways in which you interface with other divisions.
Natalia: My primary duties are to grow the Model Program, help models increase their earnings and promote constant brand awareness. I have a wonderful team at my side that makes sure that everything is running smoothly.
My day-to-day is never the same. One day I might be brainstorming with the Product Manager on what new things we can program and develop, the next day I might be reviewing photo edits for our latest ads and then end my week with a phone call with contacts from around the world to plan new marketing campaigns.
We are inherently intertwined with several key teams on Pornhub, but the main team I interface with is the model support team. If you’ve ever emailed models@pornhub.com or received payments, that team is the one who makes everything run smoothly.
XBIZ: Talk about your efforts in promoting the Pornhub Model Program and bringing talent into the fold.
Natalia: I think one of the biggest challenges is that everyone thinks they know what Pornhub is already, but some models don’t realize the vastness of the Model Program. It encompasses free-to-watch videos that models can make ad revenue on, monthly subscription fan clubs and the paid-only promotional tool that is Modelhub. Those are only some of the many facets of the program to help models build their brands and make money.
With this challenge in mind, we’ve been taking a personal approach. We’ve been booking one-on-one meetings with models at industry events (such as XBIZ events) to show them the power of the program and what we can do for them. The feedback has been that it’s a refreshing change of pace: we’re here to support them as entrepreneurs and treat them as the business professionals that they are.
We’ve also been doing marketing campaigns that really are model-focused first, increasing sales without hurting their profit margins.
XBIZ: What have been a few of your biggest milestones this year, growing the products and team under your purview?
Natalia: We’ve done so many projects and campaigns last year, but the biggest milestone is that from November 2018 to November 2019, we have had a massive growth in joins and sales. Not only that, but consistently month over month, the most searched for tags and categories are amateurs and exclusive amateurs.
More users and buyers want to see amateur content than ever before.
I don’t want to say that my team has grown under me — if anything, I’ve grown with them. I’m surrounded by women on my team who push me to do better and be better and constantly reach further.
XBIZ: Describe your overall approach to marketing and creating brand engagement, both within the industry and beyond.
Natalia: Constant engagement! I want to make sure that we’re always in view of and in the minds of our models (and buyers). Are we promoting our models on our promotional channels? Are we answering questions on our helplines? Are we publishing engaging marketing material and information on our blogs? Have we reached out to users to remind them they haven’t seen their favorite models’ latest videos? Are we running a PR campaign to boost visibility? Do we have rewards prepped and ready to ship for models? Organized chaos at its best, we’re juggling as many balls as we can and keep adding more.
I’m also a huge fan of out of the box creativity, it’s one of my favorite perks of working for Pornhub — they are all about testing out zany ideas. I’ll get inspired and text my boss a kooky idea. Chances are, it will get approved. They let me give away 100 percent of sales to celebrate Modelhub’s launch, partner with artists for upcoming projects (you might get to see this live in XBIZ L.A.!) and do a video series where models showed their homes to us. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
XBIZ: How have you elevated your game over the years, thanks to the many opportunities at Modelhub/Pornhub?
Natalia: I’ve been pushed to always take into consideration a global market. It’s easy to fall into the trap of being North American-centric, and my past marketing career really required understanding nuances of local culture to promote and advertise. Here, I’ve got to keep in mind how something can be interpreted in Budapest or in Cali or in Kyoto.
Subtleties and quirks that are culturally tied need to be avoided too — or simplified to not alienate our models from around the world. I don’t think there are many marketing jobs anywhere out there that have such diversity and reach as this!
XBIZ: Tell us how you help the company stay ahead of the curve, with the ever-shifting tides of the digital media market.
Natalia: This is a tough question, especially with the added challenge of censorship in this modern day. Obviously, social media is the game changer, yet we are constantly battling being banned or shadowbanned, so we try and diversify our reach through many different channels to truly engage with models and users. What keeps us ahead is the fact that we don’t mask our personalities or quirks and tend to engage on a personal and real level. The content might be digital, but we’re still all human and real.
XBIZ: What are your biggest ambitions for 2020?
Natalia: Oh boy, we’ve been working for months on a total rehaul of the backend portal for models. I can’t give out too many details, but let me tell you, it’s an absolute game changer. The ease of use and the power behind what you will be able to do as well gives me shivers! I can’t wait for the full launch in 2020 as well as many new and exciting features and campaigns for our models, so keep your eyes peeled and get ready!
