Why are brands still sleeping on the creator economy?

How the next gen are moving away from social media

A few years ago, I published a TikTok video about getting sponsorships for events.

Nothing fancy, just me sharing some thoughts. It got around 3,000 views – hardly viral by any standard. But I'm still getting messages about it today. People are hungry for this information, and it made me realise there's a massive gap in the market.

While most B2B brands are pouring money into Facebook and LinkedIn ads, they're completely missing an opportunity hiding in plain sight, creator partnerships, especially in the newsletter space.

Newsletter partnerships deliver around 1000% return on ad spend compared to rough average of 250% for traditional paid social media advertising.

So why aren't more brands jumping on this?

Mismatched Expectations

When I started talking with content creators, I noticed something. Most of them were dramatically undervaluing their reach while simultaneously overcomplicating how they should pitch to potential sponsors. It was a strange paradox of underselling value while overthinking process.

On the flip side, the brands I spoke with had wildly inflated expectations about what constitutes "good reach" in the B2B space. They were looking for audience numbers 3-5 times larger than what's actually needed for effective campaigns. This disconnect creates a market inefficiency that's leaving money on the table for everyone involved.

The process for setting up creator partnerships isn't as plug-and-play as throwing an ad into Facebook's and hoping for the best. There are more steps involved, which seems to deter many marketing teams.

The existing platforms that facilitate these connections – like Beehiiv and Paved – primarily work with creators who have 100,000 to 500,000 readers, leaving a massive gap for small to medium businesses and niche creators.

I heard an interesting quote by Jonathan Courtney from AJ&Smart when it comes to audiences “you either build your own or you buy access to someone else's”. Most brands default to the building approach without seriously considering the buying option, despite its superior ROI.

Integration Beats Interruption

The B2B brands that are succeeding with creator partnerships aren't just slapping banner ads into newsletters. They're deeply integrating with the content itself. The most effective partnerships present as "in partnership with" or "sponsored by" arrangements where the promotional content feels natural within the editorial flow.

This stands in stark contrast to the awkward sponsorship segments we've all experienced in YouTube videos – when your favourite tech reviewer suddenly pivots to talking about a Audible with all the smoothness of a car changing gears without a clutch.

What many marketing teams don't appreciate is that this integration requires a different kind of creative muscle. Writing a compelling newsletter snippet demands a different skill set than creating visual ads for social media. The brands that recognise and respect this difference tend to see much better results.

The Generational Content Shift

When I look at how my dad consumes content – religiously reading traditional publications like The Age – compared to how my generation and younger professionals engage with media, there is a serious difference. Gen Z and millennials have created their own micro-communities around hyper-specific interests and professional needs.

Rather than getting all their information from a few broad sources, they follow multiple smaller content creators and newsletters that speak directly to their niche interests. You can see this in the growth of influencers like Abbie Chatfield who just interviewed Prime Minister Albanese (or Dutton being interviewed by Mark Bouris 🤮). This fragmentation of media consumption creates incredible opportunities for brands – if they know how to access these communities.

What many marketing leaders don't realise is that 71% of B2B decision-makers are now millennials and Gen Z. This statistic shocks almost everyone I share it with. The purchasing power in B2B has shifted generations, but the marketing strategies haven't caught up.

The Numbers

When I'm speaking with skeptical marketers, certain metrics consistently shift the conversation. Editorial-voice promotional content achieves 2-4 times higher click-through rates than traditional advertising. That's the difference between a 1% and potentially a 4% CTR – massive in marketing terms.

The creator economy in this space is growing at a 29% compound annual growth rate through 2027. It's a $7.3 billion market globally, with individual sponsorship deals ranging from $135 to $18,000 depending on audience size and engagement.

One case is Rundown AI, which generated 5,915 clicks from a 400-character native ad in a newsletter, priced at $15 per thousand impressions. The ROI on these partnerships consistently outperforms traditional digital advertising.

Finding the Perfect Match

While I can't share my entire "secret sauce" for matching brands with creators (a founder has to keep some competitive advantage!), I can tell you the core principle: look for natural conversation points where the audience has already expressed a pain point.

For example, if a newsletter creator discusses project management challenges and their audience responds with frustration about current tools, that's the perfect opening.

I can approach a project management software company with: "Here's an audience of 10,000 project managers actively discussing their frustration with existing tools. Let's offer them a free trial through this newsletter."

This approach works because it's genuinely helpful to all three parties – the brand gets qualified leads, the creator earns revenue while providing value to their audience, and the audience gets a potential solution to a problem they've already expressed.

The Future Is Niche

I believe B2B marketing will increasingly revolve around these hyper-niche communities. We're going to see more Discord communities, specialised Slack channels, and focused newsletters organised around specific interest areas and job functions that cut across traditional industry lines.

These communities will fundamentally change how we learn and engage with content. The mass marketing approach of broadcasting the same message to everyone will give way to targeted conversations within communities that already have established trust and shared language.

For B2B brands, the opportunity is clear: either build these communities yourself (slow, expensive, and difficult) or partner with creators who have already cultivated them (faster, often cheaper, and more authentic).

The brands that recognise this shift early and develop systematic approaches to creator partnerships will have an enormous advantage. The rest will continue spending more for less impact, wondering why their traditional channels keep delivering diminishing returns.

This article was brought to you in partnership with… myself??? (not sure if I need to declare that one, don’t chase me ACCC)

I've started building Understanding Today to bridge this gap, helping b2b brands connect with content creators who have the attention of Gen Z and millennial B2B decision-makers.

The metrics are too compelling, and the opportunity too large, to ignore any longer.