“What got us here is not going to get us there.” Lauren Serman-Kaoud, chief marketing and creative officer, Ruggable.

Ruggable is an online retailer that built a nine-figure business almost entirely thanks to buying ads from big tech companies.

And even they are starting to see that the smart money is shifting towards the creator economy.

Recently Ruggable shifted over $1 million of their media budget away from Meta to invest it directly into creator partnerships, and I think that this is one of the best stories happening in business right now.

For decades, the whole social media game has been that big tech companies build platforms, convince us all to create content that locks us into their businesses, then monetize our attention to make billions of dollars in ad revenue. That’s why the social media executives have become some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world.

But those same creators who helped big tech to become so successful are now starting to realize that they are actually the ones with all of the power.

When a product placement with a well-loved and trusted creator outperforms the ads that we can buy on those same platforms, why wouldn’t brands like Ruggable cut out the middleman (in this case, Meta) and give their cash directly to the people who have built that trust?

And the best part is that the value that they’ve created isn’t dependent on the platforms. Recently, there have been waves of content creators shifting from Twitch to YouTube, from Twitter to Substack, and Instagram to TikTok.

In a way, these creators are the modern day Robin Hoods, stealing ad dollars from the rich tech companies, and giving them to individuals who are earning it through hard work and the loyalty of their audiences.

So What?

Sure, it’s a nice idea, but we’re in the business of making smart decisions for our brands. That’s where this story gets even better.

In just the past year, the average cost of an online ad went up by about 20% in North America, meanwhile studies on the ROI of creator partnerships put their ROI at roughly double that of paid social.

Plus, a Deloitte study showed that benefits stuck around. Months after being exposed to a creator’s ad, purchase likelihood was still 2.5 times higher.

Whether your ad budget is $1,000 or $100k+, the data is shouting at us that creators are a much better use of those dollars. Plus, you get the added benefit of knowing that your investment went straight to real people, rather than a trillion dollar business’ bottom line.