Performance marketing is no longer just about perfectly polished ads and conversion funnels. Today’s most effective campaigns are raw, social-native, and, crucially, creator-led.

For brands trying to reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha, creators are no longer the garnish. They are the main course. Especially when it comes to performance. Here’s why creator-led performance ads are outperforming traditional creative, and what that means for your strategy.

Traditional ad fatigue is real

You’ve seen it: glossy, overproduced content getting lost in the scroll. The kind of stuff that screams “ad” before the product even shows up. For younger audiences, especially Gen Z, this type of content isn’t just skippable, it’s invisible.

Enter creators. Their content feels native, personal, and trust-based. When you let them take the wheel on performance ads, you’re not just boosting visibility, you’re actively improving engagement, watch time, and conversions.

Creators = credibility

The power of creator-led ads lies in their believability. When a trusted face introduces a product in their own style (whether it’s a morning GRWM, a chaotic unboxing, or a stitched reaction), it doesn’t feel like a paid ad. It feels like content they’d post anyway. That’s the magic.

Recent campaigns we’ve run at SCREENSHOT Media have shown that creator-led formats outperform traditional ad assets across nearly every key metric:

• Lower CPAs
• Higher click-through rates
• Longer average watch times
• More meaningful engagement (comments, saves, shares)

And here’s the kicker: often, the more lo-fi the content looks, the better it performs. That’s not a coincidence but rather a reflection of how Gen Z consumes and interacts with media.

Performance doesn’t have to mean boring

There’s a misconception that performance = formulaic. But creator-led ads allow for experimentation within a framework. Yes, we’re optimising for conversions, but we’re doing it through comedy content, personality, and real internet culture. That’s the sweet spot.

Let’s say you’re promoting an app. A standard ad might focus on features. But a creator can turn it into a mini POV skit, a chaotic storytime, or a challenge that hooks viewers in the first three seconds. That’s what drives results in-feed.

Paid + organic synergy

Another major advantage of creator-led performance is the synergy between organic and paid. Creators can seed content on their own feeds before handing over high-performing assets to be boosted via paid.

This builds familiarity and trust. By the time users see the ad in-feed, they may have already engaged with the creator before. It’s like social proof, but on steroids.

We’ve also found that top-performing creator assets can be cut into multiple variations, each tailored to different audience segments or placements (e.g. Instagram Reels vs TikTok vs Stories). More flexibility, less fatigue.

How to make it work

If you’re thinking of adding creator-led ads to your performance mix, here are a few pointers:

• Brief smart: Give creators a clear objective (e.g. drive signups) but don’t over-direct the content. Their voice is the value.
• Optimise for format: Don’t ask for a TikTok and then repackage it for YouTube Shorts. Tailor the asset per platform and audience.
• Test, test, test: Run A/B tests on hooks, creators, tones, and formats. What works on Gen Z gamers might flop with fashion audiences.
• Use paid wisely: Boost high-performing creator content using platform-native tools.

Creator-led is just getting started

This isn’t a passing trend, it’s a fundamental shift in how audiences engage with ads. At SCREENSHOT Media, we’ve built entire creator strategies around performance, with results that beat traditional ad creative, again and again. And as new formats emerge, the line between content and commerce will only keep blurring.

Creator-led performance isn’t just the future. It’s already here. The brands that get it? They’re the ones winning on scroll speed and conversion alike.