Why the Right B2B Creators Are Outperforming Traditional Ads in 2025

The best-performing ads—from LinkedIn videos to product explainers to social-first case studies—aren’t winning because of clever copy or flashy visuals. They’re winning because the right people are delivering the message.

And the latest data shows exactly what “right” looks like.

Marketers overwhelmingly rank authenticity and credibility (58%) as the top criteria when selecting B2B creators. That tells us something important: buyers aren’t responding to overly produced content anymore. They want real operators, practitioners, analysts, and customers who speak from lived experience.

Right behind that is industry relevance (49%), meaning high-performing ads tend to come from creators embedded in the buyer’s world—not generic influencers with broad followings. And with brand alignment and subject matter expertise both at 47%, the message is even clearer:
B2B brands need creators who can explain, simplify, and contextualize—not just amplify.

But which creator types actually drive performance when you put them inside your creative?

Here, thought leaders and industry analysts (28%) take the top spot. These are the people buyers already trust to interpret trends and evaluate solutions, so their content naturally carries more weight—especially on LinkedIn and in mid-funnel sequences.

Surprisingly, company customers (23%) follow closely. Their voice has become a creative cheat code: customer-led explainer videos, testimonial-style carousels, and “how we use it” clips routinely outperform scripted brand content. Independent creators (20%), partners (15%), and employees (14%) still matter, but they shine most when layered intentionally—employees for behind-the-scenes transparency, partners for ecosystem credibility, and independent creators for reach.

The takeaway for creative teams:
The messenger is now a core conversion lever.
If your ads, emails, and social content don’t feature credible humans with insider context, your competitors are already winning those clicks.

Brands that build creator-led creative systems in 2025 won’t just get attention—they’ll get results.