The state of marketing is changing almost daily. We’re flip-flopping between gritty, authentic content and highly-developed, polished content almost week to week. Trends are moving faster than ever.
And the marketing channels we use, especially digitally, are changing quicker than ever before. There has been a bit of a standard approach for a full-funnel channel mix for a while now. SEO for organic search, paid ads on Meta and Google, and social media across the Meta platforms and maybe TikTok.
But people are finding, researching, and buying differently. It’s not just AI that is changing things. You can research via Google, TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, even Pinterest. The funnel is slowly but surely morphing into a big zigzaggy winding road.
People aren’t just searching on Google, browsing Instagram and converting through remarketing anymore. They’re researching products on Reddit, saving ideas on Pinterest, watching creator content on TikTok and Snapchat, using AI tools to compare options, and moving between paid and organic touchpoints before they ever even reach a website.
- Search is becoming more answer-based
- Social platforms are becoming search and discovery engines
- Community platforms are influencing purchase decisions
- Visual discovery is becoming more commercially useful
- Paid and organic are becoming harder to separate
It’s not that Google or Meta or SEO don’t matter anymore. They still do and SEO especially is still essential for the bottom-of-funnel piece (where people convert and pay you money).
But customer attention is coming from everywhere. Channels like Reddit, Pinterest and Snapchat used to be secondary or nice-to-haves but they’re slowly becoming important parts of creating awareness, getting seen in the consideration phase, and encouraging people to use you.
Why brands are looking for more than the usual channels
There are a few really good reasons to diversify.
Obviously, there is a change in search behaviour and how people are finding and interacting with businesses online.
But outside of that, there are a few good reasons to diversify:
- Competition is growing on Google and Meta
- Platforms like Reddit and Pinterest are impacting search results
- These less-popular platforms are proving great for building brand awareness and recall
Reddit is no longer just a niche community platform
Reddit has become way more visible in Google results and more influential in how people validate decisions. We even find people are adding ‘Reddit’ to their Google searches because they’re looking for unfiltered opinions.
These users are looking for real experiences and takes from people just like them.
So, naturally, Reddit is appearing in Google more and more.
The other thing about Reddit is that its Subreddits create specific and highly niche categories and communities on the platform.
That means advertising on these Subreddits can be really, really specific and quite targeted.
Reddit’s visibility in Google grew dramatically through 2023 and 2024, with eMarketer citing a 1,328% increase in SEO visibility between July 2023 and April 2024. Reddit has also continued to grow commercially, with advertising revenue reportedly up 75% year-on-year in Q4 2025.
What brands should do on Reddit
Users on Reddit are a bit less tolerant of ignorant brand touting. You want to be more authentic and while the paid ads are pretty obvious, you want to try and make them blend in and add value as much as you can.
Get a sense of what’s being discussed on the Subreddit first, and then use what you learn to craft your ads around it.
Pinterest is reemerging as a visual search and planning platform
Pinterest can be mistaken for a super top-of-funnel platform. Where maaaybe you can create some brand awareness and introduce your brand.
It sits closer to intent than most of us think
Pinterest isn’t just a moodboard platform. It’s where people plan purchases, projects, events, home changes, outfits, recipes, travel and lifestyle decisions. It makes it valuable for brands with visual products, services or inspiration-based buying journeys. Think builders, pool renovations, and event planning or hire companies. But then also, care-based businesses, like NDIS support or physiotherapy.
It’s not that big of a jump from looking up children’s therapeutic games to looking at NDIS support for them.
Gen Z is also more active on Pinterest than most of us would assume. Sprout Social’s 2025 data shows Gen Z leading Pinterest adoption at 39%.
What brands should do on Pinterest
You should treat pins like visual search assets and create keyword-rich but still natural titles and descriptions. The goal here is to blend in seamlessly on Pinterest while adding value for your audience.
There’s a lot of value in testing paid ads for discovery, consideration and retargeting.
Snapchat isn’t right for every brand, but it shouldn’t be dismissed
Snapchat can be overlooked because it doesn’t always fit the standard B2B or broad performance marketing playbook. But for younger audiences, local campaigns, eCommerce, events, entertainment, education, beauty, fashion and lifestyle, it can still offer meaningful reach and creative formats.
It has a lot of strength in younger demographics and bigger brands can see a lot of success with AR-based content, like the creation of filters.
It’s not as easy as using broad, generic creative. Especially not creative recycled from Meta or another platform. This creative needs to be highly specific and catered to the platform.
Snap reported 956 million monthly active users and 483 million daily active users in Q1 2026, with revenue up 12% year on year.
What brands should do on Snapchat
This one is definitely more of a bigger brand game and not for your typical small business. Brands should use short, native vertical creative and test offers that suit impulse and mobile behaviour.
The best Snapchat results come from AR or interactive formats where relevant.
The line between ads, SEO and social content is getting blurrier
Where these channels used to be separate and organic and paid efforts could easily be siloed, the line between your marketing efforts is getting blurrier.
All the channels are influencing each other and playing together.
Reddit threads and Instagram posts appear in Google results.
Pinterest content can rank and be saved over time.
Social content informs search demand.
Paid creative testing can help refine SEO content.
Organic community discussions can influence AI answers and brand perception.
And then you’ve got AI search, which is pulling from all these different channels, not just traditional web pages.
What this means for your digital marketing strategy
By no means are we suggesting you go away and launch ads on every platform we’ve mentioned or aim to create a 10-channel marketing strategy.
But have a think about your audience. Where might they search for the answers that eventually lead them to your services? Map out the different journeys they might take.
Think about the content you’re already creating, that’s already resonating with them and use that information to explore other channels and test one at a time. Then, see what happens.
1. Map the customer’s discovery behaviour
Ask yourself:
- Where do they first realise they have a need?
- Where do they compare options?
- Where do they look for proof?
- Where do they ask for recommendations?
- Where do they convert?
2. Separate channel role from channel hype
Think about the pros and cons of each channel and which ones might make sense for your audience:
- Reddit may be for trust and research
- Pinterest may be for inspiration and planning
- Snapchat may be for reach and younger audience awareness
- Google may be for high intent capture
- Meta may be for scalable demand and remarketing
3. Test small before shifting budget heavily
Don’t go crazy with decision-making and don’t go hard into re-distributing budget. Start with some low-risk experiments:
- Repurpose existing creative into native formats
- Test one new paid channel at a time
- Use organic listening before content creation
- Measure assisted conversions and engagement quality
- Compare cost per qualified action, not just CPC
You should still be choosy about which platforms you put money in
When you’re testing, go in with low expectations and as you test, keep checking in:
- Does your audience use the platform for this category?
- Can your offer be explained naturally in the platform format?
- Do you have the creative resources to make native content
- Does the platform support your buying cycle?
- Can you commit long enough to learn?
Need a hand with your digital marketing strategy? We’d love to give you a hand 👋
