After diving into Edgewater Research’s latest paid social report, we’ve pulled out key insights for marketers looking to close out Q4 strong.
Pinterest Strong, But Slowing
The Good
Pinterest continues to deliver strong performance for brands fully invested in the platform. Feedback from advertisers running full-funnel campaigns with Performance+ remains overwhelmingly positive. Committed brands are seeing healthy direct-response results, and Pinterest performs particularly well in sophisticated marketing mix modeling (MMM) attribution when used as part of a full-funnel strategy.
Pinterest’s share of wallet is gradually increasing—typically landing between 2–5% of total digital ad budgets due to scale constraints. For endemic categories like retail, home décor, fashion, and jewelry, Pinterest continues to prove itself as a reliable, efficient driver of performance and brand discovery.
The Reality
While existing advertisers remain pleased with performance, new brand adoption has slowed compared to late 2023 and early 2024—signaling a period of normalization following the initial surge of Performance+ adoption. This plateau doesn’t indicate decline but rather a maturing phase for the platform as growth stabilizes.
Looking ahead to 2026, Pinterest appears to be following Meta’s playbook with product innovation, including new-customer bidding capabilities, third-party attribution partnerships with TripleWhale and Northbeam, and creative expansions like collage ads in beta. A potential return of mobile app install campaigns could also help reignite advertiser interest and support the next growth wave.
Q4 Pro Tip: If you’re already running Pinterest campaigns, double down on full-funnel strategies and ensure you’re leveraging Performance+ with proper MMM attribution. The platform is performing, but scale may be limited.
TikTok Stable, After Slow Start
The Turnaround
After a challenging first half of 2025 due to saturation concerns and ongoing long-term uncertainty, the platform appears to be stabilizing. Advertiser sentiment has improved since the recent US resolution, building confidence in TikTok’s longevity.
Brands that stayed the course are seeing results stabilize, particularly those using short-form video and creator collaborations. The rebound suggests that TikTok is regaining its footing as a viable piece of the paid social mix through Q4.
The Reality
Despite stabilization, the US TikTok Shop brand is heavily saturated. Sources note that buyer sentiment has come to expect constant deals and discounts, eroding the perceived value and profitability difficult once media costs are factored in.
While promotional activity can still drive short-term spikes, sustainable margins remain a challenge. However, for brands with seasonal promotions (re: gifting), GMV Max continues to perform, where broader full-price success is proving more elusive.
Ad Spend Diversification: Some brands are diversifying away from TikTok (reducing from 10% to sub-5% of mix), citing unpredictability and the constant creative demands the platform has compared to others.
Bottom Line for Q4: TikTok remains relevant, especially for brands willing to feed the creative beast and those with strong gifting angles for GMV Max. Just be realistic about TikTok Shop economics and don’t rely on it as a margin-positive channel without significant scale.
Meta The Silent Winner
Meta continues to be the workhorse, which makes diversification both harder to justify and more important for risk management.
Pinterest is explicitly trying to mimic Meta’s playbook in DR optimization and attribution. When brands need more awareness investment, they’re being pushed toward Pinterest and TikTok because Meta/Instagram performance is so strong there isn’t as much need to break out of the comfort zone.
For brands looking to balance performance across multiple platforms, our Paid Social experts develop cross-channel strategies that keep ROI strong while mitigating risk.
Key Strategic Takeaways for Q4 2025
- Lower-Funnel Success: Brands continue to prioritize lower-funnel objectives, placing brand/awareness investments under greater scrutiny. This trend benefits Pinterest (now that it has full-funnel capability) but creates challenges for platforms still primarily positioned for awareness.
- Full-Funnel Is Table Stakes: Whether it’s Pinterest’s Performance+ showing well in MMM or Meta’s continued dominance, the platforms winning in 2025 are those that can prove performance across the entire funnel. Learn more about Meta’s incremental attribution model.
- Creative Velocity Remains Critical: TikTok’s stabilization among brands willing to constantly feed creative reinforces what we’ve been saying: creative velocity is revolutionizing performance marketing.
- Attribution & Measurement Are Differentiators: The platforms investing in 3P attribution partnerships (Pinterest with TripleWhale, Meta’s established integrations) are winning with sophisticated DTC advertisers. If your attribution stack doesn’t align with these platforms, you’re fighting with one hand tied behind your back.
What This Means for Your Q4 Strategy
As we head into Cyber Five and the holiday push, here’s my advice:
Double down on what’s working: If Pinterest Performance+ campaigns are delivering, increase budget within scale constraints.
Stay committed to TikTok (with eyes open): The platform is stabilizing but be realistic about margins.
Keep Meta as your anchor: It’s not sexy, but Meta’s continued performance makes it the foundation to build around.
Invest in creative systems: The platforms that reward creative velocity (TikTok, Meta) require operational excellence, not just good ads.
The Q4 game hasn’t changed. It’s still about having the right creative, the right attribution, and the operational chops to execute at scale. But knowing where each platform stands helps you allocate those precious Q4 dollars more strategically.
If you’re looking to maximize cross-platform performance or need strategic support heading into the holidays, schedule a free review to see how we can help drive results across Meta, Pinterest, and TikTok.
This analysis is based on Edgewater Research’s September 29, 2025 Paid Social Ads report, which surveyed advertising agencies and brands about their paid social performance and spending trends of Q3 2025.
