Where should you spend your paid social dollars in 2026? It’s a simple question with a complicated answer.
There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy in the world of paid social, according to Blake Anderson, founder of the AI app studio 10x, who uses Meta and TikTok to advertise the viral apps he creates.
It’s all too common for marketers to hear a peer say, “Oh, my god, Reddit, for example, just started performing so well for us,” he says; then they’ll try running ads there only to find that they don’t land the same.
That’s why Anderson recommends that founders looking to boost their brand awareness and convert customers through paid social channels “test everything under the sun and lean into what works.”
Ryan Schuster, the director of paid search and social at media agency Exverus by Brainlabs, exemplifies this strategy. While working with clients such as Premier Protein, Theralogix supplements, and New Belgium Brewing, Schuster says he typically puts 60 percent of their paid social budget toward Meta and 30 percent toward TikTok. Then, he either spends the remaining 10 percent on Reddit “or some sort of other test-and-learn” channel.
Each platform has different strengths
Anderson and Schuster both say that Meta beats out other platforms in terms of its return on ad spend. TikTok, meanwhile, is great at building brand awareness and offers a wider array of ad placement options. “You can serve your ads along top-trending content, or be the first ad that opens up, or the first video, as soon as the user launches the app,” Schuster says.
If you’re marketing a product that requires education or has a strong community behind it, on the other hand, you should check out Reddit, according to Schuster. He says he likes the platform because it allows his agency to “contextually align our brands with really interesting conversations, helpful articles—everything that lives in Reddit.”
Annabel Burba
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